My voice gives me super-strength!

January 5, 2009 1:02 AM

A British parody of an Americanized and kid-sanitized edit of an animated Japanese show based on a children's collectible card game: Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series.

It started as a quick joke, a bit of self-mockery by Martin Billany (AKA LittleKuriboh), an admitted geek (so geeky, in fact, that he proposed with a YouTube video.) It rapidly grew in popularity, though not without controversy. Now at two years and 31 episodes, it's almost an institution in Internet Time.

Note: Actual knowledge of Yu-Gi-Oh, anime, or card games is absolutely not required. Give it a try. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

posted by Scattercat (13 comments total)

All we need now is a Dutch translation of this British parody of an Americanized animated Japanese show... oh, and more cowbell.
posted by netbros at 1:06 AM on January 5

Oh hell no. AMV Hell, or AMV Hell. (some NSFW).
posted by zengargoyle at 1:32 AM on January 5

I actually thought it was pretty lame. The very first one one on the page, the bevis and butthead parody is probably one of the worst examples, although I only watched one other one which was a little better.
posted by delmoi at 2:47 AM on January 5 [1 favorite]

It was no accident that I got to be the caretaker of Colonel Walter E. Kurtz's memory, any more than being back in Saigon was an accident.

There is no way to tell his story without telling my own.

And if his story really is a confession, then so is mine.
posted by Smart Dalek at 3:35 AM on January 5

Haha, I actually thought this was funny and well done. Although I did start at the start, so maybe it has lost its way.
posted by oxford blue at 5:10 AM on January 5

The first one's not bad. But it was halfway through the second that I got a strange feeling, the feeling that, despite the attempts at sarcasm, the makers of the video weren't as antagonistic towards the material as it seemed at first.

Let's be clear here. Yu-Gi-Oh! is an anime about a collectable card game, a real game, but in the cartoon the cards come to life and have magic powers. In the anime, they have real magic powers, but they nearly all have stupid names*. The powers come from ancient Egypt. Our hero is a reincarnation of a pharoah, and has a goofy character design. In short, the cartoon is nearly 100% wish-fulfillment merchandise peddling, and is thus worthy of little more than derision.

(Except the ones, perhaps, based off of Gradius ships and enemies. Konami makes both YuGiOh and the Gradius video games, you see. This also means, should they choose, they could put in Simon Belmont & Dracula, the ships from Scramble and Time Pilot, and Solid Snake. If it seems like those might wreck continuity, they've already included references to a real 80's space shooter. Continuity's circling the drain.)
posted by JHarris at 5:16 AM on January 5

This wasn't funny.
posted by dunkadunc at 6:43 AM on January 5

Attention Duelists! My hair is shocked this isn't a double!
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 7:27 AM on January 5 [1 favorite]

The later episodes are more amusing than the first few.
posted by spamguy at 7:30 AM on January 5

Yeah, I can break necks with my mind.
posted by Samizdata at 9:49 AM on January 5

It really picks up after the first few episodes, and you can safely skip the "MST" attempts, which are shockingly dull.

And yes, the creator actually does like the show. It's more loving parody than biting critique.

Sorry to all those who didn't enjoy it! (I still fall out of my chair laughing at some of those episodes...)
posted by Scattercat at 6:07 PM on January 5

Mr.Encyclopedia: Attention Duelists! My hair is shocked this isn't a double!

I agree completely. It's a very enjoyable series, though I'd have to say that being unfamiliar with the show being parodied takes away half the fun of it.
posted by flatluigi at 1:50 AM on January 6

I've seen the entire series, and it's definitely better if you have at least passing familiarity with the show. As someone who used to watch it day after day completely enthralled (and revisited it one fond day half a dozen year only to discover how shockingly awful it was), the parody is nothing short of awesome.
posted by Phire at 7:06 PM on January 6