Yu-Gi-Oh!, it looks, is taking another step into the digital age…
Edit: More details
Starting August 20th, 2014, the Duelist Kingdom Arc of the original Yu-Gi-Oh!, known in Japan as Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, will begin streaming on Nico Nico Douga
Meanwhile, the first 15 episodes of Arc-V will be available for streaming on Nico Nico Douga beginning on August 2nd, 2014. Episodes 16 and 17 will join them on August 20th.
While these are unavailable to people outside of Japan, it looks, the fact the original series is being streamed is a big deal, as 4Kids seemingly ran into a contract issue (supposedly regarding Shunsuke Kazama and his talent agency Johnny and Associates, with regards to a lapsed contract for the original series) when it attempted to legally stream the original series on Youtube several years ago.
Also 4KMedia has claimed it’s been trying to resolve an international streaming solution for several months now. So keep your fingers crossed. This may be a sign the west could see more of the franchise streamed in the future through official channels, in non English versions.
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Update, further services providing streaming of Yu-Gi-Oh! Classic and Arc-V in Japan:
- amazon Instant Video
- au Video Pass
- milplus
- GyaO！／GyaO！Store
- J:COM On Demand
- Tenohira Douga
- TV Dogatsuchi
- TSUTAYATV
- Nico Nico Douga
- HAPPY! Douga Anime
- Hikari TV
- Video Market
- Best Hit Douga
- Rakuten ShowTime
- U-NEXT
