Yu-Gi-Oh! Bonds Beyond Time

Yu-Gi-Oh! Bonds Beyond Time (10thアニバーサリー劇場版遊☆戯☆王〜超融合!時空を越えた絆〜) is a 2010 Japanese 3-D animated science fantasy action film based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series. It was produced to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the NAS-produced series Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, and features the main characters from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.

It was released in Japanese theaters on January 23, 2010. An English-language version of the film was produced by 4Kids Entertainment. The digital cinema developer and distributor Cinedigm screened the film in selected stereoscopic 3D theaters in the United States. In the United Kingdom, Manga Entertainment released the film in selected stereoscopic 3D cinemas, and followed this with a Blu-ray 3D and DVD release. The film was also released in the United States on Blu-ray and DVD.

The film earned over US$2 million in Japanese theaters, and also sold well on DVD, both in Japan and the United Kingdom. Film critics, however, criticized it for its limited scope of audience, claiming it was strictly marketed to children or fans of the series.

Reception

''Yu-Gi-Oh! Bonds Beyond Time'' debuted at number six in the Japanese box office charts, earning over US$1 million in its first week from around 124 theaters.[29] It grossed $2,017,928 in Japanese theatres, making it the 125th-highest-grossing film released in Japan in 2010.[30] The DVD and Blu-ray releases of the film reached number two in the best-selling lists of their respective media. In the first week, the DVD edition has sold 5,488 copies, while 4,653 copies of Blu-ray has been sold in the same period.[31][32] It was the film's UK distributor Manga Entertainment's second-best selling anime release of 2011. A representative of Manga Entertainment said, "I think [it was] because it was available in Asda and Morrisons, came with a free rare card and was stupidly cheap on [the] shelf".[33] When it was broadcast by TV Tokyo in 2014, the film earned a 0.3 percent television viewership rating.[34]

Andy Haley from UK Anime Network praised the English version and stated it is "arguably preferable even to the original Japanese audio". Haley praised the film "for keeping its focus and plot progression impeccable tight", which made it "an intense, non-stop experience". However, Haley said the film was created to increase the sale of cards; he commented it has "plot holes that even kids will see through as it serves only to bring its three characters together at one time and nothing more".[27] Writing for The Guardian, Phelim O'Neill affirmed it has "a very limited style of animation" and that it may be exciting for children but for anyone over ten, "it'll be hard to see this as anything other than a shouty, tacky advert for things you'll never buy".[35] Chris Homer of The Fandom Post praised the film's animation and the matching up of the three protagonists. He criticized it and stated the time travel and the antagonists motives are not well developed, "if at all about why he wants to get rid of what is basically a card game".[22] Total Film's Jamie Russell wrote it is difficult for a non-fan of the series to appreciate.[36] Bridget Fox, writing for Neo, also said it is "not for non-fans" but that it is good entertainment with "its frenetic pace, the capable animation, and its refusal to overcomplicate matters".[37]

English localization and release

During 4Kids Entertainment's quarterly conference call in March 2010, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alfred Khan said they are "participating in a brand new Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D movie," implying that 4Kids would produce an English-language version of the film for a Western release.[17] A 20-minute preview for the English version of the film was shown at San Diego Comic Con 2010,[18] and an American release date in early 2011 in select 3-D theaters was announced.[19] The film's debut in the United States occurred at an event in New York on February 23, 2011. It included demonstrations of Konami's Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game, the anime's voice actors, a costume contest, and benefited the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Metro New York.[20]

Cinedigm showed the film in selected American stereoscopic 3D theaters on February 26 and 27, 2011, and on March 5 and 6, 2011.[21] The version shown in the U.S. features a 10-minute recap of the three Yu-Gi-Oh! TV shows, made up of clips taken from those shows, which was not part of the Japanese release.[22][21] Manga Entertainment holds the license to distribute the film in the United Kingdom. It was released in selected stereoscopic 3D cinemas on May 14 and 21, 2011, and the viewers gained a rare card for each ticket bought.[23][24] The film was released on Blu-ray 3D and DVD on July 25, 2011;[25][26] the release contains the English language and original Japanese versions.[27] On July 15, 2014, it was released by New Video Group in North America on Blu-ray.[28]

Like the TV series, the movie's English dub is heavily edited and localized for younger audiences outside Japan. Musical tracks and sound effects are all replaced with American-original ones, foreign text is erased or obscured, and the trading cards are visually edited in the same manner as the TV series to not resemble the actual real-life cards. Although 4Kids heavily edited the film, they did not censor Yubel's chest as they had previously done throughout the third season of ''Yu-Gi-Oh! GX''.

director	Kenichi Takeshita
writer	Shin Yoshida
based on	Yu-Gi-Oh! by Kazuki Takahashi
starring	see below
music	Yutaka Minobe Wall 5 Project
cinematography	Hiroaki Edamitsu
studio	Studio Gallop
runtime	50 minutes
distributor	Nihon Ad Systems
country	Japan
language	Japanese
gross	$2 million

Yu-Gi-Oh! Bonds Beyond Time

Plot

Voice cast

Development and release

Staff

Reception

External links

References

English localization and release