Yu-Gi-Oh! CARD GAME THE CHRONICLES

The franchise's web-anime era. After Go Rush!! closed out 25 years of TV, Konami's own studio began dramatizing the lore printed on the cards themselves, in short YouTube episodes that bring archetypes like Sky Striker and Branded to life.

Japanese title: 遊戯王カードゲーム THE CHRONICLES (Yūgiō Kādo Gēmu Za Kuronikuruzu)
Aired: April 2025 – present (web series)
Episodes: 16 and counting
Studio: KONAMI animation
Director: Seiya Miyajima
Network: YouTube
Featured archetypes: Sky Striker Dogmatika Tri-Brigade Springans Branded Albaz Charmer Magistus

The Story

Yu-Gi-Oh! CARD GAME THE CHRONICLES is the franchise's first venture into web anime, and the debut production of KONAMI animation, the in-house studio Konami launched in February 2024. Instead of airing on television, new episodes are posted to YouTube, and instead of following a human duelist, the series does something the main anime never has: it stars character versions of the cards themselves.

That approach is borrowed from the Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG Stories manga. The elaborate, multi-card storylines Konami has long told through card artwork and flavor text (the rise and fall of heroes, wars between factions, the bond between a spellcaster and her familiar) are dramatized directly, with the monsters, Spells, and Traps as the cast. There is little to no actual dueling here; the focus is the lore of each archetype's world.

Where to Watch

The series debuted on April 21, 2025 on the official Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG YouTube channel, with episodes released in monthly batches. From December 11, 2025 it also began streaming on the Official Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME and YuGiOhCardEU channels, putting it in front of Western TCG audiences. Every episode is free, and most run only a few minutes, so the whole series is easy to catch up on.

The Arcs

Rather than one continuous plot, THE CHRONICLES is an anthology, with each arc devoted to a different archetype's story. It opened with Sky Striker Ace (April and May 2025), two episodes following the lone Sky Striker pilot and her drones.

The Fallen & The Virtuous (June to November 2025) is the longest arc at six episodes, adapting the sprawling Albaz saga that ties together Dogmatika, Tri-Brigade, Springans, and the Branded cards, the same storyline this site's Branded combo guides are built around.

Spirit Charmers (December 2025 to March 2026) spent four episodes on the Charmers and their Familiar-Possessed spirits. Magistus, beginning in April 2026, is the current four-episode arc, running through Aleister the Invoker, Endymion the Master Magician, and the Witchcrafter Madame Verre, taking the announced run to sixteen episodes with the series still ongoing as of mid-2026.

Why It Matters for the Card Game

Because these stories are the canon lore of the cards, THE CHRONICLES is a rare chance to see the characters behind archetypes you may already play. If you have followed Albaz across dozens of cards, or wondered who the Charmers are, the web anime puts faces and stakes to those names.

It is not a guide to playing the game, but it is the clearest sign yet of where the franchise's animation is heading after a quarter-century of television: short, lore-driven, and built straight from the card pool.

Episode List

Every released episode is free to watch on the official Yu-Gi-Oh! YouTube channels. Click an episode to open it.

Magistus

13Aleister the InvokerApril 24, 2026
14Endymion, the Master MagicianMay 22, 2026
15Witchcrafter Madame VerreJune 19, 2026
16To be announcedTBA

Want to play like they do on screen? Learn the real rules in our beginner's guide or browse step-by-step combo guides reconstructed from actual duel replays.