Critical reception to Kaiba has been mixed; he has been compared to simplistic anime rivals based on his multiple attempts to defeat Yugi and become the superior Duel Monsters player.

However, he noted that for the film Dark Side of Dimensions, Kaiba has changed since his introduction due to his obsession with power, and so he wanted to give him an edge in his personality.

[6] In his introduction, Kaiba discovers that the grandfather of his classmate, Yugi Mutou, owns the rare Blue-Eyes White Dragon card, and takes it from him.

Kaiba is ultimately defeated, suffering Dark Yugi's Penalty Game: Experience of Death (死の体感, Shi no Taikan).

He defeats Sugoroku and tears up his Blue-Eyes White Dragon; he also subjects him to an artificial Penalty Game, forcing Yugi to participate in Death-T or else he will kill him.

After Kaiba awakens from his coma, he learns of Pegasus' plans and his kidnapping of Mokuba and travels to Duelist Kingdom, where he regains his deck and briefly battles Jonouchi.

Seeking to obtain the remaining two God Cards for himself and eliminate Marik and his organization, Kaiba agrees and begins his "Battle City" competition.

[14] Shortly after his return from the Duelist Kingdom, the Big Five attempt to appease an outraged Kaiba by revealing they have finalized his virtual reality game software, and invite him to test it out for himself.

Some time later, in the midst of the Battle City tournament, the Big Five's digital consciousnesses are discovered stranded in cyberspace by a mysterious boy named Noah, who recruits them for a revenge campaign against Kaiba.

Noah admits to being Gozaburo Kaiba's biological son, and claims his mind exists as a computer program after he was fatally wounded as a child and later digitized.

While Kaiba stops Gozaburo, a reformed Noah reprograms one of the satellites to attack the main computer database and helps Yugi and his friends escape.

In Season 4 of the anime, Kaiba, along with Jonouchi and Yugi, is one of three duelists chosen to fight the brainwashed Atlantean King Dartz.

During the season, Kaiba meets Amelda, an orphan whose brother and parents were killed by KaibaCorp-owned military forces under Gozaburo's command although Gozabura is actually Dartz in disguise.

In the original Japanese anime, Kaiba eventually acknowledges his past and the events that occurred within the Memory World Shadow RPG.

In this film, he learns about Shougo Aoyama's Red-Eyes Black Dragon and organizes a tournament where strong duelists are invited and attendance is mandatory.

As the duel proceeds, however, it is revealed that Kaiba had been used as a puppet for the ancient Egyptian sorcerer, Anubis, who placed the Pyramid of Light card in Pegasus's deck.

The item had previously housed the spirit of his longtime rival, Pharaoh Atem, whom he hopes to "return to life" in order to settle their ancient score.

The excavation is interrupted by Diva, who faces Kaiba in a game of Duel Monsters and steals two pieces of the recovered Puzzle.

Yugi defeats Diva, resulting in Bakura's return to reality, and while dueling Kaiba, he re-completes the Millennium Puzzle, revealing that the spirit of Atem is no longer inside it.

The film concludes with Kaiba using his technology in conjunction with the Quantum Cube to transport his own consciousness to the afterlife and face Atem.

[19] THEM Anime Reviews criticized Kaiba, comparing him with another rival, Vegeta, as both possess simplistic characterizations due to their obsession with the leads.

[20] Anime News Network described him as a stereotypical manga rival while pointing out the actions he takes to be the best Duel Monster gamer.

[22] Chris Homer from The Fandom Post praised Kaiba's actions in the final arc as he joins Dark Yugi in his fight against Bakura and Zorc in Ancient Egypt while dealing with the life of his predecessor, "Priest Seto".

[23] The duels between Kaiba's and Yugi in Pyramid of Light were made fun of by DVD Talk for being a method of creating new cards to be bought by the audience.

[24] While reviewing Dark Side of Dimensions, IGN praised Yugi's growth alongside his friends' as they interact, making them more mature than in the manga and anime.

[25] Anime News Network labelled him as "still everyone's favorite egoistic lunatic", as there was no progress in regards to his lack of character arc.

[28] Anime UK News found Kaiba's actions inconsistent but praised the deliveries of his Japanese voice actor, Kenjiro Tsuda, which he described as "overdramatic echoing".

[29] Though also commented as the film's lead, Atomix found Kaiba's obsession to face Dark Yugi exaggerated, and lamented the narrative did not focus in other prominent members from the cast.

[30] Blu Ray panned Kaiba's characterization for his actions in regards to a rematch with Yami as being repetitive due to the scenario having been done before.