Yu-Gi-Oh! THE DARK SIDE OF DIMENSIONS [Blu-ray]

Update as of 2/12/2018: I wasn't punctual with updating it when I received the corrected copy, but I'll date it as to when I write this nonetheless. The corrected copy does fix the subtitles, but otherwise there were no changes to improve the menu or so on. Given that this is pretty consistently on sale for around $15, and the Japanese -> English subtitles are fixed, overall I would give it 4 stars considering its price is out of the "premium blu ray" category anyway. I would still very much like a more celebratory product, but this is still the best way to own the movie in the Americas currently.I'll start from the outset with two things. One, I do not condone piracy in any form. If you have yet to see the dub version of this movie, this is a very good way to do so. Two, I am coming from having seen both theatrical versions, and I slightly consider the dub version to be superior for personal reasons. I will however go over the issues with the sub version in this product with reasonable detail (long story short, it has dubtitles). For this reason I won't really be focusing on the quality of the movie itself, outside of raising what would probably be a 1 star product for a poorer movie into 2 stars.Starting from the packaging: the colors on the cardboard overlay are nice and bright and is exactly a larger version of the paper insert in the case itself. The art is taken from the poster but more focused on the top section somewhat, which feels a little surprising in person. The spine continues from the front art to give it some color, and is stylized correctly. There is no continuation onto the back cover though, but the art from the spine goes around the corner a tiny bit so you don't see the back art from the side view. Back has a nice little drawing with Yugi and Kaiba and again is colored well, but has nothing else of note outside of the barcode area being a cutout on the cardboard). There is actually a left spine on the cardboard cover, however not a lot of care was put into it as you can see bits of the back art, notably Kaiba's cape, and it's really jarring.The cardboard itself is standard treated cardboard. Thin, corners crumble a bit, but holds up fine otherwise provided your careful. However, there is a sticker in the bottom right corner advertising the card that comes with it. I didn't realize it was a sticker at first until I poked at it. Much to my demise, the sticker does not come off residue-free, but fortunately the case wasn't damaged. Some Goo Gone gently but thoroughly worked in seems to have gotten rid of the worst of it with no visible wear.The case is a standard blu-ray case. The blue doesn't clash with the art so this is a perfectly fine way of storing it if you wish. The case comes covered with standard blu-ray labeled shrink wrap, and unfortunately a small bit of it seems to be stuck or to have left some residue on the spine.When you start to open the case is when it really starts to get bleak. There's absolutely no supplemental material outside of the promo card, the Digital HD instructions+code, and disk. The promo card is a Gold Rare (not Gold Secret Rare) version of the Obelisk the Tormentor promo that came with tickets for the (dub version of the) theatrical release. Of minor note, this comes in a see-through plastic slip like tin promos, not in the silver promotional packaging the theater version came in. On inspection, my obelisk was slightly damaged over its rightmost level star, presumably from being held by the paper clasps.The disc art is some of the laziest I've ever seen, and by art I mean lack thereof. There is only the movie logo, a blu-ray bar, and a smattering of production logos on a pure black background. I haven't seen disc art this disappointing since The Wonderful 101 using ugly in-game models.Booting up is straightforward. I do not know if it was a setting or property of the PS3 I was using, but the play button kept popping every time a sequence of screens concluded (e.g. after the piracy yada yada there's a play icon in the corner before bringing up the menu, or after exiting playing the movie it comes up before bringing up the menu again). The initial load icon is just a cropped version of the main art.You are greeted with the main artwork with a reasonably pleasant looking pink strip for the options, but the audio for the menu is ATROCIOUS. Choosing the iconic theme of the dub was a no-brainer, but it's so very quiet, the quality is absolutely terrible, and the audio cuts out! As a big audio-focused person, this was one of the most disappointing components of the entire package.Now lets get to the meat of it: this thing is barebones. You are greeted with exactly 2 options, play movie and special features. There's not even a scene select! I was actually experimenting with PSMove at the time so I won't comment on navigation. All (if I am not mistaken) of the special features were already posted onto official channels in order to promote the movie, so you're not getting anything new there.Play movie gives you exactly 2 options: Play the Japanese Movie with English Subtitles, and play the English Movie. I'll start with the former. Yes, they are dubtitles. I skipped a scene or two and found myself at the night camera scene, which has very different dialogue in the two versions. The subtitles used were most undoubtedly from the english version (even without knowing the language, I recognized a character saying "Aigami-kun" with his name not appearing in the subtitles anywhere, reflecting the changed script). This is shamefully lazy and I understand if this is a dealbreaker. I believe I can confirm that this does in fact use the Japanese soundtrack though, but I only listened to the first minute and a half or so to compare. I personally prefer the english score, but I'm glad they kept that at least.Selecting to play the english version gives two options: playing the movie with or without subtitles. I would have to imagine the subtitles are the same as the dubtitles from the japanese version, but admittedly I didn't check.I can confirm that both versions at least sound great, and the visuals are fantastic. If you're going to get the movie at all, I would recommend the upgrade to blu-ray.Last notes:-The sub menu only has a "menu" and an "x" option to either return to the main menu or to exit the sub menu. The visual is fine I suppose but there's a pixel-wide white bar on the right side of the screen and it's very, very unprofessional. Also, for better or worse the movie still plays in a window.-The digital HD version is ultraviolet. I haven't tried downloading it yet, but I presume that process is well-documented at this point.This version is reasonable if you want to experience the dub for the first time or simply want to own it, or if you want to listen to the japanese version, but for anything else I would highly suggest that 4k gets off its ass to make a better product.

