The English theme song for this show is catchy, but pretty bad. I’m warning you before I post it that this is Sonic Colors bad. I wheep for the ears of children when this and Monsuno air back to back.
Zap2it listed the series premiere, but a post by a moderator on YTV’s message board confirms it – Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal will premiere on YTV beginning June 2 at 1PM EST. The series will take the spot of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds in the afternoon anime lineup. Will YTV air the remaining episodes of 5Ds? Probably not, but who knows, though 4Kids (the franchise’s licensor in the west) didn’t dub the entire series.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal is the fifth Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series and follows Yuma, a would be Duel Monsters champion who has the heart, but not necessarily the skills to make his dreams come true. This is when the mysterious spirit named Astral barges into his life and takes Yuma onto a wild trading card game adventure. The series is a lot more Saturday morning-esque than its predecessor, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds which took place in a post-apocalyptic world starring a older protagonist. Zexal on the other hand takes place in the near future, with Yuma being young enough to where schoolyard bullying can happen. Read more
Remember Monsuno, the US-Japan co-production that I highlighted a few years ago as a way to bring anime back to North American television? Well, a few months after its February 2012 Nicktoons US premiere (which led me to expect the show would either be picked up by Teletoon, or Nick Canada, not YTV) the show is now heading up North, according to YTV.com’s schedule that is. The series is set to premiere Saturday May 5 at 1:30PM EST in the block of programming I’ve unofficially dubbed the “Super Anime Lineup” featuring the likes of Beyblade Metal Masters, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds, and Power Rangers Super Samurai. Read more
This marathon already happened, and I forgot to make a post about it... whoops
This is another case of “I already knew this but I’ll hold off on writing a post on it” as schedule wizard Mohji pointed out in our forums, Zap2it listed the YTV premiere of Pokémon The Movie: Black – Victini and Reshiram. I wanted to wait it out until YTV posted their schedule after a a certain debacle. It was a good thing I waited, since it seems Zap2it listed the wrong version of that film to broadcast. They listed the version of the film that was broadcast on Cartoon Network in December, where as YTV.com’s schedule listing has it being the version of the film we were snubbed a theatrical release of. The film premieres this Saturday at 2PM EST, concluding the first broadcast of a retooled Super Anime Lineup. Read more
As schedule wiz Mohji points out scheduling site Zap2it lists the third Yu-Gi-Oh! theatrical film, Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D: Bonds Beyond Time (under its Japanese title of “Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Super Fusion! Bonds That Transcend Time”) as airing the on July 9, 2011 at 12AM. This would be the movie’s television debut, and I guess an apology for not screening the film in Canada.
IN TRUE 3D
While Zap2it is almost always correct in their listings (as they receive there’s from broadcasters) I’m not 100% convinced that the film will debut at this time. Firstly, 12AM isn’t the kind of timeslot YTV debuts films at. 12AM is a timeslot where they’ll showcase an encore presentation of an earlier broadcast of that night. The film is currently only set for that one broadcast. Secondly, the listing on Zap2it is almost all linked to the Japanese staff, from voice actors, to even the title. The Japanese version wouldn’t air on YTV.
However, that doesn’t mean YTV won’t air the film. It could simply have been put on the schedule mistakenly (like a certain show) jumping the gun. We do know 4Kids (the franchise’s US licensor) was selling the movie to international broadcasters, and that YTV bought into 4Kids with another batch of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds episodes. But would they allow a Canadian broadcaster to air it before they air it on the CW4Kids? Would they even allow a broadcast before the DVD release?
This is not 3D, but I sure fooled you!
Speaking of which, its DVD release is in question. As I mentioned on a few social networking sites, I became a bit concerned for the film’s home media release when no Canadian retailers had put up pages relating to the release (after various US retailers had put up pre-order pages for July 19). I grew slightly concerned, and reached out to 4Kids for a response on if this DVD would be US-only. They never got back to me. That’s when I noticed something – the US release seemed questionable. I checked over the distributor’s website (in this case, it’s A&E Home Video), and saw nothing Yu-Gi-Oh! related scheduled. I thought, “Maybe they don’t advertise third party titles?”. But then I checked Amazon.com, and instead of asking me to pre-order. It told me the film was no longer available. So I checked Wal-Mart.com, and sure enough the film was pushed back to the generic place holder date of December 31, 2012. It’s not getting released in July in North America. Though, it seems that Manga Entertainment UK’s Uncut, and Bi-lingual release of the film (which also includes Malefic Red Eyes Black Dragon – a card originally given away with the screenings of the film) will still take place on July 25, 2011. I’d certainly hope that 3D/2D Blu-Ray is region-free…
But here comes the inevitable question of why this US release seems to not be happening. Well, as someone who isn’t in the know in this specific situation, it’s pretty easy to point the finger at the legal fight 4Kids Entertainment is in with NAS, and TV Tokyo (the Japanese production houses behind Yu-Gi-Oh!). Especially given it’s a lawsuit stemming from home video distribution, and 4Kids supposedly hiding money earned from Yu-Gi-Oh! DVD, and VHS releases.
One thing I can say for certain is this, if, and maybe even when YTV (I’d suggest checking out YTV.com’s online schedule for the 9th, and seeing if the film is listed there as the air date) broadcasts this film, it won’t be in 3D. So while it’s a nice way to bring the film to Canadians, we’re still missing some of the cool things US, UK, and Japanese audiences got to see.
UPDATE
As noted by a few members, YTV.com’s online schedule list Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: The Pyramid of Light for this 12AM broadcast. It appears this may have been a false alarm all along.
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