Dragon Duelers - Episode 1

Dragon Duelers episode 1, "A New Adventure" is the first episode of the American original TV anime Dragon Duelers. The episode was released on February 12, 2008 in the US, and after is subsequent popularity spike in the US with it peaking at 8.2 million viewers by the 6th Episode, Japan's NAS picked the series up and aired the 1st episode on March 15, 2008. After a total of 19 Million viewers per week in Japan and the US. Most of Europe picked the Show up.

Production
The first episode of Dragon Duelers started production in November of 2007 by Casey Stroud and Corey Bryant. Soon after in December, after some convincing sketches and a first 5 minute animation, William Newland and Brendan Bowen jumped on to fufill their own roles as their characters. The episode was finished in January 2012, so Corey and Casey began pitching the episode. First to NBC, then ABC, Fox, Cartoon Network, then Nickelodeon. NBC rejected the idea in Mid-January after only 4 days of review. ABC rejected after 12 days, Fox initially accepted then dropped it in Early February. NIckelodeon rejected it on February 6, 2012. Cartoon Network accepted the idea on January 5, 2012, after FOX did, since no contracts were signed yet Corey and Casey were free to offer to whomever they choose. FOX backed out on February 4, 2012. On February 7, 2012, Stroud and Bryant signed a contract with Cartoon Network giving them the exclusive rights to show the show. Cartoon Network re-vamped the episode by adding extra penciling, shading, and shading to most animations, and including HD sound and smoother graphics. Bryant and Stroud were content with the episode and the February 12 release date.

Episode Overview
The episode begins on a boat in the middle of the ocean. The boats captain is showing Corey, Brendan, and William a special showing explaining the game od Dragon Duelers and why they had been chosen to go to the Dragon Academy. The boat soon arrives to the dock of Dragon Academy, a huge building. They enter and are greeted by the Principal of the school who leads them to the Dragon Shop, awards them 500 Dragon Points, which is just enough to get 25 cards, the number required to play the game. While Brendan and William think strategically on which card packs to choose, Corey is drawn to 5 serpent packs and nothing else. Corey gets the 5 packs and in the first pack is a special card called "Triple Threat," which once Corey sees the card, there is a flash of light. Corey is then woken up in a different dimension by Triple Threat who tells Corey that Triple threat chose him to battle alongside him. Corey then wakes up back in the real world to find out that William and Brendan had already opened their packs. The Principal had instructed them to exit throught the right door of the shop once finished. Once they exit, they find themselves in a colloseum only to find out that they are being thrown into a Freshman tournament in order to get their rank in the school(Griphon Yellow, Seprent Green, or Dragon Red). Corey is selected to duel Monkey in the first round and game. Corey starts by summoning Green Seprent who gets destroyed by Howling Monkeys effect. Corey then summons red serpent which lets him summon Yellow Seprent. Monkey summons his ace monster, Silverback Gorrila which destroys all of Corey's monsters. Corey then activates 1, 2, 3, Colorful Revival! which lets Corey summon Red, Green, and Yellow serpent from his grave with their PWR being cut in half. Corey then activates Combine which creates Tri-Cannon Serpent. Corey wins the duel by destroying Monkeys silverback and using Tri-Cannon Serpent's effect. The epsiode ends with Cazz and Bugby preparing to duel in the second match.

Reception
A new Adventure was met with overwhemingly positive reviews from critics. Nielson rated the episode a 76.7 (97%). TV Guide magazine featured the episode in March issue and gave it 5 out of 5 stars saying it's a fresh new show with a lot of spunk and promise. MetaCritic gave the episode an aggregate rating of 93/100, while iMDB rated the episode 8.8 out of 10 stars. Bryant would be honored for the episode and this also lead him to win an Emmy for it and the whole show.