Yep, it's completely obvious- Zexal is Pokemon with Yugioh cards. Not that that is bad by itself- sure it might be beneath the dignity of older fans, but we had three shows starring teens with really dramatic stories, it's fair kids get one too (though the show was already watched by many.)
However, I find that the show is Better Than It Sounds. Oh sure, the cast is mostly annoying kids and even the adults come across as goofy, but the basic concept is interesting and there probably will be a more dramatic shift in tone sooner or later.
I like the way portable virtual reality has become part of regular life, I'm sure this will happen some day for real, though it's inconsistent, for example they still use flat-screen computers.
Astral is very obviously a Yugi rip-off, but I find him interesting enough even if his lost memories becoming cards is too farfetched for me.
And of course, the best part is the gaming itself. The card designs are wonderful as are the battle FX. My only problem is with the excessive exposition- yes I get that the rules must be explained to the audience but do the players have to repeat what they are going to do OVER AND OVER? We heard the first time! This has always been an annoying part of the Yugioh series.
Finally, I want to point that, while of course the purpose of the show is to pimp the cards, so far they've made some clever stories out of it. I especially liked the episode with the actor kid who was forced to play a superhero on TV by his Stage Mom but was unhappy about it (another note: the people who get "possessed by the cards"do not really become evil, instead they have their traits increased to the point they sound like villains, but so far we haven't had a really evil person. This might be intentional since its aimed at little kids, but its always been tradition in the series to have a really spooky villain at some point.)
Overall, I find Zexal to be fun and well done, enough so that the kid-oriented humor doesn't scare me off. I intended to watch the whole show.
Yugioh for the pre-teen crowd
Yep, it's completely obvious- Zexal is Pokemon with Yugioh cards. Not that that is bad by itself- sure it might be beneath the dignity of older fans, but we had three shows starring teens with really dramatic stories, it's fair kids get one too (though the show was already watched by many.)
However, I find that the show is Better Than It Sounds. Oh sure, the cast is mostly annoying kids and even the adults come across as goofy, but the basic concept is interesting and there probably will be a more dramatic shift in tone sooner or later.
I like the way portable virtual reality has become part of regular life, I'm sure this will happen some day for real, though it's inconsistent, for example they still use flat-screen computers.
Astral is very obviously a Yugi rip-off, but I find him interesting enough even if his lost memories becoming cards is too farfetched for me.
And of course, the best part is the gaming itself. The card designs are wonderful as are the battle FX. My only problem is with the excessive exposition- yes I get that the rules must be explained to the audience but do the players have to repeat what they are going to do OVER AND OVER? We heard the first time! This has always been an annoying part of the Yugioh series.
Finally, I want to point that, while of course the purpose of the show is to pimp the cards, so far they've made some clever stories out of it. I especially liked the episode with the actor kid who was forced to play a superhero on TV by his Stage Mom but was unhappy about it (another note: the people who get "possessed by the cards"do not really become evil, instead they have their traits increased to the point they sound like villains, but so far we haven't had a really evil person. This might be intentional since its aimed at little kids, but its always been tradition in the series to have a really spooky villain at some point.)
Overall, I find Zexal to be fun and well done, enough so that the kid-oriented humor doesn't scare me off. I intended to watch the whole show.