Duel Masters Anime

Duel Masters (デュエル・マスターズ) 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 CN'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 (切札勝舞 Kirifuda Shōbu)
 * (Season 1), Liam O'Brien (Season 2)
 * The show's protagonist and Knight's true friend. He aspires to become a great duelist like his father. Shobu keeps a positive attitude throughout the series, insisting on dueling for fun as opposed to simply winning. He's brave, strong, and true. He uses a Fire Civilization deck which later becomes a Dragon Deck and later a Dragon and Angel Command deck. After a defeat by Yu he loses most of his deck but is guided to his father's deck by the spirits of Bolmeteus Samurai Dragon and Bolbalzak "Sword Flash" Dragon. This new deck is a Dragon and Samurai deck. Soon after he combined elements from the 2 decks and created a Samurai Dragon and Angel Command deck. As of Duel Masters Cross his main cards are: Bolmeteus "Kensei" Dragon, Bolshack Yamato Dragon, Bolbalzak "Sword Flash" Dragon and Saint Bolshack, Spiritual Dragon. After losing Saint Bolshack, Valkiryas Musashi, Ultimate Battle Dragon and Sword Flash Galaxy, Super Champ became his trump cards as well. He lost his mojo in the season 1 in episode 25 named "Something Wacky this Way Comes",but he got it back in the 28th episode. His surname's kanji "Kirifuda (切札)" literally means "The Trump Card", "The Ace Card" or "The Winning Card". His name's kanji "Shoubu (勝舞)" is a combination of his father's name "Shouri (勝利)" means "Victory" or "Victor" and his mother's name "Mai (舞)" means "Dance", thus "Shoubu (勝舞)" means "Victory Dance" or "Dance of Victory". The pronunciation "Shoubu (しょうぶ)" is also a pun from "shoubu (勝負)" which literally means "Win (or) Lose" and from there derived the meanings: "Duel".


 * Shori Kirifuda (切札勝利 Kirifuda Shōri)
 * (Season 1)
 * Shobu's father. He put the mojo of duelling in Shobu's blood. 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 (切札舞 Kirifuda Mai) / Sharlotte Kirifuda
 * (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 (ナイト; Naito)
 * (Season 1-2), Kirk Thornton (Season 3)
 * Knight is Shobu's mysterious and soft-spoken mentor. In the English "dub", his inner monologue is a source of much of the show's mature and subtle humor. Despite being Shobu's mentor, he is usually unable to assist his student in times of need due to either Shobu's stubborn attitude or Knight being unable to show up at the scene. Knight does not appear in the manga, although the manga character NAC is similar to him. On one occasion, Dr. Root had Knight take on a "Dragon Mask" persona to duel Shobu in order for him to reclaim his tournament pass. Knight character is loosely based on the manga only character NAC.


 * NAC (ナック)
 * Manga only character. This character is loosely based on a real life person, NAKAMURA Satoshi (中村聡=なかむら・さとし)aka. NAC-san (pronounce "NAC (ナック)さん= Nakku-san" in Japanese) is a Japanese who became the Asia's top & strongest card game player (Magic: The Gathering)in reality. NAC-san has many roles in the making of "Duel Masters". He assisted Matsumoto Dai sensei (the manga's author's nickname) as technical advisor since the manga's plot is still based on Magic: The Gathering. He's the one who made up the idea for Shoubu's Mom's name "舞Mai". he appeared in the manga both as NAC-san and a more realisitc cameo of himself "Nakamura-san". And according to Dai sensei's omake section, Nac-san is also involved in the developing of "Duel Masters" card game. Wow!


 * Rekuta Kadoko (角古れく太; Kadoko Rekuta)
 * (Season 1), Sterling R. (Season 2), Brianne Siddall (Season 3)
 * One of Shobu's close friends. Even though he is an expert at the rules of "Duel Masters," he's a terrible duelist, often going without a single win during a tournament. He's often seen with his portable laptop to keep track of important duels. As a running joke, he is often accidentally knocked far into the air--in one instance (which only occurs in the English "dub"), he was sent flying into space (against a live-action backdrop) and crashed into a space station. He has almost every card ever released (since his father Maruo [丸雄; Maruo] owns a card shop) but cannot correctly use the cards. His correct surname is "Kadoko" (かどこ=角古)  NOT "Kadoka" (かどか) which is actually japanese female given name. When spoken in Japanese (i.e., putting the last name before the given name), his name is actually a pun on Kādo Korekutā (カードコレクター), which is a Japanese katakana transliteration of the English phrase "card collector". In the Japanese manga, his "otakudom" in card collecting often helps Shoubu, or at least give him a clue or a hint towards winning a duel.


 * Sayuki Tasogare (真中紗雪; Tasogare Sayuki)
 * (Season 1), Peggy O'Neal (Season 3)
 * Appearing only in the anime, she is another one of Shobu's close friends. She does not duel, but is always present to see Shobu's matches. She is also Mimi's twin sister.