I sincerely hope this isn't the end of well-written Yu-Gi-Oh movies. The Pyramid of Light was okay, and Bonds Beyond Time was slightly better. But this movie tackles the real progression of the plot, and more importantly - the characters. It isn't stand-alone.In addition, the new 'villain', Aigami, is a well thought out antagonist, not just a random evil entity like the first movie, or a hard to follow plot like a time-travel villain (I love 5ds, but you can't just watch Bond Beyond Time and know what's going on).Top it off with excellent music, animation and new cards - banger movie.

Putting the DVD issues aside, this review is of the movie itself.For Yu-Gi-Oh fans, this movie will probably be easy to get into but non-fans may have trouble following the story, as it takes place six months after the end of the original manga/anime (officially it follows the manga but some stuff takes cues from the anime too, and some stuff doesn't fit in either continuity). Another thing to note is how the movie was made in the first place. DSOD was commissioned without the creator's involvement originally, but upon being asked to work on it he agreed and took control of the project, being solely responsible for the script, story, and designs. Also, originally it was going to star Seto Kaiba alone, without Yugi or his friends showing up, but adding Yugi and co. made it 3 hours long so an hour had to be cut from the script, which may explain lack of exposition regarding certain things. A prequel manga called Transcend Game fills in some of the gaps but seems to have been made back when it was Seto Kaiba: The Movie, as several characters act differently than they do in this movie and Yugi and co. don't appear at all.The story takes place six months after the final manga chapter/anime episode. While Yugi and his friends have returned to a peaceful life, Seto Kaiba is determined to see and duel the Pharaoh no matter what by excavating and completing the Millennium Puzzle, and both sides are menaced by Aigami, a mysterious classmate of Yugi's with magic powers who is determined to stop the Pharaoh's resurrection even if it means killing Kaiba or Yugi. Yugi's friends mainly have a supporting role, with the exception of Ryou Bakura, who has a role in Aigami's backstory.The animation quality and music is the best Yu-Gi-Oh has ever seen, and hearing the old voice actors in English and Japanese again was a treat. Aigami also has a very good design and voice, as do his sister Sera and confidant Mani. However, some of the plot threads as presented in the movie don't align with the manga OR the anime, particularly with Shadi and Ryou Bakura. Not only that, characters who were very active in the manga, such as Joey, don't get to do much at all, with Joey even wearing a dog suit like in an anime arc infamous for putting him down. Ryou Bakura also gets the short end of the stick despite his backstory role, as he doesn't have a dream for the future, nobody asks him what it is, he gets stuck in another dimension for the last third of the movie, and his father is also apparently dead despite being alive in the manga and anime. While Mokuba Kaiba gets time to shine, his relationship with big brother Seto isn't as close as it was, either. Tea and Tristan are mostly filler, but they get off relatively easy, and Yugi tends to react more to what Kaiba and Aigami do than act on his own.Regarding deceased characters such as Yami Yugi/Atem and Yami Bakura returning, the former does appear, once as a virtual construct made by Kaiba and again as the real deal, though how and when is a spoiler. Yami Bakura only appears in flashback, but the Millennium Ring is around--despite Zorc and Yami Bakura having died at the end of the story, it is still evil and able to corrupt people somehow, which is never really explained. How Aigami's powers work is also a mystery even if you have read the prequel manga, and if you haven't, then how Kaiba's VR tech works--by constructing solid images and transcending dimensions through his brainwaves--will be hard to follow. Aigami's motivations in the Japanese version revolve around quantum physics, which can also be hard to understand. Nothing of the cut-short Ancient Egypt arc is mentioned, either, and while Kisara appears in the prequel manga she isn't seen or mentioned in the movie itself. Pegasus does not feature either as he was killed in the manga, and the Ishtars only cameo in a flashback.More significantly, the final duel also breaks the lesson of the main story by having Yugi need help to win when he couldn't do it alone, despite his entire arc being about standing up for himself on his own and beating the Pharaoh to prove he was ready. The ending to the movie is also very ambiguous as to what happens to a main character, while the manga and anime ended on a conclusive, if bittersweet, note with everyone mostly accounted for.Overall, while I like PARTS of the movie, as a whole I think it's just okay. The parts that work do so extremely well, but the rest left me feeling angry, confused, or sad for what happened to favorite characters. At some points it feels closer to fanfiction or pandering to the fanbase than telling a conclusive, cohesive story, despite the creator's involvement.

Good job keep up the good work

Ties up all loose ends with beautiful animation and good writing.

The nostalgia was nice to revisit and the movie was actually pretty gripping. But the entire movie I was waiting for the pharaoh and he was on screen for like 2 minutes(maybe) and he DID NOT SPEAK. That was disappointing cause that voice practically made the franchise. But, yeah it is worth a watch :)

Ho comprato quest'articolo più per la carta promozionale che per il film in sé. Detto ciò la consegna è arrivata puntuale, pacco integro disco perfetto ma dentro non c'era la carta promozionale.Anche dopo aver fatto il reso, specificando che mancava la carta, dopo due giorni arriva un altro Blue Ray di nuovo sprovvisto di carta promo. Big F

Il migliore Film di yu-gi-oh! mai uscito, che si colloca alla fine della prima serie televisa e si impone come reale finale di essa. Con una grafica mozzafiato e una trama avvincente rende non solo giustizia alla serie classica ma la riporta in auge alla grande.

Un film davvero interessante.

Vediamo, non c’è cosa che mi sia mai piaciuta di più nella vita: è tutto troppo bello; mi mancava rivedere Athem e il gruppo insieme.

dopo il primo film questo d a un seguito....bellissimo per amanti del genere!!!grazie di tutto Arturo da Milano mi