Yu☆Gi☆Oh!
Yu-Gi-Oh!

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As someone who already has an extensive background on the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG/OCG, many of the cards in the manga have effects that have great deviation from their real world counterparts. But honestly, don't let that be a hindrance when trying to enjoy the story about a boy trying to make friends and learning to stand for himself, and an ancient king who learned kindness, through the medium called games.

Let's start with the world-building. It might come across as wacky. The first 50+ chapters are your typical game of the week, with the latter third focusing on the Duel Monsters card game and then a dangerous ... tabletop RPG. Most of the small time antagonists were school bullies, criminals, and other jerks who were punished by the ancient king (the protagonist's alter ego) for messing with the protagonist and his friends. The big time antagonists were more of a threat, as they had a connection with the ancient king. On the other hand, there were also sexy jokes and bits of ecchi here and there. Kinda intrusive but still funny. Well, with all of that set in a similar looking '90s Japan were watching porn on VHS was a thing back in the day. Then came the 60th chapter and onwards were the focus made a very very sharp turn primarily to the Duel Monsters card game, artifacts from ancient Egypt, the ancient king's past, and settling the score with his destined rival (where said rival developed augmented reality-esque technology to make the card game life-like that is also kinda advanced for its time period and out of place from the current setting I mentioned above). Random ecchi and jokes were non-existent here at this point (which was a good choice taken by the author). Duels were far more dangerous as it involves dark magic where lives may be at stake. Card and duel rulings were more structured than before. Truthfully speaking, this direction was a blessing even though it was a sudden shift of plot focus.

Speaking of art, the first few chapters felt a bit off in terms of character design. Give it a chance, it gets better and better. For the monster design (talking about Duel Monsters), it already started off as splendid and it gets progressively better.

I believe the best part in this 343-chapter story was when our protagonist Yugi has gotten to a point that he used certain Duel Monsters cards that symbolized he has grown up and doesn't have to rely on his "alter ego" self anymore; that he can already stand for himself. Those last duels that led to the culmination of this story were the most memorable. Said last duels were scripted in a way that certain cards and card effects mirrored the setting, the character development, and the action/s one must take so that they'll not be constrained on the past and must look on ahead in the future.

With all of that said, please give this a try. Just turn-off your knowledge of the Yu-Gi-Oh OCG/TCG card rulings and focus more on the narrative instead for a more fulfilling reading experience.

I feel like the only way to talk about Yu-Gi-Oh is to talk about the three major arcs in the series, as they are all different but they all show different facets of the work.

The first is the original series "Yu-Gi-Oh" In this we meet Yugi, his group of friends, and join him as he solves the Millennium Puzzle. What it is will be hinted at but mostly we learn about what's contained in the Millenium puzzle, a spirit who uses Yugi's body to extract revenge on various people.

The thing is this first series is my favorite but it's not "Yu-Gi-Oh" ... at least not what the series will become and how it'll make all it's money. Instead it's a gambling manga, usually high stakes games, though usually with the added benefit of the hero, punishing those who cheat at the rules. It's also quite a dark story at times, and honestly, I rather enjoyed that.

But the thing is, during the original story, "Yu-Gi-Oh" stumbles on a card games and everything changed. It was revisited a couple times, but suddenly the second series emerged.

"Yu-Gi-Oh: Duelist" would sound like the point where the series hits its stride, but I actually think this is the weakest part of the series. While it's the longest part covering two major stories of the Island Tournament, and Battle City... it also struggles a lot because it was based on a card game that was evolving at the time.

The thing is the rule of any bet or battle need to be consistent and when Yu-gi-oh started it throws out that anything can be summoned without effort, Players had 2000 life points (normally 8000) and cards have random effects. Some of this was due to the manga needing big exciting twists and the real cards while useful never would be able to turn the tides of the battle as much as the manga needed, or at least people would use the "same" combo over and over. How many times could Dark Hole be played to reset the board before it became stale.

Instead the rules of the game slightly evolve over time, however from a manga view, it's kind of strange how tournaments keep changing major rules of the game or adding new features such as field effects. It feels unfair to the players, but ultimately it's due to how the card game itself grew over that time.

The third arc was "Yu-Gi-Oh: Millennium World" And started to develop the story of the spirit inside the Millenium puzzle, giving him a full backstory and starting to answer most of the questions about him. This section is a mixed bag for me. I like the fact they step away from the card game while still developing a bit of the idea of the card game and where it came from, but there's a plot shift about halfway through that changes the meaning of the arc, and it feels abrupt.

However, it's still a well told and tight story, and if you've already read the first two arcs, this one will be enjoyed just as well. The writing is good, and while the action can be a little muddy at times, overall this helps to bring a proper closure to the story.

I absolutely adore the first arc. The second arc is good but the person who enjoys the card game really hates the liberties the game takes both with the format and the fake cards they just pull out of nowhere, and the third arc is a perfect desert finishing off the entire series in a solid format.

But the thing is Yu-Gi-Oh is entertaining the whole way through, even though there's three distinct arcs, I'd still read all three of them with out a question. The first continues to be my favorite, getting me starting into the "gambling" genre of manga. The second I love for its recreation of the card game however flawed it may be, and the over the top experience, and the third gives me a satisfying conclusion to a series that I love.

Overall this is a series I recommend. Really my only complaint is that the initial arc is a little more "mature" focusing on shadow games, and really games of "death" that disappear later in the series, but I wish remained. Yet the entire series is still an excellent read that I'll return to time after time.

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 the ... story. The millennium world is good for people who watched the anime attentively and want more details.