Apr 6, 2025
(This review was written on October 24, 2024)
You know what? 10 out of 10! I'm serious! Despite the manga already having an incredibly satisfying ending, this movie was the perfect conclusion for the series as a whole. Every original thing that was introduced in this movie pays off, fitting in perfectly with everything that has already been established to bring the overall narrative to a tight conclusion. Every character is handled beautifully in a way that captures the growth they all experienced in the manga while more than hinting at the wonderful opportunities the future holds for them. Every plot-point is wrapped up perfectly in
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an incredibly satisfying way that ends the story on a beautiful note, even if it hurts a bit that this is truly the end. While it may seem like I'm just checking off a list of things the film does right in order to justify it as an ending to the story, there is one thing I need to talk about in detail. One character to be precise.
Seto Kaiba. This guy is easily one of my favorite characters in all of anime and manga, and this film truly concluded his arc better than I could've possibly hoped. I won't deny that I actually had some nervous curiousity about how his character would be handled in this movie, seeing how well his character arc concluded when he made his exit in the manga. However, while the manga did wrap up the character arc that he had been going through since the start, it did leave the door open for a continuation of his rivalry with Yugi and "the other one" (spoilers!) Thankfully, this film takes that somewhat loose-end of his character in the best and most over-the-top direction they could! I won't give any details away, but as far as his relationship with Yugi goes, this film epically concludes and I couldn't be happier for my boy!
Talking about the film from a technical perspective, it's amazing! The animation is simply excellent, whether it be the beautiful and sharp 2D animation of the characters, or the impresively detailed yet sleek designs of the monsters that are actually given incredible CG treatment! I knew ahead of time that Takahashi actually personally animated the shot of Yugi putting on the new duel disk for the first time, and seeing it made my heart so full. The sound design is on point with an amazing score (for the subbed version anyway) that made all of the extremely hype moments as impactful as possible!
It actually breaks my heart that Takahashi is no longer with us, having tragically passed away in an accident just over two years ago, because I genuinely would've made an attempt to let him know just how much this series had an impact on me and how I'll always cherish the story and characters that he created. I'm at least glad that he was able to write this film to finally conclude the amazing story he started in 1996, as it shows just how spectacular he was at what he did. Rest in Peace, Takahashi. Thank you for everything.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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