Web Wednesday.

On the last edition of Web Wednesday I talked about Dragon Ball Z Abridged. At the end of that post I mentioned the creator of the Abridged genre. Today I want to take a look at him and his work. So let's get to it. 

You can make your own Yu-Gi-Oh! card here.

Martin Billany or as he his better known LittleKuriboh, is the man behind idea. LittleKuriboh (a kuriboh being a monster from the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game) began his on-line presence with a LiveJournal account. It wasn't much later that he began posting videos on YouTube. At first these videos were nothing more than AMV's.

This is LittleKuriboh cosplaying. I do not hold this against him and neither should you

These videos were mostly about Yu-Gi-Oh! a franchise LittleKuriboh has a large affinity for. After the music videos he began doing Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged. The videos were almost immediately popular. Unfortunately due to copyright issues his YouTube account was suspended. 

Undaunted by this LittleKuriboh began posting his videos on other video sites, creating new YouTube accounts, and even posting live episode performances. After years of having his accounts repeatedly suspended LittleKuriboh began his own website and started to host his videos on BlipTV. 

Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series was inspired by a number of short parodies found on the Internet. In the beginning LittleKuriboh planned to abridge only the first episode. However due to the popularity of the project he decided to abridge the entire series. At first LittleKuriboh wrote the episodes, edited them, and voiced all the characters. While LittleKuriboh continues to do the writing and editing a few outside voice actors have been used. Including a few members of Team Four Star. As of this writing there are over 50 episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series, and that's not counting specials and song parodies.

I absolutely love Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series. It is one of the funniest shows on the Internet. While it helps to have actually watched Yu-Gi-Oh! that is not a necessity. Like any good parody the material transcends what it is mocking. Many other Internet personalities have reached out to LittleKuriboh for cameos. Even if the personality's specific genre is unrelated to his work. The man has done something few people can claim. He has created a genre of entertainment. There are a number of abridged series out now. While some are slightly better than what LittleKuriboh has done, none can eclipse his accomplishments. If you're even slightly curious give the show a shot. It starts a little slow but it builds quickly. I highly recommend it.

Wiki
Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series Official Site

It is also worth mentioning that LittleKuriboh has branched out into other series. He has done a number of episodes of Naruto: The Abridged Series and a Neon Genesis Evangelion special. All of which are worth watching.