Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX , known in Japan as Yu - Gi - Oh ! Duel Monsters GX and GX standing for Generation Next , is the successor and first spin - off series to the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " anime and manga . Produced by Nihon Ad Systems Inc . , or NAS for short , " Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX " started airing on TV Tokyo in Japan on October 6 , 2004 . The anime is licensed by 4Kids Entertainment for distribution in the West . " Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX " , a manga spin - off of the series written by Naoyuki Kageyama , was published in V Jump magazine in Japan . The manga appears in the United States Shonen Jump magazine . Production . " Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX " is produced by Nihon Ad Systems , Inc . , and directed by Hatsuki Tsuji . Scripts are prepared by an alternating lineup of writers - Shin Yoshida , Jun Maekawa , Akemi Omode , Yasuyuki Suzuki - with music arrangements by Yutaka Minobe . Takuya Hiramitsu is in charge of sound direction , supervised by Yūji Mitsuya . Character and monster designs are overseen by Kenichi Hara , while Duel layout is overseen by Masahiro Hikokubo . The " GX " in the series ' title is short for the term " Generation neXt " . " GENEX " was also the tentative title of the series as evidenced in early promotional work , and also refers to the Genex Tournament that takes place between episodes 84 and 104 . Like many English adaptations of other anime series , " Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX " is edited due to Americanization . The names of many characters and cards underwent alteration , and card faces and text are edited to only include ATK / DEF statistics , Attribute for monsters , and card type for Spell and Trap Card s . Spell Cards in particular are referred to as such to reflect the revised printing format that surfaced in the Yu - Gi - Oh ! Trading Card Game from Magician ' s Force onwards , though the original term " Magic Card " has been used on several occasions , either due to scripting error or for very specific reasons . Furthermore monster stat displays and Life Point counters , previously in blue and gold print , become digital readouts with color - coded energy bars . The original music score is replaced with a rock - style soundtrack . Darker and more controversial themes such as death , murder , and religion - which were incorporated into the Japanese version - are toned down in the English version . Themes and structure . Although the first half of the anime ' s first season began on a whimsical note , the latter half established a noticeably darker atmosphere by introducing supernatural elements similar to those present in the original " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " franchise , such as magic , the Shadow Game s , and various myths , along with Judeo - Christian subtext . The second season had a strong thematic presence built on destiny , with ties to the of and drew on as a plot device . The third season continued this trend , but with much greater emphasis on emotional torment , with alternate dimensions serving as its primary settings . The third season is easily the darkest , with large number of the main cast appearing to die over the course . Even though most later return , they are believed by both the viewer and the remaining characters to be dead . The fourth season continues character - driven plotlines established in the first season , such as Chazz Princeton ' s desire to duel professionally , and the students that vanished in the abandoned dormitory . The program is divided into episodes classified as " Turns " . The title sequence and closing credits are accompanied by lyrics varying over the course of the series , with the former immediately followed by an individual episode ' s number and title . Eyecatches begin and end commercial breaks halfway through each episode ; in the first season , there were two eyecatches per episode , usually showcasing the opponents and their key monsters for a given episode while in later seasons , a single eyecatch appears with only the duelists . After the credits , a preview of the next episode , narrated most frequently by KENN and Masami Suzuki , is made , followed by a brief " Today ' s Strongest Card " segment . In the English version , the title sequence is accompanied by the song " Get Your Game On ! " , as are the end credits ( in a shortened form ) . Eyecatches , previews , and the " Today ' s Strongest Card " featurette are removed entirely . Story . " Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX " begins with the lead character , Jaden Yuki , obtaining a " Winged Kuriboh " from Yugi Muto , the renowned Duel Monsters champion . Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX follows the exploits of Jaden and his companions as he attends Duel Academy ( " Duel Academia " ) . The series is set 10 years after the original series . The Academy was founded by Seto Kaiba on a remote island in the Southern Seas , with its dormitories named after the three Egyptian God Cards , and is run by Chancellor Sheppard ( " Principal Samejima " ) and his staff . The most elaborate dormitory , Obelisk Blue ( オベリスク ・ ブルー " Oberisuku Burū " ) , is named after " Obelisk the Tormentor " . The Obelisk Blue dormitory can be graduated to , but the only way to enter the dorm in the first year is to attend and do well at an affiliated junior school ( English version only ) . As the highest ranked dormitory , Obelisk Blue ' s facilities are of the highest quality , on the level of the world ' s classiest hotels and restaurants . The center dorm , Ra Yellow ( ラー ・ イェロー " Rā Ierō " ) , is named after " The Winged Dragon of Ra " . Those who were given the highest scores in the entrance exam , or whose performance was mediocre in the junior school enter this dormitory , which , while not as extravagant as Obelisk Blue , still has incredibly clean and well - kept facilities as well as meals of a quality far above the lifestyle of the average salaried man . The lowest dorm , Slifer Red ( Osiris Red ) ( オシリス ・ レッド " Oshirisu Reddo " ) , is named after " Slifer the Sky Dragon " . Those who scored poorly are put into the shoddy dorms of Slifer Red . The naming choices reflect Kaiba ' s bias over the God Cards in relation to his rivalry with Yugi ( Obelisk was Kaiba ' s own personal card in Battle City , while Slifer was Yugi ' s , with Ra in the middle as the most desirable card out of the three until Yugi received it at the end of the story arc ) . For the first two years at Duel Academy , the main cast faced major threats including the Shadow Riders ( " Seven Stars " ) , who intended to revive the Sacred Beasts by creating a strong dueling presence on the island , as well as the Society of Light , which intended to enslave humanity with the world - destroying satellite of Misgarth ( in the dubbed version , their aim is to brainwash the world with the satellite ) . During the third year - right , as a result of Thelonious Viper ' s schemes ( " Professor Cobra " ) , Duel Academy is transported to another world , a desert plane with three suns and resident Duel Monster spirits , right into the hands of Yubel . Upon returning home , Jaden and a select group of his partners dive into the rift left in their escape to recover their missing companions and embark through second and third worlds where losing a duel is fatal . In the second half of their third year ( Season 4 ) , the characters reflect upon their upcoming graduation and what to do afterward , such as Alexis Rhodes considering becoming a teacher , and Syrus Truesdale taking up his brother ' s legacy as a Cyber Style duelist . A villain named Trueman also appears and is somehow connected to Atticus and the abandoned dormitory . Later it is shown that Trueman was a minion of Nightshroud ( " Darkness " ) , who was previously a secondary antagonist from the first season . Cast . Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX sports many personalities . The principal cast is composed of series hero Jaden Yuki , the passionate Alexis Rhodes and her whimsical brother Atticus , the easily discouraged but determined Syrus Truesdale , elitist Chazz Princeton , the analytic Bastion Misawa , the strong - willed Tyranno Hassleberry , and the love - struck Blair Flannigan . Supporting characters often have connections to the educative or professional dueling worlds , and include Obelisk Blue professor Vellian Crowler , duelist - turned - Industrial Illusions designer Chumley Huffington , and Pro League powerhouses Zane Truesdale and Aster Phoenix . The Overseas Champions , like Jesse Anderson , one of the closest Jaden ' s friends , a group of foreign duelists introduced in the third year , would also find a place in Duel Academy ' s student body . Each season of the series has a primary antagonist . The first season has Kagemaru ( Duel Academy ' s Chairman and leader of the Shadow Riders , who wants to take the Sacred Beasts for himself ) . The second season has Sartorius ( founder and leader of the Society of Light , an enigmatic fortune - teller taken over by an alien force who uses his influence to bring people to his side ) . The third season has Yubel creator of the Martin Empire and the Survival Duels , an evil , deranged , psychotic duel spirit that possesses and manipulates people to rule over all dimensions with Jaden by her side . The fourth season has Nightshroud ( a former Shadow Rider that is revealed to be the fate of mankind itself , orchestrating a vicious siege to send all the human beings into the World of Darkness where they will ultimately give up on their own lives ) . So far , by the end of each season ( with exception of the fourth ) , each of the primary antagonists seems to reform in some way . Kagemaru appeared to see the error his ways , Sartorius was under the Light of Destruction ' s influence over the whole season , and Yubel had also been driven insane by the Light of Destruction and was freed from it by Jaden and willingly merged with him . Nightshroud was defeated and destroyed by Jaden , but claimed to continue to exist as long as there is darkness in a person ' s heart . Also , in addition to the main cast , several cameos from the previous anime series appear within the show , most notably Yugi Muto , Seto Kaiba , Pegasus and Solomon Muto . For an entire list of cameos see : References from Yu - Gi - Oh ! in Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX .