This is the one that stops pretending a card game anime needs to be solemn about it. Joe Kirifuda is still the least dignified protagonist the franchise has ever put in a duel, still scribbling creatures into existence instead of studying matchups, and Decky is still the talking deck case who has to keep reminding everyone that the Creature World's balance is actually on the line here. Fifty-one episodes is a long runway for a show this loose, and it uses every one of them on gag timing rather than tournament brackets and destiny speeches. If you came up on Katta and the Versus era, the tonal whiplash is the point: the stakes are cosmic, the delivery is a kid drawing a monster and yelling. You either roll with Joe's nonsense by episode three or you never will.

Duel Masters! is a 2018 action, adventure and comedy anime from Ascension.