Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens

Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens (遊☆戯☆王SEVENS), stylized as '''Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENƧ''', is a Japanese anime series animated by Bridge that aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from April 4, 2020, to March 27, 2022. It is the sixth spin-off anime series in the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, following Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS and commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters anime series.

The series is succeeded by Yu-Gi-Oh! Go Rush!!, which premiered on April 3, 2022.

Synopsis
The series takes place in the futuristic town of Goha and stars Yuga Ohdo, a fifth-grade, elementary school student, who loves both inventions and dueling. Feeling that the current rules of the Duel Monsters card game are too stifling, Yuga successfully manages to install a new set of rules of his own creation known as "Rush Duel", allowing for more fast-paced and frantic dueling. The series follows Yuga and his friends as they show off the delights of Rush Duels while under the watchful eye of the Goha Corporation that oversees the city.

Anime
''Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens was first announced as a then-untitled new anime series in the Yu-Gi-Oh!'' franchise on July 21, 2019. The series marked the second studio turnover in franchise history with Bridge taking over as head studio in animation production from Gallop, which oversaw every television series and films in the franchise since Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters in 2000. The series is being directed by Nobuhiro Kondo with screenplay by Toshimitsu Takeuchi and character designs by Kazuko Tadano and Hiromi Matsushita. It began airing in Japan on April 4, 2020, on TV Tokyo.

On April 28, 2020, it was announced that after episode 5, the remaining episodes would be delayed for five weeks due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. On July 10, 2020, it was announced it will be delayed again due to the aforementioned pandemic and resumed on August 8, 2020.

An edited English dub began production in early 2021, and premiered in the United States on Disney XD on June 6, and Hulu on June 7, 2022 to December 2, 2023. Three episodes were removed from the English version, leaving 89 episodes compared to the original 92.

Manga
A comedy spin-off manga adaptation, titled ''Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens: Boku no Road Gakuen (My Road Academy), written and illustrated by Megumi Sasaki launched in the September issue of Saikyo Jump'' on August 4, 2020.

Another manga adaptation, written by Masahiro Hikokubo and illustrated by Tasuku Sugie, titled Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens: Rook! Bakuretsu Hadō Den!! (遊☆戯☆王SEVENS ルーク!爆裂覇道伝!!) was serialized in V Jump from September 19, 2020, to March 19, 2022. Shueisha collected its chapters in three tankōbon volumes, released from April 30, 2022, to May 2, 2022.

Trading Card Game
In the year that ''Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens premiered, the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game'' announced an update to the Master Rules, unofficially called "Master Rule 5". Effective April 1, 2020, it is now possible again to summon Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz monsters directly to the Main Monster zones without a required Link arrow pointing to it. Pendulum and Link monsters, however, retain their previous rules. Furthermore, several alterations to card rulings were made to the OCG, exclusively.

Rush Duels
No new card mechanics were introduced into the main card game. Instead, a new format separate from the main game was introduced exclusively for the Japanese and Korean market named Rush Duels. Normal Summoning is unlimited, though Tribute Summon rules for Level 5 or higher monsters still apply. All card effects are "soft" once per turn, meaning a card's effect can be used once per copy. If a player can summon or use another copy of the same card, they may use its effect again. Card effects are now sectioned into "Requirement" and "Effect" boxes for easier reading. Players can only use cards designed for Rush Duels, which have a special frame and a "RUSH DUEL" tag at the bottom of the card. Rush Duels also uses its own exclusive card pool with many cards not found in the main game. Certain imported cards from the main game are known as "Legend Cards". Each player is allowed up to three Legend Cards in their deck, one of each type of card (monster, spell, trap).

Although the physical card game for Rush Duels is exclusive to the Asian markets, the format had been made available worldwide on digital formats through the Western release for the game ''Yu-Gi-Oh! Rush Duel: Dawn of the Battle Royale!!''.

Reception
Mellisa Camacho gave a mixed review of the series for Common Sense Media, giving the series a rating of 3 out of 5 stars, and writing that younger kids "may find what's happening a little confusing at times" but the anime is "lively enough to be entertaining."