Plot
GX's manga focuses more on the original Yu-Gi-Oh series; the main antagonist is derived from Ancient Egypt and constantly possess people a kin to how Yami Bakura would possess Ryou throughout his plans. The manga only covers one story lines, providing two tournaments and then it ends once the villain is slain. The main bad guy also will pick who to possess at random to give the characters an excuse to duel each other. It is rather disappointing as this manga has a lot of potential to cover their three years at Duel Academy.
Characters
Stated earlier, characters are similar but also a bit different in comparison to the anime. The biggest difference is Manjoume. In the anime, he was the comic relief that had several unique decks and only won for character development (though to be fair, that's every character outside of Judai; season 3 is just Judai in every duel.) Here, he is much more confident and serious, using only one deck - a dragon deck focusing on Light and Darkness Dragon- and actually winning. This last part was the biggest shock to me, as he is able to have a good win to lose ratio and possess a challenge for Judai where he may not win. Judai stays mostly the same, but his "get your game on" attitude is a bit toned down and he acts more serious. His deck still focuses on E-HEROs, but they are new one created just for the manga. My complaint with his deck is that he uses them because of his admiration for his hero. It gives Judai to look more like a copycat that doesn't really walk out of his shadow. The others (Sho, Asuka, and Misawa) are the same mostly, but Misawa crushing on Asuka while Manjoume doesn't seem to care about her. Unfortunately, Asuka never gets to shine enough and takes the most defeats. Other differences for some characters are what decks they use. Overall, the differences are great and provide something new to enjoy if you're a fan of the anime
Art/Duels
The art is rather good; some of the manga original characters do look quite differently due to the art style. One of the characters has weirdly drawn boobs that are tight on her coat, which makes them look bizarre. The duels themselves are interesting and mostly unpredictable. Judai loses a few duels which makes it more enjoyable then him winning every duel each time.
Conclusion
The GX manga is a great read; it is way shorter than the anime and only focuses on one villain, but still provides a quick, fun ride. If you were tired of Judai dueling every episode, rejoice as everyone gets their time to shine with multiple duels. RIP no Ojama Bros.
