Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters is the Japanese version of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime. It premiered in Japan in 1997 and was followed by the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX series in 2004. It contains a total of 589 episodes during its run. Unlike the English version of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Duel Monsters is more based on the manga which is why it contains many filler episodes.
Table of Contents
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters Plot
The show is about a boy named Yugi Muto who loved playing a card game called Duel Monsters. He got himself embroiled in an ancient conflict between two powerful enemies, the forces of good and evil, where the balance between both sides was held by an ancient Egyptian artifact known as the Millennium Puzzle. He solved the Millennium Puzzle, awakening an alter ego within him that he calls Yami Yugi.
How Much Filler is in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters?
The Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters series has a remarkably high filler episode rate. There are a total of 225 episodes in the series. There are a total of 91 episodes which are filler episodes, which gives it a score of 40% filler episodes.
Quick Filler & Canon Lists
Canon Episodes
Filler Episodes
Complete Filler List
# | Episode Title | Type | Aired |
---|---|---|---|
1 | The Heart of the Cards | Mostly Canon | 04/18/2000 |
2 | The Gauntlet Is Thrown | Canon | 04/25/2000 |
3 | Journey to the Duelist Kingdom | Canon | 05/05/2000 |
4 | Into The Hornet's Nest | Canon | 05/09/2000 |
5 | The Ultimate Great Moth | Canon | 05/16/2000 |
6 | First Duel | Canon | 05/23/2000 |
7 | Attack from the Deep | Canon | 05/30/2000 |
8 | Everything's Relative | Canon | 06/06/2000 |
9 | Duel With a Ghoul | Canon | 06/13/2000 |
10 | Give up the Ghost | Canon | 06/20/2000 |
11 | The Dueling Monkey | Canon | 06/27/2000 |
12 | Trial by Red-Eyes | Canon | 07/04/2000 |
13 | Evil Spirit of the Ring | Filler | 07/11/2000 |
14 | The Light at the End of the Tunnel | Canon | 07/25/2000 |
15 | Winning Through Intimidation | Canon | 08/01/2000 |
16 | The Scars of Defeat | Canon | 08/08/2000 |
17 | Arena of Lost Souls, Part 1 | Canon | 08/15/2000 |
18 | Arena of Lost Souls, Part 2 | Canon | 08/22/2000 |
19 | Double Trouble Duel, Part 1 | Canon | 08/29/2000 |
20 | Double Trouble Duel, Part 2 | Canon | 09/09/2000 |
21 | Double Trouble Duel, Part 3 | Canon | 09/12/2000 |
22 | Face Off, Part 1 | Canon | 09/19/2000 |
23 | Face Off, Part 2 | Canon | 09/26/2000 |
24 | Face Off, Part 3 | Canon | 10/03/2000 |
25 | Shining Friendship | Filler | 10/10/2000 |
26 | Champion Vs. Creator, Part 1 | Canon | 10/17/2000 |
27 | Champion Vs. Creator, Part 2 | Canon | 10/24/2000 |
28 | The Night Before | Canon | 10/31/2000 |
29 | Duel Identity, Part 1 | Canon | 11/07/2000 |
30 | Duel Identity, Part 2 | Canon | 11/14/2000 |
31 | Keith's Machinations, Part 1 | Canon | 11/21/2000 |
32 | Keith's Machinations, Part 2 | Canon | 11/28/2000 |
