YGOTAS Episode 1 - Pilot - LittleKuriboh

#### Reference

Yugi's initial line is taken verbatim from the original (dubbed) episode of the anime.

### 0:09 - "Sorry Yug..."

#### Reference

Joey references his Brooklyn accent here, a dub-only invention for his character. This decision was made due to his informal way of speaking in the original Japanese version of the anime.

#### Analysis

Joey mentions that his accent makes it 'difficult to concentrate on card games' - the implication here is that his accent does not come naturally to him, and he is forcing himself to speak like this for no apparent reason. This makes logical sense, considering (as the series often alludes to) the main cast all live in Japan and so this would not be his natural accent.

### 0:14 - "I know what you mean..."

#### Reference

Tristan mentions that he is 'thinking about changing' his accent, something that would actually happen in the original dubbed anime, with Greg Abbey replacing original voice actor Sam Reigel after episode 10, Ironically, this choice within the abridged series would ultimately lie outside Tristan's control - his voice does end up changing, but only because his 'original voice' ended up stabbing itself with a pair of scissors. After its death, it would be resurrected only an episode later thanks to Yami playing the card 'Reborn the Monster'.

### 0:26 - "Rare card? That sounds vague enough..."

#### Analysis

Kaiba concludes that the 'rare card' mentioned by Yugi is a vague enough description for it to be the 'Blue Eyes White Dragon' playing card - for someone fresh to the franchise this would seem to be a huge leap in deduction, however for anyone aware of his nigh-on obsession with this card it makes perfect sense that this would be his initial assumption. It's by sheer conicidence that on this occasion, he happens to be absolutely correct.

### 0:37 - "Hey Gramps, can we please see..."

#### Recurring Gag

This would be the first occasion of Yugi describing something as 'super rare' followed before or after by a list of increasingly ireelevant adjectives, which would be repeated again through the series as well as other associated shorts. This fits in with Yugi's nature of being childlike and imaginative, something canon to both the original anime and the abridged series.

### 0:42 - "I don't see why not."

#### Reference

Yugi's Grandpa immediately agrees to showing them his Blue Eyes, something he was initially reluctant to do in the original.

### 0:56 - "Curses, foiled again."

#### Reference

Thsi phrase originates from Snidely Whiplash, the villain from 60s cartoon 'Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties'. Snidely can be seen as the origin of the stereotypical moustache-twirling bad guy, which fits Kaiba's portrayal in this series perfectly.

### 1:06 - "That Kaiba kid needs to get laid."

#### Recurring Gag

This line would be used again in 'Season Zero Abridged', however instead of this line being followed by general agreement from Tristan it would be followed by Yugi asking an incredibly confused "Why?" - a much more realistic response to an old man inappropriately commenting about a high school teenager in this manner.

### 1:11 - "I kidnapped your grandpa, Yugi..."

#### Analysis

Kaiba describes himself having 'duelled [Grandpa] into submission', bringing to light how bizarre a concept that characters in this universe can actually do this to each other with nothing but a pack of children's playing cards. The fact that he also requires hospitalisation doesn't help matters.

### 1:21 - "Wait, who is this?"

#### Analysis

Kaiba's neglect to introduce himself during the call and to immediately launch into a spiel about his own exploits indirectly cements with the audience his egotistical nature, as he expects everyone to know who he is no matter who he's speaking with.

### 1:26 - "For some reason..."

#### Analysis

Grandpa's lines here tie in with Kaiba's line at 1:11 - again, the fact that someone can become 'severely injured' just by the very nature of playing a card game seems very outlandish.

### 1:33 - "Grandpa's special super rare..."

#### Recurring Gag

The recurring gag mentioned at 0:37 is followed up with a variation found here.

### 1:41 - "In that case why not..."

#### Analysis

Yugi ridicules Kaiba on his motive of having a card never being used against him, however this might not be quite fair on Kaiba's part. Considering his connection and obsession with the Blue Eyes White Dragon card, it would make sense that having that specific card be used against him would almost feel akin to betrayal - however in Yugi's defence, there would be no way of him knowing this at this stafe.

### 1:56 - "No wonder your parents are never around!"

#### Reference

This references the fact that Yugi's parents hardly ever appear in the original anime or manga - contrary to popular belief, Yugi does indeed have parents.

### 2:10 - "I'm a kleptomaniac..."

#### Recurring Gag

The fact that Téa is a compulsive thief would be referenced or alluded to several times over the course of the series, the first occasion being immediately after this statement when Tristan declares that his wallet is missing.

### 2:16 - "It's time to duel!"

#### Reference

This line is Yu-Gi-Oh!'s signature catchphrase, of which Yami often utters before commencing a duel.

#### Analysis

With no segue or introduction, Yami makes his first appearance (excluding the intro) in the series. This is immediately lampshaded by Kaiba, who is confused about Yugi's sudden dramatic change. This is possibly a reference to the original anime, which introduces Yami by having Yugi transform into him with limited context.

### 2:22 - "Holy Ra! Real monsters!"

#### Reference

Yami mentioning Ra is an allusion to the Egyption God Ra, as well as the playing card 'The Winged Dragon of Ra' that was inspired by it. Ironically, this card would rarely be named as such in the abridged series, instead going by the moniker 'Mega Ultra Chicken' - this is a reference to 'Ultra Mega Chicken' from the Adult Swim cartoon 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force'.

### 2:43 - "Wait a minute. Did you just..."

#### Analysis

Yami mentions in this scene that it is 'against the rules' to 'summon a bunch of monsters in one turn', but this is not exactly true - as known by players of the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game (and even pointed out by Kaiba himself during 'Season Zero Abridged') there are multiple methods that can be used to achieve this. However, considering Kaiba's known deck during this duel it's much more likely that he cheated.

### 2:49 - "Screw the rules, I have money!"

#### Recurring Gag

This line is referenced or alluded to many times over the course of the series, and is often seen as one of YGOTAS' signature catchphrases.

### 3:29 - "Kaiba, if you really wish to know..."

#### Reference

Yami ends this sentence with the phrase 'talk to the hand', which originated from the 1990s. This reference would have been incredibly dated even during when the original anime episode would have aired, let alone when the first YGOTAS episode had been uploaded.

### 3:51 "Hey, hey! Fun time, goofing off..."

#### Reference

This is a voice clip taken from Master Shake from Adult Swim series 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force'. Various Adult Swim shows and media would go on to be referenced throughout this series, so it seems appropriate for the first of these closing gags to be one of these.

1. ↑ https://screenrant.com/yu-gi-oh-joey-wheeler-trivia/
2. ↑ https://yugioh.fandom.com/wiki/Sam\_Riegel
3. ↑ 'Monster Reborn'
4. ↑ https://ennyman.medium.com/curses-foiled-again-ac2fb0f80f97
5. ↑ https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/talk-to-the-hand.html