Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (season 2)

The second season of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, based on the anime by Kazuki Takahashi, premiered in Japan on April 10, 2001, and concluded on March 5, 2002, on TV Tokyo. An English adaptation of the series was made and premiered in the United States on November 16, 2002, and concluded on November 1, 2003, on Kids' WB. The season was directed by Kunihisa Sugishima, and written by Junki Takegami, Masashi Sogo, and Shin Yoshida. The original version features vocals from Shunsuke Kazama, Hiroki Takahashi, Hidehiro Kikuchi, Maki Saito and Kenjiro Tsuda as the main characters. The English adaptation features vocals from Amy Birnbaum, Frank Frankson, Wayne Grayson, Dan Green, Chuck Powers, Sam Regal, Eric Stuart and Dwayne Tan as the main characters.
This season follows Yugi and his friends Téa, Joey and Tristan to the Battle City tournament on a quest to prevent the spread of evil by Marik Ishtar, the season's new antagonist. The competition is organized and sponsored by Seto Kaiba in an attempt to gather more powerful cards, including the three Egyptian God Cards; Marik plans to use the three cards in order to take over the world with the help of his loyal servants, known as the Rare Hunters. Marik orders a couple of Rare Hunters to capture and kidnap Joey, Téa, and Mokuba in order to force Yugi and Kaiba to not only duel for their safe return, but also for the Egyptian God Cards as well. While Mokuba is able to escape and lead Yugi and Kaiba back to the location of where he, Joey, and Téa were taken to earlier on, Yugi soon finds himself dueling against a brainwashed Joey, who is possessed by Marik via the Millennium Rod. After freeing and saving both Joey and Téa from one of Marik's deadly traps, Mai, Tristan, Serenity, and Duke soon join Yugi, Joey, and Téa's company upon sight and from there, Yugi and his friends proceed to head onward towards the finals of the Battle City tournament, which takes place on Kaiba's company blimp flying over the city. There, they learn the full truth about Marik and his past origins, as well as the hidden abilities of the coveted Egyptian Gods.
Between January 24 and December 28, 2004, Funimation released eleven DVD sets for the season under the title "Yu-Gi-Oh! Battle City Duels", containing episodes from the season. The complete season package was released on March 4, 2008. All DVDs were encoded in Region 1.
The second season of "Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters" (aka "Yu-Gi-Oh! Rulers of the Duel" in the English-dubbed adaptation) was formerly licensed by 4Kids Entertainment in North America and other English-speaking territories, and was formerly distributed by FUNimation Entertainment, Ltd. on North American home video and also formerly distributed by Warner Bros. Television Animation thru North American television rights, when it aired on Kids’ WB. It is now licensed and distributed by 4K Media.
Episode list.
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