As much respect I give to Little Kuriboh, I kinda do think the whole "CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLE" meme kinda hurt this series since now no one really takes it seriously

Can we just admire how good yusei's japanese voice actor is

5ds is in my opinion probably the peak of Yu-Gi-Oh it's so well done.

I think it’s worth mentioning that yusei has 2 aces. One being his ideal self (stardust dragon) and his true self (junk warrior) stardust dragon is a martyr with this legendary destiny that must carry all burdens, while junk warrior a catalyst for change. A pile of scraps that is only as strong as the allies around it.

I absolutely loved how Jack and Yusei’s color schemes are opposite of their dragons like it shows they’re two sides of the same coin

14:35 kiryu wasn't released from prison, he died in there and was brought back to life by the god of death

Man I don't know why people were so caught up in the duel on motorcycles thing. It was the coolest gimmick of any Yugioh series ever. It made the duels more exciting and it was just cool.

Something that I still laugh about when thinking of the series is that at first, Yusei had his crew from the satellite. Then, he proceeded to completely ditch them and get the signers as his new squad lol.

5D's dub had some of the best lines.

"Is that Joey Wheeler?"

"No, that's his cousin, Jesse Wheeler."

Or when Yusei had gone missing and Crow casually mentioned he got a phone call from someone who very matter-of-factly told him they had Yusei and he didn't think to bring it up earlier, Akiza's response was hilarious.

"I'm gonna cobble you, Crow!"

Jack: "I believe you mean 'clobber'. To cobble is to make shoes."

Akiza: "Whatever! Then I'm going to cobble some shoes and use them to kick Crow's butt!"

It's always been really funny to me that "card games on motorcycles" of all things is somehow a bridge too far.

Yu-Gi-Oh style hair? Ok.
Cheap mass-produced cardboard having magical powers? Ok.
Structuring all of society around a children's card game? Ok.
Card games on motorcycles? Whoa whoa whoa, stop having fun, that makes no sense! 😭

Personally, I applaud the creative team for having the wisdom and courage to say "Screw it, none of this makes any sense anyway, we're going to have card games on motorcycles and you can't stop us."

Fun Fact: 5Ds was originally only slated for 2 seasons originally. The Dark Signers arc WAS the intended end of the show. But part way through, TVTokyo ordered 2 more seasons be made. That's why before the WRGP Arc starts the show kinda just wonders around with no story for a while, they WERE just filling time slots and trying to figure out what else to add to pad out the newly ordered seasons.

Yusei has one of the most impactful lines in the English dub. ..."I'll have some milk"

5ds was a childs peak yugioh. Real goofy style but nothing short of complete emotion. YOU FELT EVERY CHARACTER. No one fell short of being a main character. Still my favorite yugioh

5ds was peak yu gi oh. They cut back on  last min cards and actually showed strategy. Villains had great decks not to mention snycro summoning one of the coolest way of summoning

5Ds really finished strong. I still cry at Bruno's death, or more accurately, Yusei's response to it, and the duel vs Z-One is still one of my favorites.

Someone pointed out that Stardust Dragon's appearance subtly reflects Yusei too. It's wings look tattered and worn, but the rest of it's body looks looks more formidable and pristine.

You could take this two ways, the first being, Yusei is a Satellite, but he was supposed to be of the Tops, he's someone who should've been a rich, coddled genius from birth, but hardship and poverty kept him grounded.

The other is, despite Yusei seeming like he'd just be the smart guy,  we see that his life has made him formidable in fights like his time with Satisfaction and that one time he knocked out two security guards.

Even the negate ability and Stardust Dragon's stats reflect this. A powerful defensive ability like that, which at the time, and even now (with Starlight Road) on a 2500 body, rather than a trap/spell shows that Yusei can can both defend and fight despite his  less macho look compared to Jack and Red Dragon Archfiend. Like his whole bond aspect seems more akin to Yugi who had the least imposing stature and appearance for the longest time

The best part of 5Ds starts around when Aporia shows up, episode 134. It is insane not to have brought that part up, since it is the wrapup to like 15 years of storytelling across the original 3 yugioh ANIMES. Z-ONE and Aporia themselves being the two best characters in 5Ds. Episode 134-154 is 5Ds at its absolute best.

Of course, that still leaves like 80 episodes where nothing really happens except that fun Crashtown mini arc. But most of those episodes are indeed the anime spinning its wheels because the key members of the writing team were working on the Bonds Beyond Time movie.

Also, insane to me how you mention how the cards represent the characters but didn't mention Junk Warrior. It's explicitly pointed out a couple times in the anime that Junk Warrior is Yusei with how it gets its strength from the weak monsters around it. It and Stardust Dragon show the different aspects of Yusei's character: his friends give him strength and he's willing to sacrifice himself to protect them. Then, in the finale, it's Junk Warrior, not Stardust Dragon, that defeats Red Dragon Archfiend and allows his friends to leave Neo Domino City to go live their lives. He is done sacrificing himself.

As a kid, I always thought Yugioh on motorcycles was cool.  As an adult, I think it's the coolest idea Yugioh ever had.

Also Yusei Stardust Dragon matches the D-Wheel that Jack stole from him. Yusei’s new D-Wheel matches Red Dragon Archfiend. Jack’s robes are Stardust colors whereas Yusei’s are RDA

Fun fact: The director of 5Ds, Katsumi Ono, went on to later direct Symphogear which is THE most hype anime ever. He even let Hibiki use Junk Warrior's Scrap Fist frame for frame.