Yu-Gi-Oh!

The Yu-Gi-Oh manga is a work I wish I could convince more people to read. Most people I know have some experience with the franchise, whether it be through various anime series, films, video games, or the card game – but very few are familiar its origin. Even though the franchise is extraordinarily successful, the manga is much lesser known than the aforementioned media. I am very grateful to have finally read this magnificent work by Kazuki Takahashi, and feel compelled to express some thoughts on this manga in the hopes that it will kindle someone’s interest. I have found that due to people’s associationof Yu-Gi-Oh with the English dub of the Duel Monsters anime (amazing for wholly different reasons), they tend to not treat the story or characters very seriously. I will be the first to admit that Yu-Gi-Oh relishes in shounen tropes such as character archetypes, relationships, motivations, etc., as well as plot elements and progressions. However, I find that the execution is good enough that these borrowed storytelling elements do not bother me so much. One of the more popular criticisms of the writing is the ever-recycled “power of friendship” and so-called “heart of the cards” antics that allow Yugi and his allies to overcome hardships. While this is a valid criticism, I personally feel that this convenient writing actually functions well within this story. One overlooked aspect of Yu-Gi-Oh is the absolute ridiculousness of it all. I do not mean this as a fault in the writing, but rather that it is hilarious that the events of the series are determined by the results of trading card game matches. Even the villains, evil as they are, are just as invested in this game as Yugi himself. One of the series’ primary antogonists, Seto Kaiba, is my favorite example for this. He is an ultra-rich, self-absorbed tech tycoon with dreams of power and influence. But above all, he just wants to be the king of games. The fate of the world comes to hinge on the outcomes of these matches, and it is for that reason that I can excuse some of the outrageous ways in which Yugi comes to seize his victories. I should note that a crucial difference in the manga is that the first part is not exclusively dedicated to the game we know as “Duel Monsters.” There is an entire arc of Yami Yugi playing random “shadow games” with different people, usually bullies. It is quite sadistic and brutal at times, and is a sharp departure from the Yu-Gi-Oh that most people are familiar with. However, this portion is important for developing the bonds of friendship between our main cast, particularly Yugi and Jonouchi, which I feel is the most important character relationship besides Yugi his alter ego Yami Yugi. There is a noticeable disconnect between some characters and overall atmosphere from this first part to the Duelist Kingdom Arc and onwards, but I believe this to be an example of Takahashi being fluid and flexible with his work. Since his readers were so enthralled with the game of Duel Monsters, he decided to use that game as the core of the series going forward. This first portion is by no means bad, but is admittedly a bit of a slow start for those excited to get into the duels it is so famous for. Once this aspect takes over as the main drama, Yu-Gi-Oh truly begins to shine. Takahashi hits his stride once the part known as “Duelist” begins. This is the bulk of the series and contains its most iconic characters and drama. I find Takahashi’s sense of style to be absolutely brilliant. The anime does not do his art justice in my opinion. In this manga you can really appreciate his talent for drawing. However, I should mention that there was certainly a strong sense of nostalgia for me as I was reading this series, which would come to affect my engagement with it on many levels. Since I have been interested in Yu-Gi-Oh for such a long time I have a strong appreciation for the characters and artwork – but that being said, such a long term investment is absolutely not required in order to cultivate a strong appreciation for its many brilliant qualities. The duels themselves are certainly among the high points of action and drama in this series, as well as some of the best showcases of his art style – though many of my favorite panels were simply different characters standing around in stylish clothing. As with any shounen series concerned with action, there are numerous hits and misses with the battles. I did not find any of the duels to be “bad,” however, and just felt that they were either duller or had less important implications than others. Each reader will have their own favorites depending on their preference of characters, but they are still all expressive and unique. Every duelist employs a deck that is both reflective of their personality and overall aesthetic – which works so well with a game that has so many diverse archetypes and designs. I am still impressed at just how consistently good Takahashi’s card designs are, both in originality and memorability. This also goes for his character designs, which I have already mentioned as being iconic not just within shounen, but the entire medium. This work is difficult to discuss in a concise manner because there is so much to appreciate. I doubt that Takahashi could have predicted the success of his series, as well as how profoundly influential it would come to be in the future. Although this could be said about many artists before their breakthrough work, I find it important to note with regards to Takahashi, because Yu-Gi-Oh is such a personal series for him. He is a gamer at heart and expresses his love for it within these pages. Before every volume he writes a brief author’s note that contains various observations or explanations of his influences – small pieces of information that I came to cherish due to his down to earth personality and disarming sense of humor. Yu-Gi-Oh has been a part of my life for a long time, and I am happy to have finally had my own experience with its foundation. I have been moved by this work, and hope that others will continue to find their own enjoyment with it in the future. The Yu-Gi-Oh manga is by no means perfect, but it is one of the most enjoyable pieces of fiction I have ever encountered.

Yu-Gi-Oh! is a franchise that, despite its overwhelming popularity, is often subject to unfair criticism. In general, there is an unwillingness to take the series seriously because “it’s just for kids,” and thus, for many, any positive sentiment about the series is reduced to nostalgia. While there is some truth to these claims, they do not justify writing off the series as a whole and undermining the feats it does accomplish. After all, a series can be an object of nostalgia while simultaneously achieving a certain level of quality (think Cowboy Bebop or Princess Mononoke); likewise, one could argue that the whole shonen demographic is“just for kids,” yet this ‘criticism’ fails to come up amid discussions of One Piece or Hunter x Hunter – two manga that ran alongside Yu-Gi-Oh! in Weekly Shonen Jump. I suspect that this misconception is rooted in a common experience with the franchise: most people have only been exposed to the 4Kids’ dub of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, a highly censored version of an already questionable adaptation. What’s more, most people have only experienced the series as a child, a time in which one’s interpretive faculties are the least developed. It is only natural, then, that for those whose only experience with the franchise is of a censored dub of a questionable adaptation at a time when their interpretive faculties are the least developed that they struggle to entertain the idea that Yu-Gi-Oh! could actually be a well written battle shonen – but that is precisely what it is. The first seven volumes take on a largely episodic structure: each week, a new villain appears doing something villainous, Yugi challenges them to some sort of game, beats them, then saves the day. Generally, this sort of formula grows tired quickly, but that is not the case here. Takahashi's original intention was to write a manga about "a weak and childish boy who becomes a hero when he plays games." In this way, the manga was Takahashi's means of exploring his love for games, using them as a vehicle through which an average Japanese schoolboy could mature and establish their own identity. To what extent he accomplishes this in the first part is questionable, but what is clear is how this love for games translates into each chapter, keeping readers engaged during the entirety of the first part. Each week, Takahashi creates a unique game for Yugi and company to participate in. The episodic structure works because each game is given an appropriate amount of screen time: no one game overstays its welcome, and if one game does not interest you, it will be gone in the following week. What's more is many of these early games have surprisingly high stakes. In chapter four, for example, an escaped prisoner holds Anzu at gun point. Yugi challenges said prisoner to a game, wherein each participant may only move one finger – a seemingly simple and benign 'game' (if you can call it that). The prisoner chooses his index finger, so that he may pull the trigger on his gun, while Yugi chooses his thumb. The reason for this is not clear until the next page: the prisoner has an unlit cigarette in his mouth. Yugi offers to light it for him, and as he reaches over the table, he places the lighter on the other hand of the prisoner, which is pouring a glass of alcohol. The situation is thus: the prisoner cannot fire the gun, as the recoil would knock the lighter into the alcohol, setting him aflame. This creates an opportunity for Yugi to escape with Anzu, leaving the prisoner to eventually drop the lighter, burning him to death. The beauty of this scene is twofold. For one, Takahashi has proven that every move in the manga is calculated. Earlier scenes of the prisoner drinking and smoking were not only to establish certain character traits, but calculated steps that would later be integrated into the game / conclusion of the story. This sort of situational awareness is one of Takahashi's greatest virtues, as it allows him to unify various, seemingly arbitrary elements of a chapter into a cohesive ending. For another, this also demonstrates that Yu-Gi-Oh! is not merely some manga about a children's card game with no stakes: many of these games end in the death / near death of a character, which Takahashi is not afraid to depict (unlike the anime counterpart). Despite my seemingly endless sea of praises for the first part of the manga, there are a couple of issues I would like to highlight, above all being the character writing. While some earlier dynamics are done with a great level of care (for example, Honda's transition from Yugi's bully to his friend, and his hesitancy to fully commit to the friend group because of his fear that Yugi holds a grudge against him), much of the characters are fairly stock. I am willing to forgive this, as Takahashi himself intended on creating a "normal Japanese schoolboy," which we will see developed in subsequent parts, but as they exist in isolation in part one, apart from the rest of the story, they can come off as generic, especially to a more modern reader who has been overexposed to many of these archetypes. The other major issue (and one that will plague the series as a whole) is that Yugi constantly feels undefeatable. Again, this is not a problem in-and-of-itself; rather, it is only when these victories do not feel justified, and at least in part one, Takahashi takes great care to come up with unique solutions to the games he creates, giving the reader the impression that Yugi genuinely had to think his way out of the game, and hence, that the victory is deserved. This is not always the case, but I would like to think that in part one, it is not as big of an issue as it will become. