The most underrated anime in the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise actually has a protagonist that is essentially Yugi’s opposite. This anime is Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal, the fourth series in the franchise, which focuses on the young aspiring duelist Yuma Tsukumo and his spiritlike alien companion Astral. While it follows many of the same plot beats as the previous series in the franchise, Yuma is radically different from the protagonists that came before him.
In all the previous Yu-Gi-Oh series, the protagonists were great duelists. Of course, while Jaden from GX and Yusei from 5D’s were naturally gifted players, with Yugi it was a bit different. While he seems to be a decent duelist in his own right, for all of his most important duels, Yugi let the spirit of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh take over. In many ways, the Pharaoh is Yu-Gi-Oh’s real protagonist, even if the final duel of the series is a great showcase of Yugi’s growth as a duelist. Yuma, while seemingly similar to Yugi, is in many ways his opposite.
Yuma Being Yugi’s Opposite Makes Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal Great
While Yuma and Astral have a similar relationship to Yugi and the Pharaoh, Yuma is a much worse duelist than Yugi. Unlike the Pharaoh, Astral can’t possess his young friend despite being the better duelist, which makes Yuma’s first couple of duels kind of tough to watch. This isn’t helped by how goofy and childlike Yuma is, a major contrast to Yugi’s much quieter and more mature nature. However, while these character traits make Yuma hard to like initially, they serve as a great base to build on and his growth as both a duelist and his character is one of the best parts of the series. This makes Yuma’s final duel with Astral arguably even more satisfying on a character level than the final match of the original series.
Unfortunately, Yuma’s initial character, while necessary to make the series as good as it is in its later arcs, causes many people to drop the show early on. This is a real shame because while its first arcs may be a bit silly like Yuma himself, the later arcs eventually become some of the darkest and most interesting in the franchise. These arcs cause Yuma to grapple with moral questions that Yugi never had to in his series, which is part of what makes him arguably an even better protagonist.
While it could have easily been negative, being Yugi’s opposite is actually Yuma’s greatest trait. The Yu-Gi-Oh franchise never really featured a duelist who was terrible at the game again, which is a real shame given how compelling Yuma was. Yu-Gi-Oh fans who want a series with a truly unique protagonist should give Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal a chance as its differences from the original series actually makes it one of the franchise’s best anime.
