Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie (1999)

   

(This is the first of a 3 parter on the STARTER BOX.)    

    The first Yu-Gi-Oh! movie (劇場版「遊☆戯☆王」Gekijō-ban `Yū ☆ Gi ☆ Ō' "Movie Version 'Yu-Gi-Oh'") played in theaters for the first time on March 6, 1999 alongside the Digimon Adventure film  [デジモンアドベンチャー(1999年の映画) ] and Doctor Slump: Arale's Surprise Burn (ドクタースランプ アラレのびっくりバーン, Dokutā Suranpu: Arare no Bikkuri Bān) as a part of the Toei Animation Fair. These three movies were released together in honor of the 40th Anniversary of TV ASAHI (テレビ朝日Terebiasahi). All three were produced by Toei Animation, with the Yu-Gi-Oh! movie being allotted 30 minutes out of the 100 minute runtime. 

    This movie would be put on a Video Home System (VHS) on November 21, 1999. However, copyright problems have prevented it from being released on more modern systems live DVD or Blu-Ray. You may see an outline of the plot and its Duels here. I won't go into too much detail except where relevant. But note that there are some spoilers to pay attention to if you want to watch this movie for yourself.

CAST

    I also won't go into too much detail as to the cast. It's the same cast as Season Zero with new names for the new characters. If you want to explore the details of who made the films, please use the link above. 

OP: FIELD OF VIEW / 渇いた叫び


ED: WANDS / Even if you break tomorrow

     Please keep in mind that these were also the OP and ED of the 1998 series and have been spoofed in other Yu-Gi-Oh! related works. 

    What I do want to note is that, despite the short runtime, this movie was originally intended to promote the Bandai Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Game. During the Climax Duel, Kaiba summons the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's 3-Body Connection though the use of Wicked Chain. Both cards were also given as promotional cards. These were the Bandai game's last releases.

 

     To this day, these remain Bandai copyright and thus unavailable for the Konami game. However, that didn't mean Konami didn't have something for the Animation Fair.

STARTER BOX THEATRICAL RELEASE

    On the same day as the movie, Konami released the first ever Starter Deck in the OCG's history. The Starter Box: Theatrical Release Limited Release Edition (ＳＴＡＲＴＥＲ（スターター） ＢＯＸ（ボックス） 劇（げき）場（じょう）限（げん）定（てい）発（はつ）売（ばい）版（ばん Sutātā bokkusu gekijō gentei hatsubai-ban) was on sale during the 1999 Toei Animation Fair for those who wanted to buy it. Only 5000 of these were sold, so those versions of the cards are rare indeed:


    What makes the Theatrical Release special was its inclusion of 5 monster cards unique to it that the Retail version wouldn't have. They would be good additions to a Deck, but there is one card in particular to note.


     Aqua Madoor (アクア・マドール Akua Madōru) was the best of the unique monsters due to its strong Tribal affiliation and stats. As a member of the Magician Tribe, Aqua Madoor was supported by "Book of Secret Arts", giving it a strong 1500/2300 stat line. The Defense Power is most notable as it is the same as Gaia the Fierce Knight's Attack Power. In combination with another card, Aqua Madoor is capable of walling certain Tier 1 monsters for multiple turns:


    This is what allows Aqua Madoor to be the best of the lower level monsters. But like with "Kanan the Swordmistress", the rarity of Aqua Madoor meant that its impact was dampened. 

    The actual discussion on the STARTER BOX itself must wait for another time. Because while this was indeed the first, this was not the final release of the STARTER BOX.

CONCLUSION

    Toei's last foray into animating for the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise proved to be a solid success. It's a solid animated film that showed off what the actual anime could've been if done properly. This would also be Yu-Gi-Oh!'s only animation on the year. It would take another year before Konami was able to get Yu-Gi-Oh! back on television, though it would be under a different animation studio.

    The Toei Animation Fair also saw Konami's release of the OCG's first Starter Deck as a Limited Release Edition. While Retail would be altered a bit, it gave players a taste of what was to come on March 18, 1999.



 

 

 

 

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