First thing's first.
This show was loved by pretty much every preteen kid in the early 2000s (including myself). Having said that, looking back, the English dub of the show is a bit too pandering and repetitive (and when I say 'a bit', I mean 'excessively') The changes 4Kids Entertainment made to the English dub of Yugioh, at times, are just too silly that they have eventually become memes. No death, no guns, but let's leave in the part about people losing their souls, that's A-OK! At this stage of my life, Yugioh is kind of a guilty pleasure, just because of how over the top it can get. There's a guy on YouTube called LittleKuriboh who makes a living from taking the mick out of the show, for God's sake! When it boils down to it, most of the hinging story threads are really silly. "Let's play a children's card game in order to decide the fate of the world!" "The heart of the cards will guide me!" "The power of friendship will never leave us." And speaking of the last part, talk about emphasizing the friendzone to the nth degree! Tea, the token female of the group harps on about this constantly, but you just know that Yugi harbours feelings for her regardless.
Another point that takes away from the show is the relentless padding and repetition. Card games or "duels" against adversaries are stretched out to 3-4 episodes because flashbacks and inner monologues are shoehorned into the episodes constantly. There are times where I genuinely feel like going "GET ON WITH IT!!" I guess that's just an anime cliché though.
Overall, the premise of Yugioh is ridiculously silly but it still holds a special place in my heart (as cheesy as that sounds). LittleKuriboh's Abridged Series has been a bonus to come out of the show's creation.