33 | Best of Friends Best of Duelists, Part 1 | Filler | 12/05/2000 |
34 | Best of Friends Best of Duelists, Part 2 | Mostly Canon | 12/12/2000 |
35 | Yugi Vs. Pegasus Match of the Millennium, Part 1 | Canon | 12/19/2000 |
36 | Yugi Vs. Pegasus Match of the Millennium, Part 2 | Canon | 12/26/2000 |
37 | Yugi Vs. Pegasus Match of the Millennium, Part 3 | Canon | 01/09/2001 |
38 | Yugi Vs. Pegasus Match of the Millennium, Part 4 | Canon | 01/16/2001 |
39 | Yugi Vs. Pegasus Match of the Millennium, Part 5 | Canon | 01/23/2001 |
40 | Aftermath | Canon | 01/30/2001 |
41 | The Wrath of Rebecca | Filler | 02/06/2001 |
42 | Ties of Friendship | Filler | 02/13/2001 |
43 | Legendary Heroes, Part 1 | Filler | 02/20/2001 |
44 | Legendary Heroes, Part 2 | Filler | 02/27/2001 |
45 | Legendary Heroes, Part 3 | Filler | 03/06/2001 |
46 | Dungeon Dice Monsters, Part 1 | Canon | 03/13/2001 |
47 | Dungeon Dice Monsters, Part 2 | Canon | 03/20/2001 |
48 | Dungeon Dice Monsters, Part 3 | Canon | 03/27/2001 |
49 | Dungeon Dice Monsters, Part 4 | Canon | 04/03/2001 |
50 | The Mystery Duelist, Part 1 | Canon | 04/10/2001 |
51 | The Mystery Duelist, Part 2 | Canon | 04/17/2001 |
52 | The Past Is Present | Canon | 04/24/2001 |
53 | Steppin' Out | Mostly Canon | 05/01/2001 |
54 | Obelisk the Tormentor | Canon | 05/08/2001 |
55 | Stalked by the Rare Hunters | Canon | 05/08/2001 |
56 | Yugi Vs. Rare Hunter, Part 1: Battle City Begins | Canon | 05/15/2001 |
57 | Yugi Vs. Rare Hunter, Part 2: Up Against Exodia | Canon | 05/22/2001 |
58 | The ESP Duelist, Part 1 | Canon | 05/29/2001 |
59 | The ESP Duelist, Part 2 | Canon | 06/05/2001 |
60 | The Master of Magicians, Part 1 | Canon | 06/19/2001 |
61 | The Master of Magicians, Part 2 | Canon | 06/26/2001 |
62 | The Master of Magicians, Part 3 | Canon | 07/03/2001 |
63 | Playing With a Parasite, Part 1 | Canon | 07/10/2001 |
64 | Playing With a Parasite, Part 2 | Canon | 07/17/2001 |
65 | Mime Control, Part 1 | Canon | 07/24/2001 |
66 | Mime Control, Part 2 | Canon | 07/31/2001 |
67 | Mime Control, Part 3 | Canon | 08/07/2001 |
68 | Legendary Fisherman, Part 1 | Canon | 08/14/2001 |
69 | Legendary Fisherman, Part 2 | Canon | 08/21/2001 |
70 | Double Duel, Part 1: Yugi and Kaiba Vs. Lumis and Umbra | Filler | 08/28/2001 |
71 | Double Duel, Part 2: Yugi and Kaiba Vs. Lumis and Umbra | Canon | 09/04/2001 |
72 | Double Duel, Part 3: Yugi and Kaiba Vs. Lumis and Umbra | Canon | 09/11/2001 |
73 | Double Duel, Part 4: Yugi and Kaiba Vs. Lumis and Umbra | Canon | 09/18/2001 |
74 | The Rescue | Filler | 09/25/2001 |
75 | Friends 'Til the End, Part 1 | Canon | 10/02/2001 |
76 | Friends 'Til the End, Part 2 | Canon | 10/09/2001 |
77 | Friends 'Til the End, Part 3 | Canon | 10/16/2001 |
78 | Friends 'Til the End, Part 4 | Canon | 10/23/2001 |
79 | Shadow of a Duel | Mostly Canon | 10/30/2001 |
80 | Lights, Camera, Duel! | Filler | 11/06/2001 |
81 | Let the Finals Begin! | Canon | 11/13/2001 |
82 | The Dark Spirit Revealed: Yugi Vs. Bakura, Part 1 | Canon | 11/27/2001 |
83 | The Dark Spirit Revealed: Yugi Vs. Bakura, Part 2 | Canon | 11/27/2001 |
