Duel Masters Anime

Duel Masters is a franchise based on a manga, anime and a trading card game. The English-language version of the series made a truncated three-episode preview premiere on Cartoon Network's Toonami block on February 27, 2004. The episodes then made their "official" premiere on April 13, 2004, on Cartoon Networks's Toonami spinoff block, the Saturday Video Entertainment System (SVES) with fewer edits as well as episodes 4 and 5. Toonami then moved to Saturdays and premiered the rest of the series. "Season 2" premiered on March 26, 2005. Season 3 began production in September 2005.

Versions by country
The American and Latin American versions of Duel Masters added several things not in the original version included to make it more of a comedy to separate it from other card battling shows on the market. Added to American version were jokes about typical anime conventions, such as split-screens and a missing father-figure (in this case, Shobu's father Shori). Frequent references are made throughout the show to pop culture phenomenon, such as when one of the characters, Kiyoshiro Kokujo, says "I am dark...I am the night...I am Bat-oh wait, wrong show.". As such, they recur as running gags during the course of the show. Another common form of humor found in the show is its breaking of the fourth wall. The characters will constantly say things like, "Looks like it's time for a fade-out,", "I hope the writers do better next week."," Why is the camera too close on my face?" or "You know, I like it when they use this scene." While the storyline is technically dramatic, most episodes are punctuated by a comedic storyline mixed in with the serious storyline. Duel Masters also has promotional gimmicks which depart greatly from the traditional fantasy embraced in Magic: The Gathering.

Differences Between Japanese and English Versions
The "Sacred Lands"/"P.L.O.O.P." storyline is not based on the manga and was created specifically for the American market. The Japanese version has a separate second season entitled "Duel Masters Charge", which is based on more of the manga. Duel Masters Charge was eventually produced for the American market as "Duel Masters 2.0", although only the 1st half was aired.

As a whole, the Japanese version is more serious than the American version. While the Japanese version seems to rely more on visual and situational humor, the American version tends to use much more verbal humor. Also, while the Japanese version is mostly a traditional card-game show with much humor, the American version is a flat-out parody of the genre. In fact, the American version is not a true translation, but is instead a "parody dub". The American version also has different music and sound effects than that of the original Japanese version.

Eventually, a Japanese third season premiered in Japan entitled "Shinseiki Duel Masaters Flash", followed by "Zero Duel Masters" and "Duel Masters Zero" (separate from "Zero Duel Masters"). A sixth season, entitled "Duel Masters Cross" is currently airing. However, the American version has ended, and thus these seasons will not be translated.

Plot
The story centers around the card game Duel Masters, which revolves around five civilizations (Fire, Water, Light, Darkness, Nature).

Characters
Shobu Kirifuda
 * See Shobu Kirifuda

Shori Kirifuda
 * Anime voice:Cam Clarke (Season 1)
 * Shobu's father. He helped shobu to be interested in duelmasters cards at a young age. He left home to continue his training, but misses his family every day. He came back in Season 2 but disappears again. He makes an appearance in Duel Masters The Movie trying to help Shobu and again disappears. In Duel Masters Charge he is revealed to have been killed by Zakira in a kaijudo duel while trying to protect the Duel Master's Proof from falling into Zakira's hands. However, as revealed in Duel Masters Cross, before he was deleted he gave Extreme Bucket Man a deck case which he asked to be given to Shobu. Later on it is releaved that he wasnt truly dead but deleted, however, he broke free of his imprisonment and has been reunited with his son. His Deck is an advanced version of Shobu's, with the main card being Bolberg Cross Dragon.

Mai Kirifuda
 * Anime voice:Cindy Robinson (Season 1), Wendee Lee (Season 3)
 * Shobu's mother and Shori's wife. To help Shobu on different occasions, she has occasionally taken on the persona of a second "Dragon Mask" and challenged him.

Knight
 * See Knight

Rekuta Kadoko
 * See Rekuta Kadoko

Sayuki

Mimi Tasogare
 * See Mimi

Derek - He is only shown in the limited edition manga as Mimi's boyfriend. He is also a ninja arts specialist.

Hakuoh
 * See Hakuoh

White Soldiers - Hakuoh's dueling team. It's supposed to be the strongest in the world. They were shown on Season 1 and made a cameo in a flashback in "Duel Masters 2.0". Among its known and active members are:

Mikuni
 * Anime Voice: Udel R. Deet}} (Season 1), Paul St. Peter (Season 3)
 * The first of the Four Temple Guardians (四天衆; Shitenshū). He uses a Fire deck, and during his fight with Shobu he purposely copied everything he did in order to throw him off. He lost to Robby Rotten in season three, where his name mysteriously changed to Johnny Coolburns. It was later "explained" that this (and all other plot holes in the show) are due to alternate dimensions.

Benny HaHa
 * Anime voice: Kerrigan Mahan (Season 1), Michael Sorich (Season 3)
 * The third of the Four Temple Guardians and Mimi's "twin brother" although in the Japanese version he's not related to Mimi in any way. He is often seen piloting a robot. He uses lies and cheating in his duels and hates both Shobu and Hakuoh. He returns in Season 3 claiming he has changed, but he is still evil. He ends up dueling Hakuoh before their match in Duel Masters Battle Arena. Afterwards, he injured Hakuoh so he would be unable to duel him the next morning. He ended up dueling Shobu again and losing. He is also working with Yumama and were possibly going out. After he lost to Shobu, Yumama trapped him in a room with Boy George. They both escaped in the same episode. He uses a Water Civilization deck, and later, a Wave Striker Deck during his tournament match with Shobu.

Makoto Aizen
 * Anime voice: Brian Beacock (Season 3)
 * The fourth of the Four Temple Guardians. He was defeated by Kyoshiro Kokujo before he can fight Shobu. He also lost to Hakuoh in Duel Masters Battle Arena.

Kintaro Nanba
 * Anime voice: Jay Lerner}} (Season 1), R. Martin Klein (Season 3)
 * Former gatekeeper of the Junior Duelist Center. He was fired from his job after losing to Shobu and became one of his friends. Nobody knows how old he is. He carries around a man-purse and an abacus. He lost to Stinky Bucket Man in the finals.

Kyoshiro Kokujo
 * See Kyoshiro Kokujo

The Master- Little is known about the leader of the evil temple (in the form of the Junior Duelist Center) except that he's always seen in a hooded robe and most of his face is never seen. He is the main antagonist of season one until Hakuoh was defeated.

George Kamamoto
 * Anime voice:Tim Diamond (Season 1), Joey Lotsko (Season 2), Brian Beacock (Season 3)
 * An older duelist who is short and wears a pink bear suit and uses a pacifier. He rides around in a motor baby carriage and uses a Water Civilization deck, he is a skillful duelist and has even defeated Mimi fairly easily. In the English "dub", he is known as "Boy George" which is an obvious reference to Culture Club lead singer Boy George (one of the dub episodes is called "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me"). In Season 3 he uses a Darkness/Water deck, he also withdraws from the tournament after losing to Yumama. His pajamas seem to change with every season.

Dr. Root
 * Anime Voice: Derek Stephen Prince (Season 2 and 3)
 * Boy George's boss, mad scientist, and expert duelist. Outside of that, he also a human-resembling robot named Mr. Perfect and a giant pilotable robot. His eccentric methods always have some hidden lesson to help Shobu and his friends. His real name is Leroy. In Duel Masters Zero, he takes charge of training Shobu and his friends. He has a deck of Survivors in season 1 and in charge he has a darkness/water deck similar to Boy George's.

P.L.O.O.P (Powerful Loyal Order of Princes) - An evil organization that plot to use monsters from the Civilizations of the Creature World to take over Earth. This organization is seen only in the "second season" that was created for America. Among the known members are:
 * Prince Irving the Terrible Jamieson Price - Shobu encountered him in the Light Civilization.
 * Prince Melvin the Conqueror - Shobu encountered him in the Water Civilization.
 * Princess Pollyana of Green Gables - She is a minor P.L.O.O.P. member who Shobu encountered in the Nature Civilization.
 * Prince Wilburg the Great - Shobu encounterd him in the Nature Civilization.
 * Prince Maurice the Merciless (Roger Craig Smith) - Shobu encountered him in the Darkness Civilization.
 * Prince Herbert the Ruthless (Bob Papenbrook) - He is a minor PLOOP member who Shobu encountered at the gates of the Fire Civilization.
 * Prince Eugene the Mean (Bob Papenbrook) - Shobu encountered him in the Fire Civilization. Eugene used to be a dueling champ in the good world and that he even beat Knight! In the Season 2 episode "Deck Me Baby One More Time," Knight and Eugene meet and Knight explains what happened. Eugene also says "I used to duel for trophies. Now I duel for money."

Black Soldiers - A group of duelists that are the opposite form of Hakuoh's White Soldiers. They entered a tournament to beat all of its players. After the defeat of most of them, most of the unnamed members left the group. Among its known members are:
 * Robby Rotten Yuri Lowenthal - Leader of the Black Soldiers. He wanted to be a member of Hakouh's White Soldiers, but was denied. He formed the Black Soldiers so that he can duel Hakuoh. Unfortunately for him, he was defeated by Shobu and was last seen being interrogated by Yumama about Shobu.
 * Akika, - Member of the Black Soldiers. He was defeated by Boy George.
 * Multi-Card Monty, Derek Stephen Prince - Member of the Black Soldiers. He was defeated by Mimi.

Fua Yu
 * Anime Voice: Michelle Ruff
 * A mysterious girl who can duel and read a book at the same time. She has the ability to stand on the ceiling and is commonly seen reading her teen heart throb book, filled with 400 pages of pictures of "sassy" cute boys, although towards the end of the third season, she discovers that the pages are really blank. She defeated Boy George, Yuki and Kokujo right before they were supposed to duel making her win instantly. She was a childhood friend of Extreme Bucketman. While she appears to be the cause of all the disruption in the tournament, she is really a pawn of her malicious older brother, Zakira. After she is released, she becomes an ally of Shobu, along with Bucketman. While brainwashed, her trump cards is Cruel Naga, Avatar of Fate and Super Necrodragon Abzo Dolba. Known as Yu Fua in the Japanese manga. In Duel Masters Cross her deck contains all 5 civilizations and is focused on creatures who have the following effect: "If this card is discarded during your opponent's turn, you may put this card into the Battle Zone instead of the Graveyard".