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist takes up the majority of the series, constituting almost two thirds of the manga. It should come as no surprise, then, that it contains both the highest highs and lowest lows of the series. This section begins with the famous Duelist Kingdom, spanning chapters 60 to 133. This is, for all intents and purposes, the pinnacle of Yu-Gi-Oh! as a battle shonen. To understand why, a brief summary is in order. Duel monsters (the game) starts as a collaboration between Industrial Illusions (an American company headed by Pegasus) and Kaiba Corporation (a Japanese tech company headed by Kaiba). When Kaiba enters into a coma (in part one), Pegasus plots to take over the company by going to the five biggest shareholders and convincing them to let him assume the role of CEO. The issue, however, is that the value of the company is contingent on Kaiba being the king of games, but since his defeat to Yugi in part one, their value has plummeted. As such, Pegasus suggests holding a tournament with the intentions of defeating Yugi, making him (Pegasus) the new king of games. These "big five" would then accept him as their CEO, as it would allow them to restore their value as a company. While this context is laid out in the anime, the manga emphasizes it in a way that better structures the arc, giving all the actions within it more purpose. By contrast, the anime can often come across as a mere series of duels with individual characters having their own motives but no significant overarching meaning. The real virtue of Duelist Kingdom, however, is its approach to duel monsters. The game officially debuted in chapter 9 of part one, where it took on a fairly privative form: using a variety of monster and spell cards, reduce your opponents life points to zero. When the game returns in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist, it is largely under this same privative guise, but now with even more cards and longer duels. What makes Duelist Kingdom great, however, is that unlike the real life card game, with its standardized rules, the manga featured a much more flexible ruleset. The advantage of this is that Takahashi could focus on creating more unique card interactions that make duels both interesting and unpredictable. For instance, in Yugi's duel against Ryota Kajiki, the ocean field spell gave Ryota's water-based monsters a huge advantage; however, Yugi – in a move that can only be described as pure genius – decides to attack not any one of Ryota's monsters but the moon. As a result, the tide of the ocean drops, revealing and weakening Ryota's monsters, allowing Yugi to win. It's this kind of situational awareness that Takahashi excels at: taking otherwise mundane details from a chapter, like the location of a duel or the time of day it occurs, and incorporating that into a strategy for the duelists to use. These unique card interactions introduce more nuance into the battles; unlike the actual card game, where the outcome of a battle is determined by the monster with the higher attack, the manga utilizes these unique interactions, which introduce the possibility of a weaker monster winning – with a bit of strategy. While such examples might seem like an 'ass pull' from the perspective of a modern reader whose familiarity is limited to the real life card game, this flexibility is precisely what makes the earlier duels much more exciting. On the whole, I have very little to complain about with regards to Duelist Kingdom. Here, we start to see some of the characters breakaway from the shackles of their earlier, generic selves, and we are given a whole host of interesting duels, all packaged within this corporate-political drama. It begins to foreshadow a lot of future developments, especially with respect to the ancient lore behind the game and how Yami Yugi is connected to it all, and overall, it is a pleasure to read. However, it is not perfect. As previously mentioned, Yugi still feels unbeatable. While there are many instances in which his victories are well earned, here we start to see Takahashi employ the 'power of friendship' troupe at a much higher frequency than before. While this is not inherently bad, it becomes quite repetitive and can leave readers with a bad taste in their mouth (especially seeing Jonouchi win his millionth duel through the power of friendship). Duelist Kingdom is then followed by a brief (albeit fun) arc, Dungeon Dice Monsters, which covers chapters 134 to 145. While this arc has no real significance outside of introducing a new member of the cast, Ryuji Otogi, it is a nice detour for both Takahashi – who likely desired a break from drawing just duel monsters and wanted to further explore his passion for all-things-games – and the reader – who, likewise, could use a palate cleanser from all the card games. The second major saga in Duelist is Battle City, which covers chapters 146 to 