Sunday, July 1, 2012

Manga Review: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, Vol. 1 (Yu-Gi-Oh! (Graphic Novels)) [Paperback]



I've finished "Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal Vol. 1" by Kazuki Takahashi.

Product Description

Reads R to L (Japanese Style) for Teen audiences.

In a futuristic city, augmented reality Duels are all the rage. Duelists, using devices called D-Gazers, can interact with their environment and their opponents as never before. With more awesome monsters and unbelievable cards, the future of Yu-Gi-Oh! starts right here!

No one loves Dueling more than Yuma Tsukumo, but unfortunately for him, no one is worse at it! This isn’t going to stop Yuma from trying though. When Yuma calls on the memory of his parents during the Duel, a strange being called Astral appears, and the encounter is the start of Yuma’s amazing Duel journey!

About the Author 

Artist/author Kazuki Takahashi first tried to break into the manga business in 1982, but success eluded him until Yu-Gi-Oh! debuted in the Japanese Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 1996. Yu-Gi-Oh!'s themes of friendship and fighting, together with Takahashi's weird and imaginative monsters, soon became enormously successful, spawning a real-world card game, video games, and three anime series (two Japanese Yu-Gi-Oh! series and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX). A lifelong gamer, Takahashi enjoys Shogi (Japanese chess), Mahjong, card games, and tabletop RPGs, among other games.

Product Details
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; Original edition (June 5, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1421549026
ISBN-13: 978-1421549026


My Review:

I've been waiting for this manga to be released since I really enjoy watching the anime.

This first issue comes with a card which I haven't opened but it's protected very well.

We meet Yuma Tsukumo who loves to duel and is determined to be the best.  We first meet him and his friend Kotori Mizuki watching their friend Tetsuo Takeda dueling Ryoga Kamishiro.  Tetsuo loses and Ryoga takes his cards but Yuma challenges him. Ryoga taunts Yuma and breaks his necklace and throws it.  Yuma goes in search of his necklace and finds it but its' broken into pieces which he patches up.

The next day Yuma is losing badly when he rips his necklace off and a bright light appears.  He hears a voice and sees Astral who tells him they will win this duel.  Ryoga has managed to wipe most of Yuma's life points with just one hit.  Then we see Ryoga is possessed and he is talking about numbers and the only way they can be defeated is by another number creature.

In order to take down Ryouga's Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, Yuma obtains a number card of his own, Number 39th Utopia.  Yuma manages to win the duel and Astral takes Ryouga's Leviathan Dragon.

Ryouga was originally a champion duelist before he was disqualified for peeking at his opponents cards.  He uses a deck filled with fish-like monsters and his key card is "Black Ray Lancer" capable of destroying Numbers and can only be defeated by other Numbers.

Yuma is a cheerful energetic boy who is an underachiever in school and duels.  He takes on any challenges and he dubs this feeling "Feel the Flow" or Kattobingu and he wears a special key given to him by his traveling parents which opens up a different dimension.  He uses a deck given to him by his father and his family is against him dueling.  His key card is Number 39: Utopia which evolves into Number 39: Utopia Ray later on.

4/5

Manga in series:

1.  Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal Vol. 1
2.  Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal Vol.2 - December 4, 2012

Thanks Simon and Schuster Canada for sending me this manga to review, greatly appreciated!

2 comments:

Alison Can Read said...

This sounds like a fun series. I've heard of the anime. It seems like it's super popular, although perhaps not on the Pokemon scale.

Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews said...

Hi Alison,

Yes this is very popular series and I really enjoy watching the anime series!

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