The first season of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, based on the manga by Kazuki Takahashi, premiered in Japan on April 18, 2000, and concluded on April 3, 2001, on TV Tokyo. The season was directed by Kunihisa Sugishima, and written by Junki Takegami, Masashi Sogo, and Shin Yoshida. The English version of this season premiered in the United States on September 29, 2001 on Kids' WB, and concluded on November 9, 2002.
The season follows Yugi Mutou and his friends - Katsuya Jonouchi, Hiroto Honda, and Anzu Mazaki (renamed to Joey Wheeler, Tristan Taylor and Téa Gardner in the English adaptation) - to Duelist Kingdom, a tournament on the island of the same name, to free the soul of his grandfather, Sugoroku (renamed Solomon Moto in the English adaptation) from imprisonment by Pegasus J. Crawford (renamed Maximillion Pegasus in the English adaptation). The last ten episodes deal with the aftermath of Yugi's duel with Pegasus, including several filler episodes featuring original storylines not seen in the manga.
Between September 24, 2002 and February 22, 2005, Funimation released twenty DVD sets for the season: twelve sets containing three episodes, three containing four episodes, one with two episodes, one containing all forty-nine episodes and the last three containing uncut versions of the first nine episodes. All DVDs were encoded in Region 1. The first season of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters was formerly licensed by 4Kids Entertainment in North America, and other English-speaking territories and countries. It is now licensed and distributed by 4K Media.
Cast and characters Japanese
Regular Hidehiro Kikuchi as Hiroto Honda Hiroki Takahashi as Katsuya Jonouchi Kenjiro Tsuda as Seto Kaiba Maki Saitoh as Anzu Mazaki Shunsuke Kazama as Yugi Muto/Yami Yugi
Recurring Hajime Komada as Keith Howard Haruhi Nanao as Mai Kujaku Jirou Jay Takasugi as Pegasus J. Crawford Junkoh Takeuchi as Mokuba Kaiba You Inoue as Ryou Bakura/Yami Bakura Tadashi Miyazawa as Sugoroku Mutou Urara Takano as Insector Haga Yuuichi Nakamura as Dinosaur Ryuzaki
Guest stars Daisuke Namikawa as Ryouta Kajiki Eiji Takemoto as Takaido Harî Kaneko as Killer Player (PaniK) Kaori Tagami as Rebecca Hopkins Masami Suzuki as Ghost Kotsuzuka Mika Sakenobe as Shizuka Kawai Norihisa Mori as Satake Ryo Naitou as Ryuji Otoga
English
Regular Amy Birnbaum as Téa Gardner Sam Riegel as Tristan Taylor (Episodes 1–10) Wayne Grayson as Joey Wheeler Dan Green as Yugi Muto/Yami Yugi John Campbell as Tristan Taylor (Episodes 11+) Eric Stuart as Seto Kaiba
Recurring Maddie Blaustein as Solomon Moto Darren Dunstan as Maximillion Pegasus Megan Hollingshead as Mai Valentine Tara Jayne as Mokuba Kaiba Ted Lewis as Bakura Ryou, "Bandit" Keith Howard, Croquet Sam Riegel as Rex Raptor Jimmy Zoppi as Weevil Underwood Andrew Rannells as Mako Tsunami
Guest stars Amy Birnbaum as Bonz Maddie Blaustein as Zygor David Moo as PaniK Lisa Ortiz as Serenity Wheeler Marc Thompson as Duke Devlin Kerry Williams as Rebecca Hawkins Eric Stuart as Kemo, Sid Mike Pollock as Arthur Hawkins
Episode list
DVD releases The first ten DVD volumes, as well as volumes 12 and 13, contain 3 episodes each. Volumes 11, 15, and 16 contain four episodes each and the fourteenth volume contains two episodes. The first volume was released on September 24, 2002. The complete first season set was released on August 10, 2004.
Volume Discs Episodes Region 1 release1: The Heart of the Cards13September 24, 20022: Into the Hornet's Nest133: Attack from the Deep13November 5, 20024: Give Up the Ghost135: Evil Spirit of the Ring13January 14, 20036: The Scars of Defeat137: Double Trouble Duel13March 18, 20038: Face Off139: Champion vs. Creator13May 6, 200310: Duel Identity1311: Best of Friends, Best of Duelists14July 22, 200312: Match of the Millennium, Part 113August 19, 200313: Match of the Millennium, Part 213September 16, 200314: Legendary Heroes12October 14, 200315: Ties of Friendship1416: Dungeon Dice Monsters14November 18, 2003Complete First Season649August 10, 20041: The Shadow Games (Uncut)13October 19, 20042: The Insector Combo (Uncut)133: Stolen: Blue-Eyes White Dragon (Uncut)13February 22, 2005
References