201 (or 278 if you include the Tournament Finals). For many, this arc is paradigmatic of what Yu-Gi-Oh! is all about, and understandably so: it maintains a healthy balance of all the dueling fun from Duelist Kingdom, with the stakes of part one, and the Egyptian lore of Millennium World. Here, we also start to see some major developments in the rules of the card game: monsters above level four require tributes, fusion monsters cannot attack on the turn they were summoned, and so on. This brings the manga's card game more in line with the real life card game (admittedly, not by much). More importantly, however, it also helps mitigate a pressing issue for all battle shonen, namely, power creep. In Duelist Kingdom, players could summon their most powerful monsters for free: Dark Magician, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and Red-Eyes Black Dragon, despite their enormous strength, required zero sacrifice. This was not a huge issue then, as the difference between the weakest and strongest monsters was not so great, and further, because of Takahashi's approach to the game, there was always the opportunity for a weaker monster to defeat a stronger one through some clever strategy. However, this is not the case in Battle City, where the difference between a God card and even the previous strongest monsters is monumental. Hence, tribute summoning presents such monsters with a much needed check. On the topic of duels in Battle City, something else must be said: unlike Duelist Kingdom, where duels were largely settled by unique card interactions, Battle City attempts to situate most of its duels within the bounds of the established ruleset. As a result, there is much more spell and trap card play than in Duelist Kingdom, but much less outside strategy. The difference between the two is perhaps best explained through a hypothetical example: in Duelist Kingdom, Yugi attacked the literal moon, but in Battle City, he would have activated a spell card that destroys the moon card. While the outcome is similar, the Duelist Kingdom style presents itself as a sort of outside-the-box thinking: Yugi had to figure out that the moon was affecting the tide, giving Ryota an advantage, and that destroying the moon would reverse this effect, allowing him to win; conversely, the Battle City style already tells Yugi that the moon is giving Ryota an advantage, and he has to hope that he can draw a card capable of destroying it. While he still has to come up with the idea himself, it often feels like he is simply lucky enough to draw the exact cards necessary to complete the combo. The reason I mention this difference in style is because of how it amplifies a previously established problem: Yugi's undefeatable-ness. Although Yugi is not literally undefeated, he has this presence of "I am the protagonist, so I will ultimately win at the end of the day." As previously mentioned, it is not inherently problematic if it feels like he earns the win, which in Duelist Kingdom, he often did through his on-the-fly thinking, but now in Battle City, where luck plays a much larger role, some of his wins can feel less justified. While the quality of dueling starts to tapper in Battle City, a greater emphasis is placed on developing individual characters to new heights. Of particular significance is the dynamic between Yugi and Yami Yugi. While the two have co-existed in unity over the course of the story, Yami Yugi is slowly confronted with the reality of his past life, forcing Yugi to wrestle with the reality of his difference from Yami. Here we find the seeds of Takahashi's original intention start to blossom: Yugi, as an average Japanese schoolboy, begins to wrestle with his identity as distinct from Yami's for the first time in a serious way. We will not see the resolution of this internal tension until the end of the series, but it is clear that the longer Yu-Gi-Oh! goes on, the more of a character-based drama it becomes. Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium World is the part for which I have the least to say. As I have mentioned, the trajectory of the manga, especially post-Duelist Kingdom, is to focus less on the duels and more on developing individual characters, and in particular, Yugi and his relationship to Yami. That is not to say that the duels are somehow less important in Millennium World – after all, the arc is perhaps best understood as a history of duel monsters – but rather, it is clear that Takahashi's emphasis is now on finishing the character arc he started all the way back in part one. Millennium World picks up with Yugi's identity crisis in Battle City, and amplifies it tenfold by literally splitting Yugi and Yami apart, forcing the two to grapple with who they are as an individual. Their journey to uncover the truth of Yami's past and where that journey takes them is handled with the same level of sophistication one would expect from Takahashi at this point. However, because this is the climax of the series, and a climax which differs in meaningful ways from the anime adaptation, I have opted to keep my remarks here practically non-existent; instead, I hope that what I have said up until this point has convinced you to read the series, so that once you get here, you, too, will be able to understand what makes Yu-Gi-Oh! special.

