Duel Masters
Duel Masters (デュエルマスターズ Dyueru Masutāzu) is a franchise based on an anime and a trading card game.
The anime is about a boy named Shobu Kirifuda (切札勝舞 Kirifuda Shōbu) who plays a game called "Duel Masters". In Shobu's world, the players can bring the monsters to life using a fictional martial art called "kaijudo." Shobu aims to become a Kaijudo master like his father, Shori Kirifuda (切札勝利 Kirifuda Shōri), who was a Kaijudo master. The series made a 3-episode preview premiere on Cartoon Network's Toonami block on February 27, 2005 (although it was somewhat edited for time). The episodes then made its "official" premiere on March 13, 2004 on CN's Toonami spinoff block, the Saturday Video Entertainment System (also known as SVES or Saturday [the block is now cancelled]) with less edits as well as episodes 4 & 5. Toonami then moved to Saturdays and premiered the rest of the series from then on. Season 2 premiered on March 26, 2005.
Duel Masters often jokes about typical anime conventions, such as split-screens and a missing father-figure. While the storyline is technically dramatic, most episodes are punctuated by comedic storyline mixed in with the serious storyline. Duel Masters also has promotional gimmicks which depart greatly from the traditional fantasy flavors embraced in Magic: The Gathering.