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Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters poster

Shows that feel likeYu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (2000–2004)

Bullies often target someone frail and weak—someone exactly like Yûgi Muto. He treasures his Millennium Puzzle, an ancient Egyptian artifact that was brought into his grandfather's game shop. Believing that solving the puzzle will grant him his wish, he completes the puzzle, unleashing a new personality within him, the soul of the "King of Games." The new personality named Yami Yûgi is the exact opposite of Yûgi. Upon any injustice toward him, Yami Yûgi takes over Yûgi's body and forces the opponent into a "Shadow Game".

If you loved Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, the closest series we have are Cardcaptor Sakura (1998), Xena: Warrior Princess (1995) and Bleach (2004). All three share Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters' kinetic and epic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Descendants of the Sun (2016).

10 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Hulu

If Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters hit the spot, these will too

Cardcaptor Sakura poster
Cardcaptor Sakura
1998–2018 · 4 seasons · NHK BS2
★ 8animation · sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventure

Common ground in both: magic and friendship

The difference: Leans harder into sci-fi & fantasy than Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters does

Sakura Kinomoto, an elementary school student who discovers that she possesses magical powers after accidentally freeing a set of magical cards from the book they had been sealed in for years. She is then tasked with retrieving those cards in order to avoid an unknown catastrophe from befalling the world.

Xena: Warrior Princess poster
Xena: Warrior Princess
1995–2001 · 6 seasons · Syndication
🍅 63%★ 6.8drama · action & adventure · sci-fi & fantasy

Both keep coming back to the same thing: mythology

The difference: Sits closer to drama than Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters does

Xena is an infamous warrior on a quest to seek redemption for her past sins against the innocent. Accompanied by her comrade-in-arms Gabrielle, the campy couple use their formidable fighting skills to help those who are unable to defend themselves.

Bleach poster
Bleach
2004– · 2 seasons · TV Tokyo
★ 8.3action & adventure · animation · sci-fi & fantasyHulu

Common ground: friendship

For as long as he can remember, Ichigo Kurosaki has been able to see ghosts. But when he meets Rukia, a Soul Reaper who battles evil spirits known as Hollows, he finds his life is changed forever. Now, with a newfound wealth of spiritual energy, Ichigo discovers his true calling: to protect the living and the dead from evil.

Hunter x Hunter poster
Hunter x Hunter
2011–2014 · 3 seasons · Nippon TV
★ 9animation · action & adventure · sci-fi & fantasyNetflixPrime Video

Both are built on the same subject: friends

Gon, a young boy who lives on Whale Island, dreams of becoming a Hunter like his father, who left when Gon was still young.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End poster
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
2023– · 1 season · Nippon TV
★ 8.9animation · action & adventure · dramaNetflixHulu

The same preoccupation in both: magic

The difference: 23 years apart, and the 2020s show

After the party of heroes defeated the Demon King, they restored peace to the land and returned to lives of solitude. Generations pass, and the elven mage Frieren comes face to face with humanity's mortality. She takes on a new apprentice and promises to fulfill old friends' dying wishes. Can an elven mind make peace with the nature of life and death? Frieren embarks on her quest to find out.

Saint Seiya poster
Saint Seiya
1986–1989 · 1 season · tv asahi
★ 8.4animation · drama · action & adventure

Kinetic where it counts, epic underneath

Ages ago, the goddess Athena was served by fighters called Saints who channeled the power of the Cosmos within them. Now a youth named Seiya has trained to become a Saint himself by earning the mystical Cloth of Pegasus. He is joined by other Saints with Cloths of their own to fight for Athena.

Berserk poster
Berserk
1997–1998 · 1 season · Nippon TV
★ 8.8action & adventure · sci-fi & fantasy · animation

Animation with a pulse of warmth, in both cases

Guts, a wandering mercenary, joins the Band of the Hawk after being defeated in a duel by Griffith, the group's leader and founder. Together, they dominate every battle, but something menacing lurks in the shadows.

Descendants of the Sun poster
Descendants of the Sun
2016 · 1 season · KBS2
★ 8.2drama · action & adventure

Kinetic action & adventure, and it commits to that

After a chance meeting in a hospital, an ardent soldier falls for a gifted surgeon. Opposing philosophies tear them apart, but fate has other plans.

Dororo poster
Dororo
2019 · 1 season · TV Tokyo
★ 8.2animation · action & adventurePrime VideoHulu

One thread runs through both: mythology

The difference: Takes it somewhere less warm than Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters does

During the Warring States period, the young thief Dororo encounters Hyakkimaru, a strange, sightless boy who wields fearsome prosthetics in place of his missing limbs. Parts of Hyakkimaru’s body were traded to a group of 12 demons by his father in exchange for power, but thanks to a kindly medicine man, Hyakkimaru survived his horrifying ordeal. Now he roams the land in search of his missing body, and together he and Dororo will fight to survive in an unforgiving, demon-plagued world.

Avatar: The Last Airbender poster
Avatar: The Last Airbender
2005–2008 · 3 seasons · Nickelodeon
★ 9.3animation · action & adventure · sci-fi & fantasyNetflixParamount+

Both lean on scale more than on animation

In a war-torn world of elemental magic, a young boy reawakens to undertake a dangerous mystic quest to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar, and bring peace to the world.

Sword Art Online poster
Sword Art Online
2012–2020 · 4 seasons · Gunma TV
★ 7.5animation · sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventureHulu

Warm action & adventure in both cases

In the near future, a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) called Sword Art Online has been released where players control their avatars with their bodies using a piece of technology called Nerve Gear. One day, players discover they cannot log out, as the game creator is holding them captive unless they reach the 100th floor of the game's tower and defeat the final boss. However, if they die in the game, they die in real life. Their struggle for survival starts now...

ONE PIECE poster
ONE PIECE
2023– · 3 seasons · Netflix
★ 8.3action & adventure · sci-fi & fantasyNetflix

Action & adventure built on momentum, twice over

With his straw hat and ragtag crew, young pirate Monkey D. Luffy goes on an epic voyage for treasure.

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The best-reviewed series that share Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters’ defining feeling.