A retro-active review. A review redux. A way back review. I am going to review the 2016/17 film Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions.

An anime film review? What’s this have to do with engineering? Well… It features one of the most egotistical genius-engineers in film — of all time!

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions (YTDSD) is a story about a kind person who, for the greater good, must end the life of another. Of course, that's the hero of the series: Yugi Mutou, the seminal character of the series. The film has flashy colors and monsters, but that’s where it ends for kids. The plot contains deaths, guns, complex twists, and heavy moral decisions.

If you’re a fan of the series, you’ll love it. If you’re not, you won’t need to watch any of the hundreds of prior TV episodes. You can jump right in. As someone who’s seen it all, I will admit that this film’s actual dueling is far more accurate with today’s style. Complex chains and strategies, and it follows the game’s actual rules. Early on in the manga/anime, the rules were kind of willy-nilly. It was a new idea taking shape back then. Fun to see how it progressed, in retrospect.

You’re probably wondering, what does an animated show about a card game with monsters and magic have to do with engineering? Way more than you think. In fact, it might have enormous gravitas now and for the future.

I want to talk about one of the main characters, Seto Kaiba — the series’ resident genius-engineer who brought the game to “life” in the story.

Toward the beginning YTDSD, Seto Kaiba reminds why he’s an awesome engineer. While pontificating over his latest technological creation, he drinks from a water bottle, crushes and throws it saying, “fire whoever designed that bottle. Kaiba Corp.’s products shouldn’t bend that easily.”

Yes, bad news for that designer, but great that Kaiba demands better. While we drown in all of the poorly designed products, wouldn’t it be nice if a “Kaiba” in every company demanded perfection?

You could almost look at Seto Kaiba as an amalgamation of every inventor and tech CEO you can think of. In YTDSD, he designed and uses a space elevator that takes him to a low orbit research center. He created a neurally linked computer interface, like an EEG. He uses real-time data — big data — that’s accessible with just a thought for analyzing any situation, like an artificial intelligence. Kaiba changes that fictional world for the better. But, of course, he uses all that to play a card game.

Through the original series, Kaiba guides a company (Kaiba Corp.) he ruthlessly wrestled from his father to build a glasses-free augmented-reality (AR) platform to show the cards “coming to life” and battle each other. First a console-based, stadium-sized virtual stage to a compact and mobile hologram projection in the later seasons.

While every other character was dealing with their “drama,” Kaiba never stopped innovating. It’s an unsung background plot development that didn’t escape the eye of this engineer.

Spoiler here:

In YTDSD, he builds a time-travel suit just strong enough to delicately hold his presence thousands of years in the past so that he can duel the greatest “duelist” in history. Mainly to cement himself as the greatest in history. How that turns out, I shouldn’t say.

End spoiler.

If anything, perhaps Seto Kaiba has, or will, inspire some young Yu-Gi-Oh! fan to get into engineering and innovate. Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Transformers, and many other sci-fi stories have a strong track record of doing so. Hopefully, Seto Kaiba will not inspire real-word egotistical engineers!

Now, I’ll share the moment that changed my life as an engineer for the better. It’s the touchstone Seto Kaiba quote from YTDSD. Five of the greatest seconds you’ll have today. I hope you apply it to your engineering life, just like I am:

"I’ve never settled for mediocrity as an acceptable standard, and neither should you." (Segment pulled from promotion video for the film)

Now for the actual review. I’d had 10 years to sit with this film, and I have changed my position quite a bit.

Pros

• A new story by the creator Kazuki Takahashi.
• The gang all back together.
• Seto Kaiba, his ranting, and being a dynamic genius-engineer.
• A long-awaited update and conclusion.
• Overly complex plot for a card game action adventure. Yes, this is a pro. It keeps you interested throughout.
• No typical Hollywood cliché story details or dialog.
• The final battle takes place in a stadium, where the sound and imagery makes me wish there was a real card game elevated to this level of spectacle. This section really showcases Kaiba’s contribution to that world as an engineer. It’s stunning.

Cons (where I really changed)

• There are none! 😊

This film is a 5.00 out of 5.00.

The film is Kazuki Takahashi’s last Yu-Gi-Oh! animated work. I would argue it's the greatest contribution to the franchise since. It inspires us all to be better engineers. It’s perfect.

Kazuki produced a single-frame illustration that puts a bookend on the whole story, and it's just wonderful. It’s Seto Kaiba and Yugi Mutou designing a new game on Kaiba’s orbital space station four years after the story ended. No longer rivals, friends, colleagues. Engineers, too? This was pulled from Kazuki Takahashi’s Instagram page before the account was completely shut down.