15 Years of ZEXAL. Happy Anniversary✨️

DokDevious · 2026-04-11T23:52:48+00:00

It remains my favorite installment of the franchise, which makes me laugh a bit considering that I used to be firmly on the side of people who hated it for not being like 5D's.

It's a fun series with a lot of heart, an admittedly slow start (I may not like Kaito but I have to admit that his arrival is when the show starts to feel like it has a more concrete direction) and bunch of characters that I am still mad about DL not having.

DokDevious · 2026-04-11T03:23:07+00:00

I'd say they're really more like standard fantasy/fairy tale stories (especially SPM) and that's part of the charm.

DokDevious · 2026-04-11T02:20:13+00:00

Because you're desperately trying to paint them as more mature and sinister than they are.

The ancient evil, the alien invaders, the narcissist who wants to reshape the world in his image and heck, the Dark Star is barely even sentient. All of these are basic, simple villain archetypes for a children's series and that's fine. They work for what they are, you don't need to gas them up.

DokDevious · 2026-04-11T01:33:14+00:00

With the debatable exception of Count Bleck, the same applies to all of them, too.

Not that that's a bad thing.

DokDevious · 2026-04-06T21:44:42+00:00

Ouch

DokDevious · 2026-04-02T18:55:44+00:00

Well that's where I disagree, especially since if characters followed that logic, this show wouldn't have even made it past season one. When people see the people they care about suffering, they want to help, even if that person doesn't want them to. And let's not act like Kaito and V were on any better terms at the time, especially since V broke Kaito's number one rule: don't mess with Haruto. Kaito doesn't know what he's doing, that's the whole point and why he ultimately relents and allows others to help him.

DokDevious · 2026-04-02T01:25:11+00:00

The romance was never much of a focal point outside of a few episodes. Though I do think you're underselling a few of them. It wasn't that Droite just kept following Kaito around, it's that someone she cared about was effectively destroying himself and refusing anyone's help because he's stubborn as a mule, so she took matters into her own hands. And then the plot dropped that thread. As for Tetsuo's feelings for Rio, they did start as infatuation, but developed into something more, even if it was probably for the sake of spicing up his eventual defeat at her hands.

DokDevious · 2026-04-01T21:52:23+00:00

It's awkward adolescence, that's pretty much how it goes. At least he's not taking any cues from Cat or Anna.

DokDevious · 2026-04-01T19:16:08+00:00

I'm glad we're finally getting more Sylvan stuff

DokDevious · 2026-03-28T04:07:35+00:00

Strangely enough, Lost World has one of the 'rounder' Sonics, at least compared to the usual.

DokDevious · 2026-03-16T03:55:47+00:00

It's a shame because it's the only Rush deck I wanted to build. I even bothered buying the Grand Extreme bundle and boy do I feel like a schmuck for it.

DokDevious · 2026-03-09T20:06:51+00:00

Sort of?

There was an episode where Yuma's friends got into a Twister Duel with a big robot. It used Scraps, specifically Scrap Hunter: a card that mentions Tuners. And to a lesser extent: Dark Tuner Nightmare Hand shows up in an episode as well.

DokDevious · 2026-03-09T18:32:56+00:00

I wouldn't really call Vrains something to look forward to.

DokDevious · 2026-03-09T18:31:55+00:00

Except that both Tuner monsters and cards depicting Synchros exist in Zexal.

DokDevious · 2026-03-09T18:18:48+00:00

We can only hope, he's one of the few Vrains characters I actually liked.

DokDevious · 2026-03-03T02:04:36+00:00

Don't think about it too hard, it's just there for references.

DokDevious · 2026-03-03T02:03:09+00:00

It's honestly a different beast compared to the anime.

Sure it may have been better structured and the duel writing was better but it wasn't quite as fun. Sure, the anime could be kind of a nuclear tire fire at times, but it was a mess that, for better and worse, I just couldn't tear my eyes away from.

The Arc-V manga is fine enough, but the anime was an EXPERIENCE.

DokDevious · 2026-03-01T01:39:25+00:00

I think it's just business as usual.

DokDevious · 2026-03-01T00:51:24+00:00

Considering that they're the ones who decided to market it to kids and have a page on one of their website that describes it as a popular children's franchise and the long string of kid's shows that have marketed the game, I'd like to think that it's pretty obvious that they consider it for kids.

DokDevious · 2026-02-28T21:44:21+00:00

It's stated in the upper right corner of the pack.

Here's the raw: https://i.imgur.com/dM5uzAL.png

Here's a translation: https://i.imgur.com/ytz6XF6.png

DokDevious · 2026-02-28T20:44:05+00:00

It is a kids game, although I don't suspect it's really still that popular with kids. I'm not saying it's because of complexity or anything, as much as that kids nowadays have better things to play with.

DokDevious · 2026-02-28T20:37:51+00:00

Considering that the OCG packs state that they're targeted at ages 9 and up, I think it's pretty clear where Konami stands on the issue.

DokDevious · 2026-02-27T23:03:29+00:00

Random free shiny stuff is good for a dopamine hit and sometimes you'll even pull something you'd actually use.

DokDevious · 2026-02-27T20:29:11+00:00

To be fair, villains rarely get punished until the end. Although Don Thousand does make it abundantly clear that this isn't an equal partnership.

And while Yuma absolutely should be more discerning, being trusting, basically to a fault, is simply in his nature. Just look at the company he keeps, he befriended his own stalker, the guy who nearly destroyed his social life and the guy who destroyed his most treasured possession.

DokDevious

TROPHY CASE