YU-GI-OH! THE DARK SIDE OF DIMENSIONS

Title : Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions

Language : Japanese, English

Release Date : April 23, 2016 (Japan)

January 24, 2017 (New York City)

January 27, 2017 (North America)

February 1, 2017 (United Kingdom)

February 2, 2017 (Australia)

Directed By : Satoshi Kuwabara

Distributed By : Toei Company (Japan)

Screenvision (USA)

Madman Entertainment (Australia)

Manga Entertainment (UK)

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions is a 2016 Japanese animated supernatural adventure film, part of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. The film is an original story and features Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba as its main characters. The film is set after the events of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! storyline; specifically, it follows on from the original manga version of the story, meaning that it features significant contradictions to the continuity of the anime. In celebration of the film and twenty years of the franchise in general, TV Tokyo began airing a remastered digital edition of the 2000–2004 Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters anime in Japan. The film was released in Japan on April 23, 2016 and was released on January 27, 2017 in the United States and Canada and was released on February 2, 2017 in Australia. This was the fourth theatrical release of a Yu-Gi-Oh! film after Yu-Gi-Oh! (1999), Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light, and Yu-Gi-Oh!: Bonds Beyond Time.

Creator Kazuki Takahashi published a new one-shot manga called TRANSCEND GAME in Weekly Shōnen Jump. The two-part prologue story is set between the end of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga and the beginning of The Dark Side of Dimensions. Part 1 released in the 19th issue on April 11, 2016 and Part 2 released in the 20th issue on April 18, 2016. VIZ Media's digital Weekly Shōnen Jump announced that it will publish Yu-Gi-Oh!: Transcend Game. Part 1 released in the December 19, 2016 issue. Part 2 released in the January 2, 2017 issue.

Plot

In the opening, KaibaCorp is doing research on the Millennium Puzzle. Suddenly, a mysterious cloaked man is at the underground as one of Kaiba's bodyguards Roland tells him that he is behind schedule and to start digging. A year after the departure of the Pharaoh, Yugi Muto and his closest friends are in their final year of High School and are talking about what they will do in the future. Meanwhile, Seto Kaiba has commissioned an excavation to retrieve the disassembled Millennium Puzzle from the ruins of the Millennium chamber. The item had previously housed the soul of his rival, Atem, whom he hopes to revive in order to settle their score. The excavation is interrupted by Diva, who faces Kaiba in a game of Duel Monsters and steals two pieces of the recovered Puzzle. He keeps one fragment and gives the other to his sister Sera who passes it on to Yugi Muto, aware that he was the host of the Pharaoh.

Diva, under the alias "Aigami," forges a "friendship" with Yugi. He takes interest in Yugi's friend Ryo Bakura, whom he believes is responsible for the death of his father-like mentor, Shadi. Using his Quantum Cube, he transports Bakura to another dimension. Bakura apologizes and explains that the evil spirit of the Millennium Ring had been responsible. The two are interrupted by Mani, who has become warped by the evil energies of the Millennium Ring.

Kaiba has a computer rebuild the Millennium Puzzle and discovers the last two pieces are missing. He abducts Aigami and approaches Yugi, so he can have the two take part in the showcasing of his updated Duel Disk virtual reality technology. He intends to duel both Aigami and Yugi, while gambling their pieces of the puzzle. However, Yugi is furious with Aigami over what he did to Bakura and insists he duel him instead, which Kaiba agrees to.

Yugi defeats Aigami, resulting in Bakura's return to reality, and while dueling Kaiba, Yugi re-completes the Millennium Puzzle to demonstrate that the spirit of Atem is no longer inside it. Aigami becomes corrupted by the incredible evil powers of the Millennium Ring and duels both Yugi and Kaiba. Kaiba sacrifices himself during the Duel and makes a final plea for Yugi to call forth Atem. Yugi succeeds in doing so, and he and Atem defeat Aigami with ease. Atem and the Millennium Puzzle then fade away, and Kaiba returns to reality.

The film concludes with Yugi and his best friends seeing Téa off at the airport as she goes off to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a professional ballet dancer in New York City while Kaiba uses his technology in conjunction with the Quantum Cube to transport his consciousness to the Netherworld, where he approaches Pharaoh Atem, sitting on his throne, who responds with a confident smile.