Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V: Season 1, Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V: Season 1, Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 15, 2017

“Believe in the heart of the cards”.

As the father of two Millennial males, Yu-Gi-Oh! was a regular part of my early parenting experience (whether I wanted it to be or not), one that of course wasn’t simply (or even mostly) relegated to the first television series to reach American shores (which was actually the second series produced), Yu-Gi-Oh!. My older son especially was addicted to the card game, and much of my hard earned cash went to procuring him “rare” cards like a set of Exodia cards that cost a small fortune. I joked with some other similarly beset parents at the time that franchises like Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokémon, both of which featured some element that required collecting vast amounts of something, were an obvious attempt by the Japanese to wreak economic havoc on the United States, forcing parents to appease their bratty kids by getting them multiple items to complete their collections, as revenge for the outcome of World War II. As with many other multimedia franchises that have their genesis in either anime or manga, Yu-Gi-Oh! has given birth to all sorts of enterprises in both of those media, along with more standard books, films (including Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Movie, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Bonds Beyond Time and Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions ) and of course the requisite trading card games and videogames. The mythology of Yu-Gi-Oh! is both surprisingly dense but also accessible enough so that even young kids can understand at least the basic outlines, but of course the bulk of the show, at least with regard to any given episode, tends to be caught up in battles, with background information and longer plot arcs (like the Pharoah aspect of the first series) being unfolded slowly but surely, almost as interstitials between various skirmishes. Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V certainly hews to that general foundation, while updating both the look and (at times at least) some of the content of the original premise.

Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V doesn’t waste much time on introductions, jumping right into the story and leaving it to the audience to piece together how various characters are interrelated and what is motivating their behaviors. This series’ hero is, like the original Yu-Gi-Oh!, a boy with duelling talents, this time named Yuya Sakaki. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the show charts a series of revelations which initially seem to be about Yuya’s mysteriously missing father, a duellist of some renown himself who supposedly “chickened out” in a duel years ago that the (at the time) very young Yuya witnessed, traumatizing the young boy horribly. The father angle continues to play into the series, but there’s another, second, set of revelations which in some ways is obviously modeled on the Pharoah element of the first series.

Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V’s tag line seems to be “where dueling gets real!”, and there’s some additional text on the cover of this release that seeks to provide information on what is supposedly this outing’s “new, improved” feature:

Duelists no longer stand by and let their monsters battle for them on the playing field. They now ride their monsters as they race through real locations to take down their opponents with their action cards!

The “riding” part may be an update (however kind of funny it is), but the “real locations” may seems like a distinction without a real difference, since it would be hard to argue that previous anime versions of Yu-Gi-Oh! haven't already presented ostensible card play as actual "real life" tournament fare. Speaking of tournaments, there’s a perhaps intentional The Hunger Games aspect to some of the proceedings in Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V, with characters like game promoter Nico Smiley, who comes off more than little like Stanley Tucci’s Caesar Flickerman in the Suzanne Collins franchise.

This first volume of the show’s first season carries the series through its first twenty four episodes, with several multi-episode arcs being featured, typically in two episode formulations that often feature a “cliffhanger” at the end of the first episode (yeah, like it’s any big mystery’s who’s going to win any given battle). Along the way, the show works in requisite beats for the rather overstuffed array of supporting characters. These include Zuzu Boyle, a lifelong friend of Yuya’s who provides whatever romantic angle the show musters. Also on tap is the lovable Gong Strong, a dojo who is Yuya’s protector, but who provides a bit of comedy relief at regular intervals. There are a ton of other characters (some might argue too many), including other “dueltainers” (as the series terms them) both at the You Show Duel School, as well as the combatants that show up at regular intervals from other schools. Finally (and without posting too much spoiler information), there’s a retinue of what might be termed “alter egos” that enter the fray and which provide some of the more linking information that ties the first season’s overall plot mechanics together.

It’s arguable how much any of these supposed “updates” really changes things in the now well established if still somewhat variant Yu-Gi-Oh! universe, but the good news is, one way or the other, any changes don’t really materially affect this iteration’s concentration on positive messaging like believing in yourself and working through any temporary obstacles. While the show’s constant emphasis on fighting (whether “virtual” or not) may not bother some folks (especially parents wanting to foster more peaceful tendencies in their kids), Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V’s real merit is in its concentration on teamwork and recognizing sometimes subliminally buried talents.

Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V: Season 1, Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC V Season 1, Volume 1 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cinedigm (with a host of other producing entities) with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is a bright and engaging looking presentation, though there are occasional odd pixellation and macroblocking anomalies that I have to assume were done intentionally to indicate the "virtual reality" aspect of the duels (see screenshots 6 and 8 for an idea of some of what I'm talking about). Otherwise, though, this is a vivid presentation, one with a very bright and enjoyable palette and typically very crisp and precise looking line detail. There are a number of kind of hokey "old school" CGI elements on tap, especially when the VR aspect kicks in, but generally speaking Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC V Season 1, Volume 1 offers a sharp and appealing looking transfer that supports the show's almost carnival like design aesthetic.

Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V: Season 1, Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Perhaps a little surprisingly, Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC V Season 1, Volume 1 doesn't offer a surround mix, instead featuring only a reasonably effective DTS- HD Master Audio 2.0 track. There's good separation and attention to detail with regard to sound effects scattered throughout the regular battle intervals, but some audiophiles will probably be wondering how much more a 5.1 track could have offered, especially on the low end. Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and well prioritized even in some otherwise fairly noisy skirmish action.

Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V: Season 1, Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Perhaps surprisingly, none of the discs in this three disc set offer any supplementary features. In fact, there's not even a Setup menu (as can be seen i screenshot 20). The discs do have English subtitles, though that's not indicated on the Main Menu.

Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V: Season 1, Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you're new to the Yu-Gi-Oh! universe, I'd suggest trying to track down one of the earlier formulations (which are kind of oddly still missing on domestic Blu-ray) rather than starting with this one, just to get a handle on the basic story elements which are presented in Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V as a given. Otherwise, though, this is an enjoyable new version of well worn story tropes, one that offers an appealing hero with the same sort of "identity crisis" which has already been examined in previous Yu-Gi-Oh! entries. The supporting cast is arguably overstuffed but does provide the show with lots of nooks and crannies to temporarily explore before the next battle kicks in. Technical merits are generally very strong, and for franchise enthusiasts if for no one else Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Season 1, Volume 1 comes Recommended.