There are times when company tries to gain success by copying another. Especially when it comes to animation. Disney has been notorious for this with Shnookums and Meat(Ren & Stimpy), Teamo Supremo (Powerpuff Girls),and Recess(Hey Arnold) . But this time around we’re not talking about Disney. This time we take a look at Hasbro and their network the Hub. They weren’t content with being the creators of Transformers, GI Joe, and their current cash cow of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (although the fans of the latter I’m pretty sure they aren’t satisfied with). For some reason they feel that they should have been the first to come up with Yu-Gi-Oh. So to remedy the company’s ego, they create/rip off with Kaijudo: Rise of The Duel Masters. Technically this a reimagining of the Japanese Duel Masters property that Wizards of The Coast acquired(and is cooperating with Hasbro), but all the changes seem to coincidently be toward making it more Yu-Gi-Oh-esque.
If you watch anything on The Hub for even one second, chances are you have not escaped the constant carpet bombing of Kaijudo commercials telling you how the show is better than anything your eye balls have ever seen(even the color blue). The build up before the show was huge. Just like with most anime shows, I base my opinion on the first three episodes. So let me guide you through a short crash course of the debut trilogy.
We start off with Ray and his friends at school like any other kids. But then a bully comes up to Ray and makes fun of him for being half white and half Japanese. Making comments that since he is half Japanese, he probably only has half a black belt. Of course then his friend Allison comes to the defense and makes some insults of her own.
Yes, they decide to go early on the “racism is bad, kids!” lesson in the show. Ray shows his friends a drawing of a beast he has been working on, and later accidently summons up the beast and learns it’s real. This catches the attention of duel Master Chavez (later on those race relations lesson). Ray and friends are led by Master Chavez to the training center.
And now onto episode two. We get the duels masters giving their teachings and testings on the group to see if they worthy and ready to become duels masters. A monster is accidently set loose and Ray manages to summon a beast in order to fight it, but then winds up dueling against one of the masters. He then commits the cardinal sin of riding the beast he is using (it’s a big no no because the show says so). This followed by nonstop chatter about how Ray is “different” from others.
Dude, they tell that to everybody.
And onto episode three we just see our group defeat the bad guys, and get congratulated. Blah,blah,blah.
Let me start off by saying it’s pretty obvious how much this show wants to be the next money making cartoon the way pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh was. You got elements from both shows such as using creatures to fight, dueling bad guys who use the game for gain, and of course having a thing on your arm (which can then be marketed as a toy for kids the way it was in Yu-Gi-Oh). The character of The Choten seems so blatantly modeled after Pegasus from Yu-Gi-Oh.
Although not as pimpin' as Pegasus. Bottoms up.
There’s the anime influenced art style of the show. Now there is nothing wrong with an American cartoon using a style influenced by anime, but it doesn’t’ come off as they probably intended. Visually it looks like a non anime trying desperately to be an anime. Unlike Avatar: The Last Air Bender, which had a style undistinguishable from something created in Japan. Or Teen Titans, where the exaggerated and simplified visuals work in favor of the story. The bright pastel colors and odd facial shapes in Kaijudo clash with the anime style they are aiming for. The funny thing being that the show is self aware when one character mentions to the other that they should pay attention to anime more often.
No one cares, dude.
Then there is the racial harmony angle of the show. Believe me, I’m all for a diverse cast with many different looking characters, but Kaijudo seems to really throw at your face and say “See, see! We’re not racist like those other shows! Racism is bad kids!” Throughout those three episodes, we are reminded that Rei is half and half. We get it already! And with the character of Master Chavez, we get to hear him randomly speak Spanish throughout the show. This kind of reinforces racial stereotypes in this attempt to be diverse. He might as well be put in a Hanna Barbara cartoon from the 50s.
Now, despite all the crap I’ve poured onto this show, there is one thing that doesn’t totally suck about the series. And that is the action. There is some decent fighting among the beasts. Better than most cartoons on TV (That takes cares of me saying one good thing about the show).
Now you may be wonder why I’m giving so much criticism to a show created by a company that makes cartoons just so they can sell toys. Well the fact of the matter is even with those facts, Hasbro at least tries to create cartoons that have some value or uniqueness to them. And course because The Hub put so much hype behind it. Creating a bland rip off of Yu-Gi-Oh just seems really beneath them (I’m still surprised this didn’t come from Disney). It looks like they put a lot of effort into Kaijudo(more so than other cartoons out now), but unfortunately all that work went into seeing how much they could imitate. Their current commercials keep going about how it’s a “hit show” when it just barely aired. If you make bold claims, you better be willing to deliver the goods.