Parents' Guide to

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

By KJ Dell Antonia, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 9+

Junior anime for trading card fans.

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

age 7+

Based on 1 parent review

age 7+

the show is not bad

people say it is bad but it is the best yugioh series it is not like zexal it is a good show

This title has:

Too much violence

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (8):

There's no real violence in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX world. Duels are fought with a deck of magic cards that produce monsters, lasers, and explosive battles -- but since the monsters aren't real, the violence has no effect. To a non-fan, the duels are ridiculous and surreal. Viewers too young to understand what's happening may be frightened by the monsters and effects, but listening to the characters shout out random and esoteric rules with great drama as they play their cards ("I'm activating my D-shield to protect my Destiny Hero from attack! And if you increase your Elemental Hero's power, my Destiny Hero still will not be destroyed! Ha ha!") might make a watching adult snort her coffee.

The series isbased on a card game. Kids who play the card game will probably like it. Kids who don't won't watch. But compared to a lot of the other alternatives, this is relatively harmless fun, and the game itself is so complicated that mastering it has to count as an achievement, albeit probably not one that's going to help a kid get into college. The characters value learning from experience, playing the game fairly, and refusing to give up. For the right age group, this may not be a show parents will actively encourage, but it's not worth fighting over.

TV Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate