Can I ask if you liked all the yugioh spinoffs? I kind of want to watch more than just 5ds but people seem divided on whether they're good or not.

This blog has a heavy 5D’s bias because it’s my personal favorite and I know it the best as far as animation is concerned. I try not to let that bias influence what I post too much (though as a result I don’t cover GX too much, because animation-wise I know it the least). I’ve seen all of the shows so let me see if I can break down the pros and cons of each. This is a bit outside of the scope of the blog, but I imagine some people are curious on my thoughts on the shows outside of the animation.

GX

+ the slice of life aspect means there’s always something new and often times incredibly bizarre going on

+ diverse and interesting cast of weirdos

+ very strong duels

+ very strong third season (episodes 105-156)

- a lot of “filler” in the first half due to the nature of the show.

- the show focuses on Judai a lot and doesn’t utilize its interesting side characters often enough

- the nonsensical nature can be a turn off to people



5D’s (here for completeness’ sake)

+ some of the best worldbuilding and intrigue in the franchise

+ interesting cast of core and side characters

+ motorcycles isn’t as stupid as you’d think. actually kind of awesome

+ story and characters are “mature” without taking itself too seriously

- story and characters kind of fall apart halfway through

- despite the rocky second half the ending is very good and wraps up what it can



ZEXAL

+ stylish direction and some of the best, consistent animation in the franchise

+ interesting rivals and side characters whose stories are adequately explored

- Yuma is a very divisive protagonist. Some find him annoying, some like him. I don’t.

- All of Yuma’s friends are awful. All of them.

- Duels often focus on one or a set of “boss” cards for both characters, meaning that many characters’ decks consist of unmemorable fodder to summon and protect the boss



ARC-V

+ utilizes the mechanics and worlds of the different Yu-Gi-Oh series into a “celebration” of the series of sorts

+ “dimensional war” plotline is legitimately interesting for the first half to 2/3 of the show

+ Very ambitious scope of the story (with flawed execution)

- Pacing past episode 50 or so is very erratic, with a lot of quick leaps and drastic slowdowns (Synchro arc, Xyz arc, Battle Beast)

- Actions cards as a game mechanic mean many duels end in cop-outs

- Use of legacy characters (from GX, 5D’s, and Zexal) is underwhelming and poorly utilized or a blatant excuse for card promotion



The great thing about Yu-Gi-Oh is that all of the shows are so vastly different from each other. I think that’s part of the reason why so many people are divided on them. Being a fan of one doesn’t necessarily guarantee being a fan of another, and that’s okay!



My personal ranking would probably be 5D’s > DM = ARC-V = GX > ZEXAL? 5D’s is my favorite and ZEXAL my least favorite, and the other three I have a hard time ranking one over the other. (I consider the DM manga superior to all 5 but the DM anime is bad enough that I can’t really put it on the same level)



As for if they’re worth watching, I can’t really say. My suggestion would be to watch maybe the first 10 episodes of each and see if you like the vibe. That being said, the spinoffs like to change into very different shows later on, so it’s hard to really say if you’ll like it or not by the end.