Anime Yu-Gi-Oh! (1998)

[Ikagura]

The original manga leads into Duelist Kingdom pretty well, and seeing the card game we all know in it's infancy in the pre-Duelist Kingdom incarnation of Yu-gi-oh was a fun treat as well.

I think that after Bakura and Kaiba's defeat, Kazuki Takahashi had to think of a new antagonist that would not only mix the wealth of one and the Millennium powers of the other (like bringing Freezer as the main antagonist after Piccolo Daimao and his son's defeat).

I also think that since Magic & Wizards aka Duel Monster got popular he wanted to make a full arc centred around it (while keeping that early YGO feel with the whole island to explore, the Player Killer fights and how the rules aren't followed down to the letter or else it would've been boring).

I really am annoyed when people say "but the magic card about the moon cannot be destroyed by the player's own monster!" when it's not about playing a card game but a board game featuring cards.

Imagine if people says that the Warhammer board game should be played like D 'n D rather than a proper strategy game....

Speaking of which: why we never got a proper TRPG style Yugioh game with a map giving terrain advantage to the player?

PS: I think the Labyrinth duel is one of the highlights of that arc just because it brought back the Monster World arc type of progression (albeit simplified)