READ BEFORE CONTINUING! I am not trying to bash Zexal in any way with this short story; I'm merely poking fun at my initial thoughts of the show. And I mean absolutely no offense to anyone (particularly the fans) in some of the things said. YuGiOh Zexal is the first YuGiOh anime I've watched in the original Japanese dub (with the exception of the final season of GX since 4Kids kindly decided not to dub it). It's just that I've noticed lately that while Zexal has grown in popularity in Japan, it's still not as hyped-up about here in the States (at least from what I've seen). This got me thinking as to why that is, and thus this story was born. This story pretty much sums up my thoughts of the first episode and it might address why not too many people like it. Please read and enjoy!

I don't own YuGiOh Zexal. If I did, then I wouldn't be ranting about it, would I?

Krystal clicked out of the website, the first episode of the new show YuGiOh Zexal having just ended. "So, what do you think?" she asked her friend Lyra, who was sitting on the bed next to her. Lyra cast a 'you're joking, right?' look at her, an eyebrow arched. Krystal huffed. "Okay, so it was the first time you've seen a Japanese show without subtitles, big wup. They aren't out yet, get over it. What do you think of the new show?"

Both were, to put bluntly, hardcore YuGiOh fans and been fans since the "beginning". I put it in quotation marks because while Krystal had seen every episode since Season Zero (and knew enough Japanese to actually understand what they were saying) Lyra had only ever watched the English dubs of the show since the only words she knew in Japanese were 'Konichiwa,' 'Arigato,' and a few other that she fully knew weren't exactly pleasant to say. But watching the newest show had been something new for her, not to mention the fact she hadn't a clue what they were saying and had to interpret everything based on what she saw. And what she saw didn't entirely please her.

"I think the show is even more of a rip-off than the other two," she growled.

"Huh? Why so?" Krystal asked. Though she and Lyra had gone online and knew a little bit of the show beforehand from looking at the pre-released character bios and stuff, she never really saw anything to make them believe this was a cheap knockoff series. Lyra scoffed, surprised that her friend didn't see any of it.

"The creators included practically every element of the other seasons and put them together to make this-" she really wanted to say something rude, "-pile of crud."

"I don't get it."

"Oh my Ra, where to start? Okay, from the original YuGiOh and then later ripped-off by GX, they included a ghostly spirit that nobody can see who helps the main character out in his duels. I bet he'll have some great dueling ability that basically acts as the deus ex machina of the show. He also resides, at least I suspect he will, in that key thing Yuma has which, like the Puzzle, gets broken. Then, from GX, he goes to school. Granted, it's not another duel academy, but it's still a freakin' school. Why? What purpose does going to school have to do with kids and dueling? And speaking of kids, Yuma's like, what, twelve? Fourteen at most? Ra, he's younger than Jaden; at least I could take him somewhat seriously. But all I could see Yuma as was a hyperactive little kid who always got in over his head."

"And from 5D?" Krystal questioned, "I didn't see any motorcycles, did you?"

"No, but it's still a futuristic setting. Not to mention you can only see the duels if you're wearing some kind of D-Grazer."

"It's called D-Gazer." Krystal corrected.

"D-Gazer, D-Grazer, D-Laser, whatever. What happened to good old-fashion holograms?"

Krystal sighed. Maybe they should have waited for the subs to come out before watching. At least then Lyra would understand the story more. Speaking of which…

"What do you think of the plot?" she wondered. At this, Lyra grinned, but it was more of a crooked one than one of enjoyment.

"This is what I got from everything: In a city full of Yugi Mutou fanboys and girls-"

"Wait, where'd you get that?" blurted Krystal.

"Why else would they have different colored hair? Anyways, in a city full of them there's this kid named Yuma, who keeps the tradition alive of having a 'Y' in his name-"

"Jaden doesn't start with 'Y'," Lyra's friend interrupted again.

"His last name is Yuki. Back to what I was saying. First time we see him and he's walking toward this talking gate. My only thought is 'So, are we in heck or something? Is this where the producers think this show is heading?' Nice ominous start up. Then the theme song starts up. The graphics were nice but…that song. Geez, I bet the Japanese couldn't even understand what the heck she was saying, she was singing at like a hundred miles per hour. Then it rudely cuts back to Yuma falling out bed. I'm thinking 'Okay, it was a dream. Nothing incredibly new so far.'"

