Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yu-Gi-Oh! (遊☆戯☆王, Yū-Gi-Ō!, lit. "Game King") is a Japanese manga series about gaming written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi. It was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine between September 30, 1996 and March 8, 2004. The plot follows the story of a boy named Yugi Mutou, who solves the ancient Millennium Puzzle, and awakens a gambling alter-ego within his body that solves his conflicts using various games.

Two anime adaptations were produced; one by Toei Animation, which aired from April 4, 1998 to October 10, 1998, and another produced by NAS and animated by Studio Gallop titled Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, which aired between April 2000 and September 2004. The manga series has spawned a franchise that includes multiple spinoff manga and anime series, a trading card game, and numerous video games. Most of the incarnations of the franchise involve the fictional trading card game known as Duel Monsters, where each player uses cards to "duel" each other in a mock battle of fantasy "monsters", which forms the basis for the real life Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game

The Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game, known as the Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Card Game (遊☆戯☆王オフィシャルカードゲーム, Yū-Gi-Ō Ofisharu Kādo Gēmu) in Japan, is a Japanese collectible card game developed and published by Konami. It is based on the fictional game of Duel Monsters created by manga artist Kazuki Takahashi, which is the main plot device during the majority of his popular manga franchise, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and its various anime adaptations and spinoff series.

The game was launched by Konami in 1999. It was named the top selling trading card game in the world by Guinness World Records on July 7, 2009, having sold over 22 billion cards worldwide. As of March 31, 2011, Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. Japan has sold over 25 billion cards globally since 1999. The game continues to gain popularity as it is played around the world, mostly in Japan, North America, Europe and Australia, and has been expanded with new rules and additions as the franchise grows.

From March 2002 to December 2008, Konami's trading cards were distributed in territories outside of Asia by The Upper Deck Company. In December 2008, Konami filed a lawsuit against Upper Deck alleging that it had distributed unauthentic Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG cards made without Konami's authorization. Upper Deck also sued Konami alleging breach of contract and slander. A few months later, a federal court in Los Angeles issued an injunction preventing Upper Deck from acting as the authorized distributor and requiring it to remove the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG from Upper Deck's website. In December 2009, the court decided that Upper Deck was liable for counterfeiting Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG cards, and it dismissed Upper Deck's countersuit against Konami. Konami is the manufacturer and distributor of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. It runs Regional and National tournaments and continues to release new Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG card products.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters

Yu-Gi-Oh!, known in Japan as Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (遊☆戯☆王デュエルモンスターズ, Yūgiō Dyueru Monsutāzu), is a Japanese anime series animated by Studio Gallop, based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga series written by Kazuki Takahashi. It is the second anime adaptation of the manga following the 1998 TV anime series produced by Toei Animation, and begins from the Duelist Kingdom arc. Like the manga and the first anime series, this series revolves around a boy named Yugi Mutou who battles opponents in various games; in this version, the main game played is the Duel Monsters card game.

The series originally aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from April 2000 to September 2004, running for 224 episodes. A remastered version, highlighting certain duels, began airing in Japan in February 2015. An English-language adaptation of the series by 4Kids Entertainment aired in North America from September 2001 to June 2006 on Kids' WB, and was also released in other countries. Based on the success of the series, 4Kids also commissioned an animated film, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light, and a mini-series, Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monsters.

Yu-Gi-Oh! R

Yu-Gi-Oh! R (遊☆戯☆王 R, Yūgiō Āru, lit. "Game King R") is a Japanese manga series written by Akira Ito, based on Kazuki Takahashi's Yu-Gi-Oh! manga. The series, which is a spin-off side story to the original manga, was serialized in Shueisha's V-Jump magazine between April 2004 and December 2007, and was published in North America by Viz Media.

Plot

Yu-Gi-Oh R takes place following Yugi Mutou's victory in the Battle City tournament. Yako Tenma, the protégé' and adopted son of Maximillion Pegasus, decides to avenge his teacher's defeat at the hands of Yugi, believing him to be responsible for Pegasus' alleged death. After taking over KaibaCorp while Seto Kaiba is in the United States, Tenma kidnaps Anzu Mazaki, prompting Yugi and his friend Katsuya Jonouchi to face Tenma's RA Project and the duel professors. Seto Kaiba and his brother Mokuba also come to the scene to rescue the company.

Characters

Many of the characters that are exclusive to Yu-Gi-Oh! R have names that are also Intel codenames. Intel codenames in turn are frequently taken from names of cities and towns near Intel factories in Oregon, Washington, and other locations.