Yu-Gi-Oh! You've either saw on KidsWB or you saw kids in your school playing the card game. This was actually how my first encounter went with the franchise. I've actually had never finished reading the manga until recently as I had wanted to watch the Darkside of Dimensions with the manga storyline fresh in my head (and because that movie is a sequel to the manga, not the anime). Warning to those wanting to read though, there are some slight spoilers in this review. I figured I needed to reread Yu-Gi-Oh! from the start. So from reading the early chapters again, I still was shocked byhow different it was from the standard Duel Monsters anime. The early chapters focused entirely on shadow games and each chapter or arc dealt with different games. Think Kaiji but with magic! The early artwork was a bit rough but after a couple chapters Takahashi-san's artwork improved especially around Death-T and Duelist Kingdom. One of my favorite things about Yu-Gi-Oh is how well some of these characters complement each other. I think Yugi's friendship with Jounouchi and the Pharaoh are great, his rivalry with Kaiba is also one of my favorites in general. I'd also argue that the hair designs and clothing are some of the most appealing and iconic in manga/anime. I can understand why some people were disappointed in how Yu-Gi-Oh! went from a shadow game survival manga to just a card game manga but since I was fond of the card game, I did not mind the change. I actually managed to appreciate some of the characters a bit more after reading this as I did not really like Jounouchi/Joey at first but seeing their friendship grow over the storyline made me enjoy the friendship Yugi and Jounouchi have. One moment in particular was the duel between the two in Battle City. The writing done during that moment was very emotional and you could tell that these two characters valued their friendship. It made me want a friendship that was as strong as Yugi's. One of the few gripes I have with this manga is how forgiving Yugi is with some of his adversaries. I know Kaiba is one of the most popular characters in the franchise but I felt his change was quite rapid and how quick Yugi was able to forgive him. This was a guy who had spent millions of dollars just to create a theme park with the goal of killing Yugi and his friends. At least Jounouchi was the reasonable voice and exclaimed to Yugi in how he wasn't able to forgive him for the misdeeds he had done in the past. There's also Ryuji/Devlin's dad who almost killed Yugi and burned his entire business down just to exact revenge on his grandfather, yet in the canon DSOD movie we see Jounouchi working for his new business. Where's the police? Shouldn't these people even be in jail for attempted murder? At least with Kaiba he had his penalty game set to recover his lost heart but with the creepy clown he basically got off the hook from attempted murder. I get that it’s fictional with shadow games but this detail irked me alot. I think Yu-Gi-Oh's weakest quality is with some of its characters and sappy dialogue but I really do enjoy how Takahashi-san is able to give some of his characters charm and chemistry with one another. I especially enjoy Kaiba's rivalry with Yugi, and Yugi's friendship with Jounouchi and the Pharaoh. That’s also probably a good reason why there’s so much doujins involving these characters cause the characters really are in sync with each other and complement one another. I think this is why DSoD felt a bit off since Yugi no longer had the Pharaoh to guide him and Kaiba viewed him more as a rival than Yugi which eventually led to Yami having to step in and save the day. I think that Yu-Gi-Oh! Is a great manga overall and I would highly recommend it for those who did grow up with the card game and never got past the anime. There’s a lot of cuts and changes made from both anime adaptations and it’s really a shame since the manga is much darker as other reviewers have pointed out even during the Duel Monsters focused arcs and its reputation as kids anime has outshined it’s darker origins. You can tell that Takahashi-san was very influenced by Araki and JoJo with some of the art and horror aspects. Other than that, it’s a great Shonen Jump classic and Its cultural impact is still felt to this day with the new spinoffs and daily references to it in modern anime like No Game No Life to even western shows like Family Guy as it’s still one of Shonen Jump’s most popular and beloved titles alongside titles like One Piece, JoJo and Death Note. Overall, Yu-Gi-Oh! Has certainly taken its rightful place as King of Games.

By far, the most interesting aspects the Yu-Gi-Oh manga are the first 7 volumes, which are an interesting cross section between a gambling and horror story. This series really hit the ground running. The story then goes on to arcs that would be familiar to those who watched the anime, but probably has a better ending than the anime that really gets into the backstory and lore in ways the anime never really touched or explored. I definitely recommend the first 7 volumes for everybody. The duelist portions are best for those who want to experience the anime with a slightly darker take on thestory. The millennium world is good for people who watched the anime attentively and want more details.