84 | The Dark Spirit Revealed: Yugi Vs. Bakura, Part 3 | Canon | 11/27/2001 |
85 | Rage of the Egyptian Gods | Canon | 12/04/2001 |
86 | Awakening of Evil, Part 1 | Canon | 12/11/2001 |
87 | Awakening of Evil, Part 2 | Canon | 12/18/2001 |
88 | Awakening of Evil, Part 3 | Canon | 12/25/2001 |
89 | Awakening of Evil, Part 4 | Canon | 01/08/2002 |
90 | Mind Game: Mai Vs. Marik, Part 1 | Canon | 01/15/2002 |
91 | Mind Game: Mai Vs. Marik, Part 2 | Canon | 01/22/2002 |
92 | Mind Game: Mai Vs. Marik, Part 3 | Canon | 01/29/2002 |
93 | A Duel With Destiny: Kaiba Vs. Ishizu, Part 1 | Canon | 02/05/2002 |
94 | A Duel With Destiny: Kaiba Vs. Ishizu, Part 2 | Canon | 02/12/2002 |
95 | The Tomb-Keepers' Secret | Canon | 02/19/2002 |
96 | Showdown in the Shadows: Marik Vs. Bakura, Part 1 | Canon | 02/26/2002 |
97 | Showdown in the Shadows: Marik Vs. Bakura, Part 2 | Canon | 03/05/2002 |
98 | A Virtual Nightmare! | Filler | 03/12/2002 |
99 | Isolated in Cyberspace, Part 1 | Filler | 03/19/2002 |
100 | Isolated in Cyberspace, Part 2 | Filler | 03/26/2002 |
101 | Isolated in Cyberspace, Part 3 | Filler | 04/09/2002 |
102 | Freeze Play, Part 1 | Filler | 04/16/2002 |
103 | Freeze Play, Part 2 | Filler | 04/23/2002 |
104 | Courtroom Chaos, Part 1 | Filler | 04/30/2002 |
105 | Courtroom Chaos, Part 2 | Filler | 05/07/2002 |
106 | Mechanical Mayhem, Part 1 | Filler | 05/14/2002 |
107 | Mechanical Mayhem, Part 2 | Filler | 05/21/2002 |
108 | Settling the Score, Part 1 | Filler | 05/28/2002 |
109 | Settling the Score, Part 2 | Filler | 06/04/2002 |
110 | Noah's Secret | Filler | 06/11/2002 |
111 | Merger of the Big Five, Part 1 | Filler | 06/18/2002 |
112 | Merger of the Big Five, Part 2 | Filler | 06/25/2002 |
113 | Merger of the Big Five, Part 3 | Filler | 07/02/2002 |
114 | Brothers in Arms, Part 1 | Filler | 07/16/2002 |
115 | Brothers in Arms, Part 2 | Filler | 07/23/2002 |
116 | Brothers in Arms, Part 3 | Filler | 07/30/2002 |
117 | Noah's Final Threat, Part 1 | Filler | 08/06/2002 |
118 | Noah's Final Threat, Part 2 | Filler | 08/18/2002 |
119 | So Close Yet So Far | Filler | 08/20/2002 |
120 | Burying the Past, Part 1 | Filler | 08/27/2002 |
121 | Burying the Past, Part 2 | Filler | 08/27/2002 |
122 | Back to Battle City, Part 1 | Canon | 08/27/2002 |
123 | Back to Battle City, Part 2 | Canon | 09/03/2002 |
124 | Back to Battle City, Part 3 | Canon | 09/03/2002 |
125 | The Darkness Returns, Part 1 | Canon | 09/10/2002 |
126 | The Darkness Returns, Part 2 | Canon | 09/17/2002 |
127 | The Darkness Returns, Part 3 | Canon | 09/24/2002 |
128 | The Darkness Returns, Part 4 | Canon | 10/08/2002 |
129 | Clash in the Coliseum, Part 1 | Canon | 10/15/2002 |
130 | Clash in the Coliseum, Part 2 | Canon | 10/22/2002 |
131 | Clash in the Coliseum, Part 3 | Canon | 10/29/2002 |
132 | Clash in the Coliseum, Part 4 | Canon | 11/05/2002 |
133 | Clash in the Coliseum, Part 5 | Canon | 11/12/2002 |
134 | Clash in the Coliseum, Part 6 | Canon | 11/19/2002 |
135 | Battle for the Bronze, Part 1 | Mostly Canon | 12/03/2002 |
