The original Yu-Gi-Oh! anime is great for a lot of reasons; inventive plots, intriguing characters and... being perfect to fold laundry to? We live in a busy world where, as the old adage says, time is money. But time is also anime, and many viewers would love to be able to squeeze even a few more episodes into their crowded schedules. With its episodes-long duels that constantly put the plot on hold, Yu-Gi-Oh! is the perfect anime to multitask with! Whether cooking, eating, cleaning the bathroom or scrubbing the floors, Yu-Gi-Oh! will help the time pass quickly and knock a few episodes off your watchlist.
Yu-Gi-Oh!'s emphasis on the card game works to its advantage when the viewer has a divided attention. Since it aired weekly, the series could never assume that viewers had seen previous episodes, and as a result would repeat card effect descriptions multiple times during an episode regardless of whether or not it was a new card. The same would hold true for any combos or actions taken during a turn, usually being described once from the player, a second time from the peanut gallery and quite possibly a third from the opponent (in shocked disbelief as the tables turned for the twelfth time). As a result, no matter what household task you're doing, whether cooking, vacuuming or organizing your card collection, you'll never have to worry about missing a beat of the duel. The show will try to justify this by having more than one duel at a time, but don’t worry: the fun characters and distinct voice cast of both the original and the dub will make it easy to keep track of who’s battling who.
The duels themselves can also run quite long, with some lasting up to six episodes, meaning that it can be hard to binge the series. One can only listen to characters explain "Pot of Greed" so many times. By doing another task while the show plays in the background, one to switch their focus to the show when something new is happening, or back to the task at hand when you're stuck in a four-episode long duel and you're waiting for the plot to pick back up.
Speaking of the plot, the storylines of the series are actually incredibly straightforward, structured to better accommodate the duels — which makes for some great laundry day viewing. Yugi wants to get his Grandpa's soul back, they try to save the world from the Great Leviathan, try to save the world from ancient Egyptian evils... just simple stuff. Because of this straightforwardness, and the repetition of plot points from earlier episodes by the characters (usually in between duels), even if you're not as interested in the turn-by-turn of the duel, it should be incredibly easy to follow the characters and their overarching struggles. But watch out —although rare, there are some episodes devoted entirely to the plot, and the chores may have to wait for a few minutes while the drama pans out.
Furthermore, Yu-Gi-Oh! as a franchise has multiple series with different themes, characters and cards. Not a fan of classic Yami Yugi? GX's Jaden is a good change of pace. Normal summons and fusion not current enough? Jump ahead to ZEXAL and the puzzle of XYZ summons. Need more motorcycles? Well, there's a series where they're all the rage. Whether you're in it for the cards, the outrageous plot or because you've gotten attached to the characters, Yu-Gi-Oh! has at least one series that will catch your eye.
But the best part is that, for those who happen to like all the series, you won't be running out of content for a very long time. So next time you break out the mop and bucket, or need something to keep your mind interested while you work on that scarf you promised you'd knit your sister, Yu-Gi-Oh! might just be the remedy you need.
