Yu-Gi-Oh! (1999)

Yu-Gi-Oh! (遊☆戯☆王) is a 30-minute film produced by Toei Animation based on the first anime adaptation of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series. It was first shown in theaters on March 6, 1999.

The movie is about a boy named Shougo Aoyama who is too timid to duel even after he got a powerful rare card, the legendary Red-Eyes Black Dragon, in his Deck. Yugi tries to bring Shougo's courage out in a duel with Seto Kaiba, who has his eyes on Shougo's rare card.

Unlike in the original first series anime, Seto Kaiba sports brown hair like his manga counterpart instead of green hair, as well as his Duelist Kingdom purple duster. The other characters use their first series character designs.

A second film was produced and released in North America as Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light.

Story
A shy boy named Shougo Aoyama gets the rare card, Red Eyes Black Dragon, a card that brings potential to those who duel with courage. Despite having never won a game of Duel Monsters before, Shougo boasts that he doesn't need to duel others since he'd just win with that card. Having noticed Shougo possessing this card, Seto Kaiba sends out invitations to him, as well as Yugi Muto, for a tournament against him. When Shougo refuses the invitation, Kaiba sends one of his men to force him to attend, which catches the attention of Yugi and his friend, Katsuya Jonouchi. As Jonouchi holds off the man, Yugi and Shougo try to escape but are attacked by another guard who steals Shougo's Red Eyes Black Dragon and Yugi's Millennium Puzzle. As Jonouchi manages to retrieve the card, Shougo admits he didn't want to duel in case he lost with the card, so Yugi decides to duel in his place. Yugi retrieves his Millennium Puzzle from Kaiba and transforms into his alter ego, Dark Yugi, as Kaiba prepares his duel using a new holographic Duel Disk system. Yugi soon runs into trouble when Kaiba brings out his Blue Eyes White Dragon, and when Yugi manages to beat one, he brings out another one and combines it with his other two dragons. As Yugi moves onto the defensive, it is revealed Jonouchi had sneaked Shougo's Red Eyes Black Dragon into Yugi's deck, though Yugi refuses to use it until Shougo's shows courage. When Kaiba stops Yugi's ability to defend, Shougo finally shows courage, encouraging Yugi to summon Red Eyes Black Dragon and fuses it with his Meteor Dragon to defeat Kaiba. Afterwards, things go back to normal and Shougo starts dueling normally and making friends.

Characters and voice actors

 * Yugi Mutou / Dark Yugi (Yami Yugi) - Megumi Ogata
 * Katsuya Jonouchi - Toshiyuki Morikawa
 * Anzu Mazaki - Yumi Kakazu
 * Hiroto Honda - Ryōtarō Okiayu
 * Miho Nosaka - Yukana Nogami
 * Seto Kaiba - Hikaru Midorikawa
 * Shougo Aoyama - Eiko Hisamura