Feeling the Flow

Apparently, 4kids remains undefeated in their reputation streak of airing Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series in English. Once again, they are in charge of licensing the Japanese series as the fourth, Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, comes alive in English language on the CW4kids beginning October 15. I swear, the way they can find loopholes out of their messes is just crazy, but you have to admire their doggedness. Like in Yu-Gi-Oh! and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, the main protagonist keeps his Japanese name, so Yuma Tsukumo stays the way he is. He's still an amateur duelist at first, but gradually improves with the help of his otherworldly companion, Astral, who gives him access to his Extra Deck, allowing him to summon the new Xyz Monsters. It's kind of like relying on Synchro Summoning to win duels all over again, in a way. The only current English names revealed include Bronk Stone and Tori Meadows, two good friends of Yuma.

But here's the deal. Because 4kids is in charge, it obviously means fans are gonna whine and mope about the kid-friendly company "butchering" the series down to a degrading level. For example, take this scene in episode 23 for instance, where Tori slaps Yuma for losing hope simply because he doesn't strike her as that kind of person at all. So this is how she helps him regain his confidence. And it works. Chances are, 4kids could omit this scene entirely, although they kept in some parts of Yusei and Jack having a fistfight in episode 43 of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. But Japan had better hurry up. They've only aired about 25 episodes and the English adaption is coming our way!

Good luck, 4kids!