Episode 1: Scary Blue Eyes White Dragon

We open at Domino High School, where we get a brief introduction to the game of Duel Monsters while watching Yugi trounce Joey. They're playing in a classroom, during some sort of free period. Tristan and Téa and some other kids are crowded around watching. Kaiba is off by himself reading a book, when he overhears Yugi talking about his Grandpa's game shop, and the Super Rare Card Grandpa owns. In the Japanese version, the book Kaiba's reading is Nietzsche's Also Sprach Zarathustra. In the US version, the book cover is blank. Wonder why? Afraid of turning school kids into nihilists? Or is it just because the title's on the wrong side of the book, from a US perspective?

After school, Yugi brings his friends home to the card shop, where they meet Grandpa, and talk him into showing them his Super Rare Card, the legendary Blue Eyes White Dragon. They are appropriately impressed (except for Tristan, who thinks it doesn't look like much).

Joey tells Grandpa he's ready to trade. "Not for this card," Grandpa says, snatching back his Blue Eyes White Dragon. "Naw, I didn't mean that card. I meant show me some other cool cards to get me started."

In the Japanese version, this exchange goes a little differently. Jounouchi (Joey) asks Grandpa to lend him the Blue Eyes White Dragon for a game. "It's a shame to have this card and not to play it." Grandpa, understandably, refuses to let him have it.

Then Kaiba shows up to have a look at Grandpa's Rare Card. The US Kaiba is a bit nastier than the Japanese version. Japanese Kaiba is haughty and superior, but doesn't hurl quite as many insults. Kaiba tries to trade all the cards in his case for the Blue Eyes, or to buy it when that fails, but Grandpa refuses. Kaiba stalks out, muttering, "Senile old fool." In the Japanese version, he simply says, "Shitsurei suru," which is a semi-formal way of saying "Goodbye." Literally, it means "I'm being rude," and has a connotation of "Excuse me for leaving so abruptly."

Next Episode

Kaiba sends his goons to bring Grandpa to Kaiba Corp for a duel. Afterwards, he calls Yugi to come and pick up Grandpa, who's been weakened by the duel. Kaiba taunts Yugi and tears up the Blue Eyes White Dragon card. "This one will never be used against me," he says. In the Japanese episode, he makes it clear that he already owns the only other three Blue Eyes cards in existence. "I only love these three," he says.

(What neither version makes clear to those of us who aren't already duelists is why Kaiba doesn't just keep the fourth Blue Eyes. It's against the rules to have more than three copies of any one card in a deck. I wondered about that for a long time....)

Grandpa gives Yugi his cards, and asks Yugi to duel Kaiba and teach him about the heart of the cards, but Yugi doesn't want to leave Grandpa. The others reassure him that they'll take care of Grandpa, and try to convince him to stay and duel. Joey tells Yugi he's the best duelist he's ever seen, and reminds him that he has the Millennium Puzzle to help him. Japanese Jounouchi, on the other hand, tells Yugi, "I used to love fighting, but it was you who changed me, Yugi. You can do it."

Then Téa draws the Happy Face on the back of their hands, as a reminder of their friendship. Téa and Tristan go with Grandpa to the hospital, while Joey stays to encourage Yugi.

And the battle is on. Kaiba's a bit startled when Yami, the spirit of the puzzle, comes out, but he recovers quickly and opens with the Hitotsume Giant (Japanese name "Cyclops"—Hitotsume means "One Eye" in Japanese). Yugi counters with Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress, whose Fireball Attack destroys the Hitotsume Giant. Which leads to my Favorite Wacky Subtitle of the Japanese Episode:

the attack of the Bubbling Big Balls!

Kaiba plays Saggi the Dark Clown, and powers him up with the Negative Energy Generator, which multiplies Saggi's ATK three times. The Japanese card is the Darkness Generator ("Yami no Generator"). Apparently, eyeballs are too mystical for American TV or something.The card was redesigned for US TV with an electric "E" instead.

Yugi plays some monsters in defense, and Kaiba destroys them one by one. Finally, Yugi plays Gaia the Fierce Knight and destroys Saggi. But Yugi's advantage doesn't last for long—Kaiba plays one Blue Eyes White Dragon, then another. Yugi counters with Swords of Revealing Light, which stops the two Blue Eyes currently on the field from attacking for three turns. (This is a little different from the way the card works in the real-life game, where it stops all attacks by your opponent for three turns, including cards drawn after Swords of Revealing Light is played.) Kaiba plays Judge Man and destroys Yugi's defense monster. Yugi counters with Dark Magician (Black Magician in the Japanese) and destroys Judge Man.

Then Kaiba plays his third Blue Eyes White Dragon, and destroys Dark Magician. Yugi's in trouble now! He's already drawn four of the five pieces of Exodia, but if he doesn't draw the fifth Exodia card on this turn, he's toast. The Happy Face Téa drew on on his hand reminds him of his friends, and with their support, he draws his final card. Exodia!

Exodia obliterates all three Blue Eyes White Dragons, and Kaiba loses, much to his shock and horror. Yugi taps into the power of the Millennium Puzzle, and zaps Kaiba with the Mind Crush to remove his evil. Kaiba falls to his knees. In the hospital, Grandpa wakes up, knowing that Yugi won.

One of Pegasus's suits reports to him that National Champion Kaiba was just beaten in a duel by some kid named Yugi....