 * Mimi Tasogare (黄昏ミミ; Tasogare Mimi)
 * (Season 1), Colleen O'Shaughnessey (Season 3)
 * Another member of Shobu's posse. She appeared at first to be both ditzy and an inept duelist but was later revealed as the second of the Four Temple Guardian at the Junior Duelist Center and an expert player. Mimi is also an expert at martial arts and is incredibly smart and strong. She uses mostly a Nature Civilization deck, but also uses Shield Triggers from all civilizations.


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


 * Hakuoh (白凰; Hakuō)
 * (Season 1), Doug Erholtz (Season 3)
 * His name's kanji "白凰Haku-Ou" literally means "White Phoenix" or "White Female-phoenix" in exact translation. As a child, he was a cheerful duelist like Shobu. Since then, Hakuoh has become a cold-hearted villain, as well as Shobu's central rival. Later in the series, he is defeated by Shobu and befriends him, but in Duel Masters Charge, he allies himself with Zakira after being brainwashed into becoming his pawn, White. In Duel Masters Zero, he becomes similar to his old self and appears to be working with Professor Machi. In Duel Masters Cross he tried to stop Zakira through a kaijudo duel but was defeated and White took control of him once again.However,after beating Mimi in a duel, he was able to return to his old self using his own will. He uses a Light Civilization deck. Later, in Duel Masters Cross, he is given a Light/Darkness Knight deck by Zakira. His main cards are Urth Purifying Elemental, Hanusa Radience Elemental, Alcadies Lord of Spirits, Alphadias Lord of Spirits, King Alcadeias,Holy Gaia, Perfect Galaxy, Spirit of Immortality, and most recently, Neo Gryphis, Mystic Light Emperor.


 * White Soldiers (白い騎士団; Shiroi Kishidan; lit. "White Knights") - 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 (三国; Mikuni; later Johnny Coolburns)
 * (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.


 * Gyujiroh Japan (邪藩牛次郎; ''Japan Gyūjirō) / Benny HaHa
 * (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 (愛善 真)
 * (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 (難波金太郎; Nanba Kintarō)
 * (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 (黒城凶死郎 Kokujō Kyōshirō)
 * (Season 1), Terrence Stone (Season 2), Steven Blum (Season 3), Daisuke Kishio (Season 1 japanese , Charge , Zero and Cross )
 * A self-proclaimed "evil genius" and another of Shobu's rivals throughout the series. Other characters make fun of his outlandishly styled long hair and all-black leather outfit. He uses a Darkness Civilization Deck, but later on in the subsequent series,a Darkness/Water deck. He has earned the nickname "Black Death", because of his relentless tactics. He became evil because people say he can not be a kaijudo master. In Season 2 he helps Shobu to defeat the P.L.O.O.P.s. In Season 3 he defeated Mimi but lost to Yumama in the semifinals. In Duel Masters Charge/Cross he helps Shobu in their quest to defeat, but still works alone . His ultimate cards are Dorballom, Lord of Demons , Ballom, Master of Death , Daidalos General of Fury, Ballom Emperor, Lord of Demons , Belbel De Dios Death Castle Beast Lord , Gal Volf Dark Wolblade and most recently added Belbel De Gaul Death God Emperror


 * Master (マスター; Masutā) - 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 (ジョージ釜本; Jōji Kamamoto)
 * (Season 1), Joey Lotsko (Season 2), Brian Beacock (Season 3)
 * A midget in a bear suit and is always seen sucking a pacifier and a 8-years-old boy which seems to be 1. He rides around in a motor baby carriage and uses a Water Civilization deck, he is a skillful duelist and has even defeated Mimi (a powerful duelist in her own right) fairly easily. In the English "dub", he is known as "Boy George", 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 (Dr. ルート; Dokutā Rūto)
 * (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 explins 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.
 * Akikan - 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 Yū (不亞 幽 Fua Yū) / Yumama
 * 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".
 * 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
 * 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.
 * 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.


 * Yap

- The main antagonist of both the third season, Duel Masters Charge and the current series, Duel Master Cross. An evil duelist, the nemesis of Shobu's father, and the one controlling Yumama, who is his younger sister, from the start. 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), sometimes outright destroying them, 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.
 * Zakira (不亞･ザキラ Fua Zakira, real name：ザキラ・ジョール Zakira Joule aka. "Z")


 * 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 (白凰 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 - A 17-years-old guy which dueled Shobu in Episode 8. He lost and they became friends. He uses a Water and Nature Civilizations Deck. He has a long life story and many memories.


 * 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 "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 "that one show with the Egyptian guy with spiky hair".


 * In the United Kingdom, Future Publishing publishes the Official Duel Masters Magazine.


 * 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.