When I went into this manga I was expecting a pretty simple story with the tropes I came to expect from the anime adaptation, with the power of friendship solving a lot of problems. Now this is not to say there isn’t a lot of that but it’s only a surface level view of what it has to offer. The more you read the more you notice deeper themes and ideas, and before long I couldn’t stop reading.
The English release of Yu-Gi-Oh is split into three parts, each starting at volume one, this is fitting because all three parts are quite a departure from each other despite being a continuous story.
Part one titled just: “Yu-Gi-Oh” Starts off with an episodic villain of the week format which was a good way to show off the main character’s alter ego. There is definitely a vibe of everything being not quite finalised yet, a bit of testing the waters of publication maybe. Character designs change a bit later and the personality of the alter ego changes quite significantly. It all has a bit of an experimental feel but I still enjoyed the early chapters. Before that structure outstays its welcome it becomes a more traditional story structure with longer arcs and recurring characters, especially when the card game becomes a major focus.
The way everything is settled with different games makes this part so unique. It’s astounding the huge variety of games Takahashi came up with for each new story and it really made each new chapter a joy anticipating what game or gamble would be next. The final arc of part one and the final game is a real unexpected treat and caps off the pre card game era perfectly.
Part two titled: “Yu-Gi-Oh Duelist” is by far the longest being almost four times as long as part one or three. For the most part it’s entirely focused on the card game, however from time to time there are still other games introduced and they were usually a great diversion.
This is also where the manga fully embraces an overarching plot and starts using characters to express themes and for this reason I found this part to be the strongest. I really enjoyed Kaiba’s backstory being a condemnation of the military industrial complex and war in general. I also loved the debate of being trapped by the past or facing the future and arguments over who is doing which being central to the Yugi and Kaiba rivalry. I thought These concepts were expressed thoughtfully and interestingly throughout the rest of the book.
The mystery of Yugi’s alter ego and the connection to ancient Egypt also becomes a big focus here and while it takes a long time to get answers, I think it’s a good premise that is worth the wait.
Part three titled: “Yu-Gi-Oh Millennium World” wraps up the original mystery set out at the start of the story. It’s done well enough and has an absolutely amazing call back to the end of part one that I really loved. It’s not the strongest part but the new location and characters as well as the promise of answers made it a quick and intriguing read.
The card game takes a backseat here in favour of full monster battles which I enjoyed the least out of all the ways this manga does battles. It trades strategy for pure action and I just don’t think it played to Takahashi’s strengths. I appreciate the fact he switched up from the card game in the middle of it overtaking the world in real life, that takes a lot of creative integrity, but I wish he had showcased his knowledge of games and brain for thinking up games here instead. All this is not to say Millennium World is bad, the conclusion of the story is still very satisfying and if you read this far into the manga you will probably be desperate to see the new setting.
Takahashi’s art really evolved throughout the manga. It’s a bit rough in part one but it doesn’t stand in the way of anything or detract from the story and has a lot of charm. By part two he really found his form, a lot of the monster designs are great particularly ones with ancient Egyptian themes and motifs, and characters are drawn more consistently. There’s a reason a lot of the original run of Yu-Gi-Oh cards have such iconic art and that’s because he was good at drawing interesting and memorable creatures.
The art is not as detailed as something you would find from the absolute top manga artists and on occasion the panelling is a bit scuffed. My main criticism for the art is that sometimes, particularly in the Millennium World saga, fights would be a bit too hectic and had too many monsters on the page at once resulting in the occasional mess of a page. Despite the few problems Takahashi’s art is full of character and passion, especially for games and creatures.
Before I move onto my favourite aspect of this manga I have to mention that the English translation from VIZ does have a few problems. It’s not enough to ruin things especially for normal people, but I have to say it did get annoying at times. It’s mostly minor things but there were a few instances where they mislabelled a character, for example: referring to Yugi as Jonouchi, as well as spelling mistakes that just should not have got through to print. Something that did really annoy me was Kaiba’s brother Mokuba almost always refers to him as “Kaiba” but due to being brothers he should be the only character calling him “Seto”. I think what makes it worse is he does sometimes say “Seto” so someone there knew. It’s totally bearable and I would still advise reading the official translation I just wish it was perfect.
I really like most of the extended cast of characters but it should be noted that the main three Yugi, Kaiba and Jonouchi get almost all of the focus and development. The issue is that some of the other characters feel like cheerleaders at times and could have had a more impactful role. A character that deserves a quick mention is Bakura. He is vastly more important to the plot in the manga and it does wonders for his character, it was an unexpected difference but one I found immensely more satisfying.
Despite the missed potential I still like them enough, the manga just really shines with its main characters. Jonouchi in particular goes through tremendous amounts of growth over the course of the entire manga and is a fan favourite for a reason. He is an underdog with the spirit of a champion and seeing his skills grow and gaining reluctant respect from even his harshest critics was the best. What’s great is how much his slow growth in skill and knowledge impacts the pacing and helps to keep long stretches of battles fresh and interesting, even lesser battles that could be seen as filler. In a later arc there is a duel between him and a character returning from the previous arc that I didn’t really care about. By this point Jonouchi for the most part, knows what he’s doing. The strategies he thinks of and the story told there elevate that duel to my top five in the manga when it could have just been a forgettable, throwaway duel.
Seto Kaiba was also a surprise. Having gone in already liking him from the anime I learned that he is a way deeper character here; his backstory and way of thinking is just expressed much more cohesively. His rivalry with Yugi is also more impactful and meaningful with both characters philosophies conflicting with each other’s but not entirely. Kaiba’s obsession with the future due to his trauma causes him to see Yugi as a relic of the past, a past he continuously affirms he never wants to think about. The way Kaiba sees Yugi results in an unrelenting need to beat him to prove perhaps to himself most of all that the past is meaningless. It’s a really cool way to express Kaiba’s trauma and made me really invested in the biggest rivalry of the manga.
Kaiba does go through a good amount of growth yet still retains his huge jerk personality, but I find him a loveable jerk for sure. He’s also just really cool and entertaining, where else am I going to find a character that uses a playing card to block the hammer of a pistol and then proceeds to tell his own pilot to throw himself into the sea or he will splatter his brains over the flight controls? It’s just something you can only get with Kaiba and there’s a tonne of moments like this.
Yugi and his alter ego are mostly good but with caveats. They do have a great relationship with each other and I appreciate their friendship in their unusual circumstances. Yugi is quite a naive lad and takes a long time to get character growth but he does eventually and I would say it is good enough. His big problem is he shares his time with the alter ego and he gets way, way less focus than him, although his lack of screen time does fit the idea that he needs to find his own voice and identity.
The alter ego is the more interesting of the two of them. He has the mystery of who he is going for him so I was always happy to find out more or see him interact with new people. I can’t complain too much he is a solid protagonist and has a good presence in battle. For the most part the ways he wins duels or games is written well and you can appreciate the intelligence behind his victories. He does start to feel invincible later on though and gets a fair few deus ex machina wins. I think this is another reason why Jonouchi becomes such a great character to watch. Even if he also gets a lot of luck at times, he still feels like he really has to desperately claw for every win he gets. I wanted to root for this nobody, this rube fighting for his friends against the power of ancient gods with nothing but dice and a dream.
This manga isn’t perfect by any means but it has a tonne of heart and soul and deserves to be recognised for it. I love the card game and am glad I finally read this manga as it has been a blast start to finish!
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