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Bottom Line:

If you're new to the Kaijudo series or card game, this DVD is an absolute must watch. The DVD contains the first five episodes in a row, and slowly unveils the world of the Kaijudo Duel Masters and its lore, easing you into the world. However, it has just enough battle action to keep you interested and on the edge of your seat. This was my first experience with the series, and now I'm mad I've been missing it all this time.

Network: The Hub
Age Recommendation: 7+
Rating: TV-Y7 FV (Fantasy Violence)
Release Date: December 4, 2012
Run Time: 110 Minutes, not including special feature
Genre: Action/Fantasy

Overview:

Raiden Pierce-Okimodo, better known as Ray, is a 14 year-old boy of partial Japanese descent who is unwittingly drawn into the world of the Kaijudo Duel Masters, along with his friends Allison and Gabriel. They learn about summoning creatures from another realm and how to battle against the evil Choten, who wants to use said creatures as slaves and mutate them for his own use.

The show is based on the Duel Masters trading card game and is produced by Hasbro Studios, the same creators of Transformers Prime, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Pound Puppies, and Strawberry Shortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures.

Plot:

Ray, Allison, and Gabriel are the outcasts of their high school. They are relentlessly bullied and are the least popular kids in school. Ray has just moved into a new place with his mother and grandfather, apparently having lost his father.

His mind wanders and he enjoys drawing pictures of what he thinks are imaginary creatures.

During a confrontation with the school bullies in an alleyway after school, Ray unexpectedly summons a mystical creature from his notebook. The creature's life force, or "manna signature", draws the attention of two men: Hector Chavez, and a man known only as The Choten. Hector tames the creature and sends it back to its own realm, but he realizes that these three teenagers have the beginner's ability to train in the world of Kaijudo and the Duel Masters. He begins to instruct them in a world they never knew existed, one of magical battle creatures and martial arts duels, in the basement of a local martial arts studio.

At first, the Council of Duel Masters are not as impressed with the teens as Master Chavez is, and do not think Allison and Gabriel to be worthy of the order of Duel Masters. Ray impresses them with the way he bonds with his self-chosen creature, Tatsurian the Unchained (whom he calls Bob, as in "bob and weave"), even though he is initially forbidden to do so. However, Ray convinces them to allow Allison and Gabriel a second chance, and in doing so, they all three protect the precious archives from theft by one of The Choten's minions named Fingers, who had masqueraded as a student of the Duel Masters to gain access to the library and stable of creatures.

Meanwhile, The Choten and his main minion Alaskshmi attempt to collect creatures from the safety of their realm in order to inject them with evolution serum and use them as enslaved warriors. The teens feel connections to these creatures and want no harm to befall them, so they set out to protect them from the clutches of The Choten, drawing the ire of Alakshmi and her choice creature, Razor Kinder Puppet (which I uphold to be downright terrifying, especially if one is afraid of clowns).

Voice Cast:

The cast features an incredible lineup of actors, both from voiceover and television acting alike.

Ray is voiced by Scott Wolf, an actor known for his role as Bailey on Party of Five in the '90s and more recently on ABC's reboot of the series V as television reporter Chad Decker.

Allison is voiced by Kari Wahlgren, a voiceover actor from such series as Phineas and Ferb (Little Suzy), Ben 10 Ultimate Alien (Charmcaster), Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (Tigress), and Fish Hooks (Shellsea), along with countless other animated series, movies, and video game voices.

Gabriel, better known as Gabe, is voiced by Phil LaMarr, who is known for such voices as Hermes on Futurama, Ollie Williams and the Judge on Family Guy, and The Green Lantern on Justice League. He has also done countless video game and animated series and film voices.

See pictures of the voice actors from Kaijudo at San Diego's Comic Con on the Animated TV Guide Site.

Review For Parents:

Right of the bat, there is a scary creature attacking innocent people. The whole show is filled with creatures that might be frightening or disturbing to younger children. As I said before, the Razor Kinder Puppet creature was troubling to me, and I'm almost thirty. My younger son was not affected, but more sensitive children would be best to avoid this show entirely.

The bullies who bother Ray and his friends spout blatant racism, calling Ray a "mutt" because he is half Japanese, half white. Allison calls the bully out on this behavior in the first episode, calling him a racist to his face. It would definitely provide parents a good portal to talking with your kids about bullying and racism. See this article for more information about racist bullying in a school setting.

Also, a show with the word "judo" in the title obviously displays scenes of intense and violent battle, although there is no blood or gore to speak of. Kids may take to imitating the actions of the creatures who fight one another, or if you're lucky (as in my case), your child may request to take martial arts lessons.

One thing of note, however, is that the show's main three characters feature a diverse group of kids: A mixed race Asian American boy, a heavy-set African American boy, and a girl. These characters are likely to give lots of kids someone to look up to, as they protect animals from harm, work together as a team, and show strength of both the physical and character kinds. I enjoy when shows have good role models, especially when action shows like this one include strong female characters. Girls will not be alienated from this show, that one might think on the surface to be aimed solely at boys. There is even talk of how adorable some of the creatures are (and some of them actually are kind of cute).

Special Features:

There is only one Special Feature on the disc, "A Look at Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters". This is a mini behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the show, featuring interviews with the art team, the production team, and the voiceover cast members. Older kids and animation enthusiasts will enjoy seeing how the artists took the original art from the trading card game and transformed it into the creatures on the show.

Speaking of the trading card game, an exclusive "Kenina the Igniter: Fire Bird" card is included in the DVD box. If your kids don't already play the game, the inclusion of this card may spark their interest in it.

Check out the Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters website to see show clips, view images of the characters and creatures, find out air times, and more!

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Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.