Extreme Bucketman
 * Anime Voice:Steven Blum
 * A short duelist who wears a bucket on his head. No one knows if Bucketman is male or female. Rekuta believes that the Bucketman is annoying. Bucketman defeated Kokujo before their official match. He lost to Yumama by surrendering, and later, under Zakira's mind control, duels against Shobu. His Deck is Fire and Nature, mostly involving Earth Dragons and Firebirds. His trump card is Soul Phoenix, Avatar of Unity. In the final duel against Yumama, he gives the card to Shobu. In Duel Masters Cross he plays a Snow Faerie and Initiate deck.

Zakira - The main antagonist of both the third season, Duel Masters Charge and the current series, Duel Master Cross. Zakira is an evil duelist and the nemesis of Shobu's father and also the one controlling Yumama (is his younger sister) from the start of the series. His goal is to obtain the "Duel Master's Proof" and use it for his evil means. He has multiple agents working under him, and operates from a large castle. His agents are ranked in terms of increasing power from A-Z (Z being himself). He uses a combination of Fire, Darkness and Water cards (most of his creatures are Zombie Dragons) with his deck being focused on sending cards to the graveyard (his and his opponent's) and benefiting from it. His signature/trump cards are Necrodragon Guljeneraid, Zero Phoenix, Phoenix of Darkness, Romanoff the 1st, Lord of the Demonic Eye, Alexander The 3rd, Emperor Of The Demonic Eye and Supernova Apollonus Dragerion.

Professor Machi - A character introduced in Duel Masters Zero who is the current antagonist. He invited Shobu and his friends to a tournament on an uncharted island, but it was really a trap. After kidnapping Dr. Root, he forces Shobu, Mimi, and George to duel his associates.

Ultimate Master Darcy - A character introduced in Duel Masters Zero who is the current Duel Master Champion of the world. Darcy was once an apprentice to Professor Machi. Zakira is challenged by Darcy in one of the final episodes.

Jura- Originally appears in Zero Duel Masters as Shobu's newest rival. He starts out as a subordinate of Professir Machi, but in Duel Masters Cross, he joins Shobu and the others in their struggle against Zakira.

Minor Characters
Toru Kamiya‎
 * See Toru Kamiya

Jamira - A red-haired boy which lost every time when he dueled Shobu. He told Shobu lots of interesting stories and he danced the Vipera's Dance. He never hesitates to cheat, yet he keeps on losing to Shobu.

Takeshi Saroyama - Tsuyoshi's tall and muscular litte brother.

Tsuyoshi Saroyama - A squirrel-faced short boy on stilts and older brother of Takeshi Saroyama.

Red Afro - The leader of an afro-themed dojo. In the episode "Frotime," Mimi had to duel him in order to reclaim her tournament pass. She managed to defeat him.

Master Yuki - The leader of a dojo for baby duelists. In the episode "Frotime," Boy George had to duel him to reclaim his tournament pass. Master Yuki defeated him, but lost at the second time. He later appeared in the finals of the tournament where he lost to Yumama.

Duel Masters Facts

 * "Kaijudo" originates from the word "kaiju|kaijū", meaning monster, and "dō", or "the way." Therefore, "kaijūdō" means "the way of the monster."


 * The term "Kaijudo" is not used in Japan.


 * The name "Duel Masters" is often believed to be a pun on "Duel Monsters" (the name used in the second series anime and English manga for a card game (also known as Magic & Wizards - that name is a pun off of "Magic: The Gathering") in the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga and anime series.) It actually takes its name from Magic: The Gathering, which had Duel Masters as its codename early in development. Yu-Gi-Oh! is even briefly referred to, when Shobu speaks of "Yugi Muto" that one show with the Egyptian guy with spiky hair".


 * The first English-language season of the TV series was produced by Plastic Cow Productions. The second season that was created for the American market was produced by Elastic Media Corp. The third season was produced by Howling Cat Productions (featuring some of the former Saban Entertainment VA's, such as Brian Beacock, Philece Sampler, and Wendee Lee. In the UK, Duel Masters airs on Toonami and used to air on five. In the US, it aired on Cartoon Network.


 * The titles of the TCG expansion sets are named in parody of other TCGs with obtuse titles.


 * Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Shobu's name is a pun- "Shōbu" means "contest" in Japanese.


 * Japanese dialogue also plays a part in duels. A player declares "ikuzo" to challenge another player.  The challenged then chooses to accept with "koi".  "Hai" literally means "yes" in Japanese. "Ike" is a command to attack, and "Todome Da" is similar to calling "checkmate" and end the battle.


 * In the Anime, the characters often made many statements much like that of Yu-gi-oh's constant statements. For example, many times in Yu-gi-oh, Yugi would say "Believe in the heart of your cards," in which Shobu said the same exact words.