The return of one of the most popular rivalries in anime is back! A brand new anime film based on Kazuki Takahashi’s Yu-Gi-Oh! manga has been announced as part of the 20th anniversary of the series, Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions. The film will be featuring the characters from the original series, where we will witness Yugi take on Kaiba again when it releases in Japan next Spring.
The official website of the movie has revealed that Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions will be focused on the classic and legendary rivalry of Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba. The film will have a new original story with the following synopsis:
In the past Yami Yugi and Kaiba have clashed many times!! Yami Yugi, who resides in Yugi Muto’s body, and Kaiba will have a duel that bets their prides and accepts each other’s mutual experience.
Kazuki Takahashi, the creator of the manga, will be designing the film’s characters, writing the script and will be the Chief Production Supervisor. The director of the film will be Satoshi Kuwahara (Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, Astro Boy: Shinsen-gumi) and Studio Dice (Yu-Gi-Oh! (1998)) will be animating.
The two cast members of the main characters were also revealed to be returning for the film:
- Shunsuke Kazama (Shirou Mizunuma in From Up on Poppy Hill) will return to voice Yugi Muto
- Kenjiro Tsuda (Sadaharu Inui from Prince of Tennis) is back as Seto Kaiba
Following the film’s announcement, two new trailers have been revealed. The first trailer recaps the 20 years of Yu-Gi-Oh! before revealing the new project.
The second trailer features the first footage of the upcoming movie and also reveals one of the new main characters that will debut:
A recent issue of Shueisha’s V Jump has revealed the first designs for the two iconic monsters from the series, the Dark Magician and the Blue Eyes White Dragon. Both monsters will return in the film and will have a brand new look.
Yu-Gi-Oh! is a manga written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi that ran in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from 1996 to 2004 for a total of 38 volumes. The series focuses on the main characters playing a series of games, most notably a card game known as Duel Monsters. The series first received an anime adaptation in 1998 that ran for a total of 27 episodes, by Toei Animation (Dragon Ball Z, One Piece). Another anime adaptation of the manga was produced in 2000 by Studio Gallop (Initial D, Rurouni Kenshin) that ran for 224 episodes from 2000 till 2004. Following the original manga, various spin-off anime and manga have been produced. Additionally, a trading card game has been produced by Konami, based on Duel Monsters from the original series.
Here is the synopsis for the well known 2000 anime:
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters centers around the journey of the spirit of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who is trying to re-discover who he was many years ago, since he has lost his memories. With the help of a boy, Yugi Mutou, the one who awakened the spirit, and his friends, he battles many villains and adversaries. Many of the villains have been linked to the Nameless Pharaoh’s past, due to the Millennium Puzzle he holds and many try to take the puzzle and his power away from him.
The series focuses on the card game aspect of it and the main theme represented throughout the series is friendship.
Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions will be releasing in Japanese theatres in Spring 2016 during Golden Week. The film has been scheduled to be released internationally in late 2016.
You can visit the website here: http://www.yugioh20th.com/
And follow their Twitter: @yugioh_anime
Source – Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions Website, Anime News Network
