Duel Masters
Duel Masters is a media franchise consisting of a manga, several anime series, a trading card game, and a video game. The original manga sold 4.5 million copies in Japan.
Plot
The story centers around the card game Duel Masters, which revolves around five civilizations consisting of Fire, Water, Light, Darkness and Nature. The original storyline follows Shobu Kirifuda, a young boy who likes to play Duel Masters. He and a few duelists are known to bring the monsters on the cards to life in their duels. Shobu engages in this card game so that he can be the best duelist like his father was.Characters
Main characters
;Shobu Kirifuda;Hakuoh
;Kyoshiro Kokujo
Shobu's family
;Shori Kirifuda;Mai Kirifuda
Shobu's friends
;Rekuta Kadoko;Sayuki Manaka
;Mimi Tasogare
;George Kamamoto
;Dr. Root Westhandler
;NAC
;Knight
; Extreme Bucketman
The Temple
; Master;Fritz the Goblin
;Kintaro Nanba
Temple Guardians
The Temple Guardians are the elite members of the White Soldiers that work under Hakuoh. Among the members of the Temple Guardians are:;Mikuni
;Temple Guardian 2
;Gyujiroh Japan / Benny HaHa
;Makoto Aizen
P.L.O.O.P.
Short for Powerful Loyal Order of Princes, P.L.O.O.P. is an evil organization that plot to use monsters from the Civilizations of the Creature World to take over Earth. This organization is seen only in the "second season" that was created for America. Among the known members are:;Prince Irving the Terrible
;Prince Melvin the Conqueror
;Princess Pollyana of Green Gables
;Prince Wilburg the Great
;Prince Maurice the Merciless
;Prince Herbert the Ruthless
;Prince Eugene the Mean
Black Soldiers
The Black Soldiers are a group of duelists that are the opposite form of Hakuoh's White Soldiers. Most of the Black Soldiers consists of duelists that were unable to defeat Hakuoh when wanting to become a member of the White Soldiers. They entered the Battle Arena Tournament to beat all of its players. After the defeat of most of the Black Soldier, most of the unnamed members left the group when Yumama came into view. Besides its various unnamed members, among its known members are:;Robby Rotten
;Akakan
;Multi-Card Monty
;Ishiguro
Other antagonists
;Yu Fua / Yumama;Zakira Fua
;Professor March
;Ultimate Master Darcy
;Jura
Minor characters
;Toru;Jamira
;Tsuyoshi Saroyama
;Takeshi Saroyama
;Red Afro
;Master Yuki
Media
Manga
The Duel Masters manga series is written by Shigenobu Matsumoto, and published by Shogakukan in the CoroCoro Comic magazine. While none of manga series have been licensed for the U.S., there was a North American-created comic book by Dreamwave Productions.The original manga series ran from 1999 to 2005 and was compiled into 17 tankōbon volumes. It was followed by Duel Masters: Fighting Edge from 2005 to 2008, and Duel Masters Star Cross from 2008 to 2011. Duel Masters Victory was published from 2011 to 2014 and features an alternate storyline from the anime of the same name.
There is also spinoff manga unrelated to the main series such as Duel Hero:Dash, Duel Masters: Legend Champion VICTORY and Duel Masters: Revolution.
Volumes
Trading card game
The card game first originated in Japan in May 2002 and was marketed by Takara Tomy. It was produced in English by Wizards of the Coast, who purchased the rights to the name Duel Masters from , which ran a play-by-mail gladiator game called Duelmasters, now known as Duel2. The English-language printing of the TCG ran from DM-01 Base Set until DM-12 Thrash of the Hybrid Megacreatures. It was the twelfth and final expansion released by Wizards of the Coast for the English-language game before it was discontinued in 2006.The spin-off product, , was announced by Wizards of the Coast on February 2012. A relaunch of the TCG product line with Wizards of the Coast working along with its parent company Hasbro. It was released on June 26, 2012, with the previous Duel Master cards being rendered incompatible. Wizards of the Coast discontinued Kaijudo in 2014.
Anime
The first television series originally premiered in Japan on October 21, 2002 and ran until April 4, 2003. To date, the series has been followed by 13 sequel seasons. Duel Masters was followed by Duel Masters Charge, which is mostly based on the manga; Zero Duel Masters, which takes place in an alternate timeline; Duel Masters Zero, which continues the story from where Charge left off; and Duel Masters Cross & Duel Masters Cross Shock. From Duel Masters Zero until Duel Masters Victory V, the series was broadcast in a 10-minute, quarter-hour format.Duel Masters Victory premiered on April 2, 2011 and introduced a new protagonist named Katta Kirifuda, the younger brother of Shobu, and centers around his journey to become a champion. Its storyline follows from the events of the Duel Masters: Star Cross manga series. Victory was followed by Duel Masters Victory V, Duel Masters Victory V3, Duel Masters Versus, Duel Masters Versus Revolution, and Duel Masters Versus Revolution Final. The 2017 Duel Masters anime and its sequel, Duel Masters!, introduced Joe Kirifuda and focused on his adventures in the Creature World. In April 2020, Duel Masters King was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The anime returned on May 31, 2020.
A spin-off series, Shinseiki: Duel Masters Flash aired from April 10, 2006 to March 23, 2007. The series follows Teru Yumemi, who must protect the ARC pendant from the antagonistic Nest organization.
Overview
Episode list
English Version
The English-language version of the series was produced by Hasbro Entertainment and Plastic Cow Productions. It made a truncated three-episode preview premiere on Cartoon Network's Toonami block on February 27, 2004. The series then made its official premiere on April 13, 2004, as part of the Saturday Video Entertainment System block, with fewer edits. When Toonami was moved to Saturdays, the block premiered the rest of the series. It was also aired in a 6:00 AM timeslot on early Weekday mornings, as part of Cartoon Network's Early Prime block, which was aimed at kids who were getting ready to go to school during this time.Only the first Japanese season was localized for the North American market. Duel Masters Sacred Lands was created specifically for American broadcast and is not based on any storyline from the manga series. The series was produced by Hasbro Studios and Elastic Media Corporation and premiered on Cartoon Network on March 26, 2005. Episodes of the English version are currently available for streaming on Tubi TV.
Duel Masters Charge was eventually produced for the American market as "Duel Masters 2.0", although only the 1st half was aired.