Yu-Gi-Oh, the master of cards
At the turn of the 21st century, it was impossible to miss out on Yu-Gi-Oh card duels in the playground. Children couldn't get enough of facing off against monsters from this hugely successful manga universe, and the phenomenon continues to this day with children of all ages!
Introducing the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga
Published in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1996, the manga presents the adventures of Yugi Muto. A rather introverted young teenager, he devotes his life to playing cards. His father brings him an object from Ancient Egypt, found during an excavation, a sort of puzzle. Thanks to his precocious intelligence, Yugi manages to solve it... and finds himself possessed by the spirit of Atem, an ancient pharaoh who was the master of the game of darkness.
With the help of the spirit of Atem, also known as Yami, Yugi sets out to battle terrible demonic opponents in the game Magic & Wizard. However, Yugi isn't even aware that he has an Egyptian pharaoh in his head. It only manifests itself when Yugi is in danger or has to face a terrible opponent.
On the other hand, Pharaoh Atem has lost his memory and doesn't even remember that he was once a pharaoh. As the story unfolds, we discover that Atem has deliberately lost his memory in order to protect a great secret.
A tribute to board games
The Yu-Gi-Oh manga is the work of mangaka Kazuki Takahashi, and this series will forever be the most popular of his career. Originally, he wanted to create a horror story with fighting, but found that the classic manga battles lacked originality. Himself a big fan of board games such as card games, role-playing games, mahjong and shogi, he decided to create a universe where the characters fight without touching each other: through card games.
Kazuki himself invented some of the games used in Yugi and Artem's adventures, which led to the development of highly profitable trading card and game licences. Don't forget that some Yu-Gi-Oh cards can be worth hundreds of euros... or even thousands of euros for the rarest ones!
The huge Yu-Gi-Oh
Anime adaptations were soon made. Toei Animation's first anime series came out in 1998, directed by Hiroyuki Kakudo. It featured all the characters from the manga, including Yugi, Atem, Katsuya Jonouchi, Anzu Mazaki and Hiroto Honda, as well as villains such as Seto Kaiba and his younger brother Mokuba Kaiba.
After a few seasons, the first full-length film, "Yu-Gi-Oh!, the film: Pyramid of Light", was released in 2004. But this less-than-faithful adaptation failed to convince audiences. Another feature film, "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions", was released in 2016 to a slightly more positive reception. It takes place after Atem has left the world of the living.
Of course, the most important franchise item is the famous trading card game. This was published from 1999 by Konami. Two players or teams of players compete in a "duel" and must use cards to reduce their opponent's life points to zero, or before the end of a time limit (45 minutes):
Other card categories have been added as the game has evolved.
The game is also available in two different versions: the TCG (trading card game), suitable for a Western audience from the age of 6, and the OCG (official card game), available on the Asian market and reserved for an audience from the age of 12. Each version contains over 23,000 unique cards.
On ShopForGeek, you can find figurines from the Yu-Gi-Oh universe, including the Blue-Eyed Dragon. This is the signature monster of villain Seto Kaiba, considered to be virtually invincible thanks to its enormous attack power. He is part of the Yu-Gi-Oh! legend.