136 | Battle for the Bronze, Part 2 | Filler | 12/10/2002 |
137 | Battle for the Bronze, Part 3 | Mostly Canon | 12/17/2002 |
138 | The Final Face-Off, Part 1 | Canon | 12/24/2002 |
139 | The Final Face-Off, Part 2 | Canon | 01/07/2003 |
140 | The Final Face-Off, Part 3 | Canon | 01/14/2003 |
141 | The Final Face-Off, Part 4 | Canon | 01/21/2003 |
142 | The Final Face-Off, Part 5 | Canon | 01/28/2003 |
143 | Alcatraz Goes Up in Flames | Canon | 02/04/2003 |
144 | Looking Back and Moving Ahead | Filler | 02/11/2003 |
145 | A New Evil, Part 1 | Filler | 02/18/2003 |
146 | A New Evil, Part 2 | Filler | 02/25/2003 |
147 | Legend of the Dragons | Filler | 03/04/2003 |
148 | The Creator Returns | Filler | 03/11/2003 |
149 | Deja Duel!, Part 1 | Filler | 03/18/2003 |
150 | Deja Duel!, Part 2 | Filler | 04/08/2003 |
151 | An Unexpected Enemy | Filler | 04/15/2003 |
152 | My Freaky Valentine, Part 1 | Filler | 04/22/2003 |
153 | My Freaky Valentine, Part 2 | Filler | 04/29/2003 |
154 | My Freaky Valentine, Part 3 | Filler | 05/06/2003 |
155 | The Challenge | Filler | 05/13/2003 |
156 | Fate of the Pharaoh, Part 1 | Filler | 05/20/2003 |
157 | Fate of the Pharaoh, Part 2 | Filler | 05/27/2003 |
158 | Fate of the Pharaoh, Part 3 | Filler | 06/03/2003 |
159 | Trial by Stone | Filler | 06/10/2003 |
160 | On the Wrong Track, Part 1 | Filler | 06/24/2003 |
161 | On the Wrong Track, Part 2 | Filler | 06/24/2003 |
162 | On the Wrong Track, Part 3 | Filler | 07/01/2003 |
163 | Self Destruction | Filler | 07/08/2003 |
164 | Reliving the Past | Filler | 07/22/2003 |
165 | Deck of Armor | Filler | 07/29/2003 |
166 | Flight of Fear, Part 1 | Filler | 08/12/2003 |
167 | Flight of Fear, Part 2 | Filler | 08/19/2003 |
168 | Paradise Found | Filler | 08/19/2003 |
169 | Fighting for a Friend, Part 1 | Filler | 09/02/2003 |
170 | Fighting for a Friend, Part 2 | Filler | 09/09/2003 |
171 | Fighting for a Friend, Part 3 | Filler | 09/16/2003 |
172 | Fighting for a Friend, Part 4 | Filler | 09/23/2003 |
173 | Fighting for a Friend, Part 5 | Filler | 10/01/2003 |
174 | Grappling with a Guardian, Part 1 | Filler | 10/08/2003 |
175 | Grappling With a Guardian, Part 2 | Filler | 10/15/2003 |
176 | Grappling With a Guardian, Part 3 | Filler | 10/22/2003 |
177 | A Duel With Dartz!, Part 1 | Filler | 10/29/2003 |
178 | A Duel With Dartz!, Part 2 | Filler | 11/05/2003 |
179 | A Duel With Dartz!, Part 3 | Filler | 11/12/2003 |
180 | A Duel With Dartz!, Part 4 | Filler | 11/19/2003 |
181 | A Duel With Dartz!, Part 5 | Filler | 11/26/2003 |
182 | A Duel With Dartz!, Part 6 | Filler | 12/03/2003 |
183 | Rise of the Great Beast, Part 1 | Filler | 12/10/2003 |
184 | Rise of the Great Beast, Part 2 | Filler | 12/17/2003 |
185 | Unwanted Guest, Part 1 | Filler | 12/24/2003 |
186 | Unwanted Guest, Part 2 | Filler | 01/07/2004 |
187 | Let the Games Begin!, Part 1 | Filler | 01/14/2004 |
188 | Let the Games Begin!, Part 2 | Filler | 01/21/2004 |
189 | Child's Play | Filler | 01/28/2004 |
190 | Down in Flames, Part 1 | Filler | 02/04/2004 |
191 | Down in Flames, Part 2 | Filler | 02/11/2004 |
192 | A Brawl in a Small Town, Part 1 | Filler | 02/18/2004 |
193 | A Brawl in a Small Town, Part 2 | Filler | 02/25/2004 |
194 | One Step Ahead, Part 1 | Filler | 03/03/2004 |
195 | One Step Ahead, Part 2 | Filler | 03/10/2004 |
196 | Sinister Secrets, Part 1 | Filler | 03/17/2004 |
197 | Sinister Secrets, Part 2 | Filler | 03/24/2004 |
198 | Sinister Secrets, Part 3 | Filler | 03/31/2004 |
199 | Tomb of the Nameless Pharaoh | Canon | 04/07/2004 |
200 | Spiritual Awakening | Canon | 04/14/2004 |
201 | Memoirs of a Pharaoh | Canon | 04/21/2004 |
202 | The Intruder, Part 1 | Canon | 04/28/2004 |
203 | The Intruder, Part 2 | Canon | 05/05/2004 |
204 | Makings of a Magician | Canon | 05/12/2004 |
205 | Birth of the Blue-Eyes | Canon | 05/19/2004 |
206 | Village of Lost Souls | Canon | 05/26/2004 |
207 | A Reversal of Fortune | Canon | 06/02/2004 |
208 | In Search of a King | Canon | 06/09/2004 |
209 | Village of Vengeance, Part 1 | Canon | 06/16/2004 |
210 | Village of Vengeance, Part 2 | Canon | 06/23/2004 |
211 | Village of Vengeance, Part 3 | Canon | 06/30/2004 |
212 | Village of Vengeance, Part 4 | Canon | 07/07/2004 |
213 | Village of Vengeance, Part 5 | Canon | 07/14/2004 |
214 | Name of the Game | Canon | 07/21/2004 |
215 | The Dark One Cometh, Part 1 | Canon | 07/28/2004 |
216 | The Dark One Cometh, Part 2 | Canon | 08/04/2004 |
217 | The Dark One Cometh, Part 3 | Canon | 08/11/2004 |
218 | The Dark One Cometh, Part 4 | Canon | 08/18/2004 |
219 | In the Name of the Pharaoh | Canon | 08/25/2004 |
220 | The Final Journey | Canon | 09/01/2004 |
221 | The Final Duel, Part 1 | Canon | 09/08/2004 |
222 | The Final Duel, Part 2 | Canon | 09/15/2004 |
223 | The Final Duel, Part 3 | Canon | 09/22/2004 |
224 | The Final Duel, Part 4 | Canon | 09/29/2004 |
225 | The Pyramid of Light | Filler | 11/03/2004 |
List of filler episodes for Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters in chronological order – Learn if it is worth watching
Episode 13: Evil Spirit of the Ring
Episode 13 is a filler episode, as it’s plot has nothing to do with the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters anime series.
In the first round of Battle City, Yugi Muto faces off against Bakura Ryou in his millennium puzzle. Like Yami Yugi, Bakura Ryou has a real soul of a person trapped inside him, and will die when he loses. However, while Yami Yugi can control himself when he is in possession of Bakura’s body (albeit with some difficulty), Bakura Ryou is not able to. During the duel, he will randomly change into Yami Bakura and attack Yugi on his own. At one point during the duel, the real Bakura gets out for a second in order to warn Yugi about Yami Bakura’s ability to possess people.
During this duel, Yami Yugi summons “Cyber Commander,” which gets destroyed by “White Magical Hat,” sending Tristan’s soul to the graveyard. Then it shows Tristan inside the graveyard looking at his tombstone that says “Tristan Taylor” on it. He then says that he must get out soon or else he’ll die like Joey did (in episode 1).
