Although this collection is entitled Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Season 1 Complete Collection it actually contains both seasons 1 and 2 of Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal is the third spin off from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! And it is weakest iteration of the franchise up to that point. It contains many of the same flaws that affected Yu-Gi-Oh! GX during it’s run, without any of the factors that went some way to redeeming that show.
The problem stems from Zexal‘s main storyline. Throughout the episodes there is some time spent building up mysterious foes that Yuma faces, and there is some mystery to the disappearance of the character’s father before the events of the first season. These developments might have been more intriguing were it not for the pace at which they occur. These mysteries never really get satisfying answers during the episodes present in this collection.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Season 1 Complete Collection also suffers from comparison to the other members of its franchise in terms of how it treats its cast. How Yu-Gi-Oh deals with its characters that aren’t the spiky haired protagonist, the villain, or the grumpy rival has always been a bit of a problem for the series. In the case of Zexal this problem is the worst it has ever been. Barring one or two episodes any character that isn’t Yuma only serves to confront him, or support him. They are of such little importance that they can vanish for episodes at a time without their loss having any impact on the experience.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Season 1 Complete Collection doesn’t have any special features on offer. So there isn’t anything to make the experience of watching the show via this box set than streaming it online.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal can be a fun show, and sometimes it shows similar promise to the other Yu-Gi-Oh! Offerings. It is let down by a plot that is often pushed aside in favour of duelist of the week episodes. As a result, it is never really allowed to develop. By the time episode 49 has finished the show has advanced less in terms of narrative than other similar anime would have in half the time. The result is an anime that can be fun to indulge in the odd episode of, but doesn’t work as a whole. When you throw in the lack of DVD specific extras, and the ease of finding Zexal on streaming services, there isn’t much to recommend about this collection specifically unless you really like the anime.
YU-GI-OH! ZEXAL SEASON 1 COMPLETE COLLECTION / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: SATOSHI KUWABAR / WIRTERS: VARIOUS / STARRING: ELI JAY, MARC THOMPSON, SEAN SCHEMMEL, EILEEN STEVENS, CHRISTOPHER KROMER/ RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