"But on the plus side, we get to see his family," Krystal said cheerfully. "Even the original series didn't show Yugi's dad. And we find out Yuma has a sister and grandma, expanding the female cast."

"Um, we never got to see either of Yuma's parents; it was just a picture of them. And judging by it we never will; they looked like explorers or something. I think the creators were subtly saying 'We had no reason for adding the main characters' parents before, and we don't plan to start now.' As for Yuma's sister…what was her name again?"

"Akari."

"Yeah, who votes she's going to be some unimportant, stereotypical, nagging older sister who serves absolutely no point in the story whatsoever? I do. And the grandma scares me." Lyra added the last bit hastily like she was wanting to just get that out.

Krystal shook her head. When Lyra started rolling, she didn't stop till it was all out.

"Then we find out that the kids in this world use robot trashcans as soccer balls against each other. Forget dueling, just kick a walking, talking trash bin at the guy and he'll go down easy. Then just skate off before anyone knew you were there. So we get to the school and I'm expecting something like Duel Academy. No, it's just a normal school. Just a normal school, with normal students laughing at you normally, normal teachers yelling at you normally- normal, normal, normal. The creators didn't need to show us any of this."

"Actually, the school scenes were probably there to help bring out Yuma's character and show us his personality," Krystal pointed out. "It also showed us who his friends were. And since he is a kid, it only makes sense that we see him where kids generally go, which includes school."

"Fine, but where's the dueling we're all waiting for."

Krystal looked amazed. "You actually watch the show for the duels?"

"Of course not. I was waiting to see what cool cards Yuma would have and how strong they were. Instead, we see him stand up for the guy who, mind you, tried to smash his face in earlier. And what's his reward for his heroic deed? His medallion crushed in half. I admit, that Sharku guy-"

"Shark," Krystal automatically corrected, knowing her friend didn't recognize the words even when they were English-based.

"-irked me, and I don't use the word irk. So it took about fifteen minutes- more than halfway through the episode- for me to begin taking interest in the main character. I figured that duel between Yuma and Shark would be intense and heated, like all the other first duels, since I figured that this would be one about revenge or something. I know I shouldn't have been shocked by the let-down, but I was. Yuma looked like he could handle himself. He looked like, even though he wasn't good in school, he was at least a good duelist with his upbeat attitude. None of his monsters went past four stars. Now, I'm no expert duelist, but I've seen enough episodes to learn that four-starred monsters and lower were generally fodder that didn't stand a chance unless backed-up by a spell or trap card. And Yuma didn't generally back them up with spell or trap cards."

Krystal nodded, not having really paid attention to the duel but seeing where Lyra was getting at. To her, Lyra, Yuma was just too unprofessional compared to the other leads.

"At this point I'm thinking 'Yes! Yuma's screwed! Now he's going to turn it all around somehow. This'll be his moment of glory.' Then the talking gate is back, and it now opens. Now. Not when's he's sleeping like before, but now, in the middle of the duel, like it came to save his sorry butt. Then Astural appears."

"Astral."

"He shows up, literally, in the last two minutes of the episode. What exactly can you do in the last two minutes of an episode? Nothing! And that's exactly what he did. He looked like the only competent character in the show, and he shows up at the very end. If I were in charge of making this, I would have had him come either earlier in the episode or in the next one, 'cause now we know who's really going to win this duel."

Lyra was breathing heavily, like she just finished running or something. Krystal merely rolled off her bed, getting up to leave the room to get something to eat. "Okay, so you have a few fair points. But I think we should give it a chance. It's a different approach to everything, and I kind of like that. Plus, Yuma's got spunk. I love his cute catchphrase."

"Which reminds me," Lyra said while getting up to follow her friend, "Why the heck did he keep saying 'Cat go bingo!'?"

Yeah, that's pretty much it. While the conversation between the girls (and the girls themselves) is fictional, all the topics Lyra points out did at one point come across my mind while I was watching the show (yes- I actually thought Yuma kept saying 'Cat go bingo!' until the subs for that episode came out). The things Krystal mentions were the counter-arguments I had after watching a few more of the episodes. I'm still giving Zexal a chance; I've decided to make this the first time I watch the entire series in the original dub rather than wait for the English dub. This will make things more interesting for me (hehehe). This series has a lot of potential – let's hope the producers realize this soon.