Bakura Ryou then summons “Silent Swordsman LV0” and destroys “Cyber Commander”, sending Tristan’s soul to the graveyard. Tristan manages to escape the graveyard and be saved by Dark Magician Girl. Yami Yugi defeats Bakura Ryou and sends his soul to the afterlife, where he is reunited with his sister.
Episode 25: Shining Friendship
This episode doesn’t contribute to the overall story arc of the Duel Monsters Anime and is an episode to provide filler material for the series. It follows the same basic plot structure as the previous 5 filler episodes. As Yugi still won’t talk after what happened during the KaibaCorp Tournament, Mai and Yugi decide to have a Duel.
This is Mai’s last appearance in the series for a while, as she leaves for America at the end of this episode to compete in a Duel Monsters tournament over there. She gives Yugi her Star Chips, and he decides to enter Pegasus Castle with Joey and Téa. The three are greeted by Tristan, who informs them that they will need to pass through three tests before they can get to see Pegasus.
Their first test is taken by a man named “Dark Magician” (it’s actually a disguise used by Tristan), who forces Yugi and Joey to go through a maze made of cards while he goes on ahead. They get through it and find Tristan (still disguised as Dark Magician) just outside of the castle. The three take him back to their room and discover that he wasn’t wearing any clothes beneath his costume, but they don’t let him know that they knew this was his plan all along.
Episode 33: Best of Friends Best of Duelists, Part 1
During the Duel, Joey mentions a play on “Red-Eyes Black Dragon” called “Red-Eyes Black Chick”, a card which was never released in the real game, but does exist in some video games.
This is the first episode where Kaiba Corp’s holographic technology is used. The first time it was used was when Seto Kaiba played Yugi in the first Duel of the series (Yugi vs. Kaiba). It was not used again until this episode.
This episode is one of only two filler episodes to feature an actual Duel where characters use cards that are not featured in the real game – The other filler episode featuring an actual Duel that uses cards that are not featured in the real game is Episode 5, “Waking the Dragons”, which features a Duel between Joey and Valon (one of Doma’s Seven Barians).
In this episode, we see Yugi Muto and Yami Yugi both using their own Decks for their Decks – We also see them both using their own Decks for Duels before this (for example; Yugi Muto’s Deck was seen in Yugi vs. Bakura), but only when they were separated from each other.
Episode 41: The Wrath of Rebecca
The way this episode progresses is exactly like the Duelist Kingdom arc in the original Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, before it was edited and re-written as “the anime filler arc” of Yu-Gi-Oh!, during which this episode takes place, and the only difference is that there are no appearances by Mai Valentine, Duke Devlin, Bandit Keith or Rebecca Hawkins. After Yugi and his friends escape from Pegasus’s castle (after winning the Ceremonial Battle), Pegasus suffers a heart attack because he was upset about losing Yugi as his new star pupil. Pegasus’ doctors tell him to lie down and rest, but he refuses to stay in his castle while Yugi is still on the island. He orders Croquet to have his boat prepared for him so he can go after Yugi. However, an ambulance manages to get him to a hospital in time.
This is a filler episode. It has absolutely nothing to do with the plot of the series, and is not referenced by any later episodes. Even though the ending credits state that this episode was based on story by Kazuki Takahashi, this episode was not based on an existing scene from the manga, but was completely original and made up for this episode alone.
Episode 42: Ties of Friendship
This episode (along with the next two episodes) was not actually scripted by Kazuki Takahashi, but were created by the anime’s producers to make up for time lost from the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters anime due to real life events.
The plot of this episode is a simple retelling of Yugi’s first Duel with Rebecca from the manga, except it is completely opposite from the original version. In the manga, Solomon tears up Rebecca’s “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” card in anger after being accused of stealing it. In this episode, he shows her the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” that has been taped back together. The only other difference is that instead of Solomon telling Rebecca about how he met Arthur Hawkins during his story, it was Yugi who did so.
The episode also has a few other errors that were not present in the manga, such as Yugi’s “Change of Heart” card being shown as a “Vennominon” card, and Yugi using “Monster Reborn” to revive the effect of Rebecca’s “Jinzo”.
This is a filler episode because it was created by the anime’s producers to make up for lost time in the anime’s story, due to real life events.
Episode 43: Legendary Heroes, Part 1
In this episode, The Big Five have been reduced to playing the roles of henchmen to the main villain. Also, there was an actual plot in this episode. This episode is one of few in the series that has a story and plot.
The plot of this episode was interesting, as it was the only time that the Big Five had actually been seen plotting something evil. However, they did not have that much screen time in this episode. Most of the characters were playing a virtual game that has no relevance to the actual plot of the series. Also, Yugi and his friends rescuing Kaiba from his own virtual game is a plot hole.
This was a filler episode because most of it was not relevant to the main story. Most of the events in this episode took place inside a virtual game that had no relevance to the plot of the series. Also, a majority of the characters were actually playing that virtual game, and very little screen-time was given to them for them to develop their personalities. The Big Five were reduced to playing an evil villain, which is something they had never done before in the series. This episode also has no importance to the overall storyline, and this is one of few episodes in this series that does have one.
Episode 44: Legendary Heroes, Part 2
Yugi and his friends arrive in the virtual world, and find themselves in a tournament. At this point, the series is no longer following the events of the manga. Joey is a disguised as a girl, hoping that if he wins the tournament he can become rich. Mai Valentine and Bandit Keith are also in the game, but are still at each other’s throats from their Duelist Kingdom duel.
The plot for episode 44 was based on two filler episodes from Duel Monsters: “The Man with the Machine Gun”, and “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”. The first episode involved Yugi, Joey, Tristan and Téa going to an arcade to watch a gun duel between Seto Kaiba and Gozaburo Kaiba. They end up being sucked into a Virtual World where they must compete against each other in order to get home. The second episode involved Yugi obtaining Blue-Eyes White Dragon from Pegasus after winning Duels against Yami Bakura (the Millennium Ring) in both games of Capsule Monster Chess and Monster World. In order to save Mokuba from being sacrificed by Adena (Princess Adena), Seto must play a monster card game against the Mythic Dragon.
The Japanese story mentions that there is a legend about “a hero who will save the world from destruction when the Mythic Dragon appears again”. This is based on the legend behind virtual reality technology. Before the release of this episode, in Japan, virtual reality was seen as a new form of communication technology. The sense of immersion in a virtual reality, and its potential for simulation and training, were discussed in scientific papers and popular magazines. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters Anime was using these themes to set up future events in the story line.
Episode 45: Legendary Heroes, Part 3
The episode starts out with Yugi, Joey, Tea, and Tristan fighting the Big Five’s thugs in the city. During their fight, one of the Big Five’s henchmen tries to take Mokuba hostage, but he is saved by Joey. The Big Five then fly off in their airship with Mokuba, and the gang follows them on their motorcycle. The Big Five then fly to a mysterious castle.
At the castle, an illusion of Mokuba is used as a sacrifice to bring forth an evil dragon. As a result of this ritual, only Dragon-type monsters can attack the dragon. Yugi summons “Dragon Master Knight” and attacks it but is unable to defeat it using his card since it can’t attack back. Yami Bakura takes over Bakura’s body and helps Yugi battle against the dragon. Yami Bakura uses “Dark Magician” to attack its weakness: magic knights (the “Dragon Master Knight” card). Somehow Kaiba ends up at the castle as well after being knocked out by one of the Big Five’s men while on his way to duel Pegasus after winning his duel against Ishizu Ishtar at Duelist Kingdom (this was not shown in this episode).
This is a filler episode because the Big Five, who were only introduced in the previous episode, are featured in this episode and they were not major characters in the anime until after this episode. The Big Five were not major characters until season 2.
Yami Bakura used “Dark Magician” (his own card) against the “Mythic Dragon”. It should have been destroyed when he did this. Although he was controlling Bakura’s body at the time, it is possible that this was a mistake made by Toei Animation.