For those who have been following my blog for the past few years, you might already be familiar with the origin of Yu-Gi-Oh!. Whether you are or not, here is the jist of it.

Yu-Gi-Oh! originally began as a manga series written by Kazuki Takahashi. Initially, it did not have anything to do with a trading card game, but rather revolved around the concept of games in general. Some of the games featured in the series were invented by the protagonist, Yugi Muto, on the spot. Others were parodies of real-life games. The first of which was a trading card game called “Magic and Wizards”. This game is a parody of the real-life trading card game, “Magic the Gathering”, and its parent company “Wizards of the Coast”. As the series progressed, fans kept sending letters to the publisher of Shonen Jump, asking for more information about the Magic and Wizards trading card game. Since Takahashi was struggling to come up with original ideas for new games, he decided to focus the rest of the entire series on Magic and Wizards.

The first 59 chapters of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, that existed before the Magic-and-Wizards era, were adapted into an anime by Toei in the late 90’s. Sadly, this anime has never made it ouside of Japan, and is often refered to by most fans as “Season 0”. After Konami bought the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh!, the company would start making a new anime that focused more on the Magic-and-Wizards portion of the manga, or Duel Monsters, as it would become known by in the anime. The main problem with doing so is that all of the main characters were introduced and establish in the pre-Magic-and-Wizards era. Meaning the characters would either have to be re-introduced or just exist without explaination. The best example of this is Seto Kaiba. To accomate re-introducing his character, the writers of the second anime cramed all of the Kaiba chapters form the first series into Episode 1. The first episode includes Kaiba entering Grandpa’s card shop from Chapter 9, Kaiba tearing Grandpa’s Blue Eyes White Dragon from Chapter 27, Anzu drawing the friendship symbol on their hands from Chapter 33, and Yugi wiping Kaiba’s butt with Exodia from Chapter 39. Although, it’s kind of squished, it seems to do the job.

After Seto Kabia was re-introduced, there was one more important character from the first series who needed the same treatment. Although he would appear as a cameo character as early as Episode 3, he would not get his formal re-introduction into the story until Episode 13. This character, of course, is Ryo Bakura (or just Bakura in the dub). In Episode 13…, you know what, I’ll wait until after the review to explain it.

Recap: The Transfer Student

In the last two chapters of Yu-Gi-Oh!, a new student named Ryo Bakura transfers into Yugi’s class. Yugi learns that Bakura likes games, especially one called Monster World. He asks if they can come over and play it some time, but Bakura says everyone he plays games with always loses consciousness and gets sent to the hospital. The next day, Bakura stayed home from school, so Yugi, Jonouchi, Honda, and Anzu all head over to his house to cheer him. Little do they know, Bakura also possesses a Millennium Item that houses an ancient spirit. Unlike Yugi’s who defends his friends, Bakura’s prefers to torment them along with his foes.

The good Bakura warns them to stay back, but before he can finish, the evil spirit takes over and invites them inside. He has already set up the Monster World board and is ready to play with them. He even made miniatures that resemble themselves. The players fill out their character sheets and place their miniatures on the board. The goal of the game is to defeat the Dark Master Zorc — an evil monster plaguing the land of Monster World. After gaining some information from a villager, the heroes proceed through the forest where they defeat their first goblin. Will they manage to defeat all the monsters they encounter on their way to Zorc Castle? Let’s find out now!

The Battle Continues

Yugi, Jonouchi, Honda, and Anzu continue their journey through the forest while Bakura narrates the next part of the story. They approach a young man lying prostrate on the forest floor. He is wearing a cape and a beanie-like hat. Anzu wants to help him, but Yugi suspects it could be a trap.

“I’ll poke him with my sword!” says Jonouchi. (Always thinking with his mouth.)

“He moves slightly,” narrates Bakura, “He looks at you and seems very afraid.”

“Please help me,” says the young man, “A monster attacked me in the forest and stole my treasure. That treasure is a Holy Sword. It is the only thing that can defeat Zorc. Please, I beg you, get back the treasure!”

“Do you respond to the young man’s request?” asks Bakura.

Anzu remembers what the villager told them about staying out of the forest, but Jonouchi is more focused on getting the treasure. Yugi is still skeptical and doesn’t believe finding a sword to defeat Zorc will be that easy. Doubts aside, they choose to follow him. A section of the board next to the figures flips over and becomes a forest.

“This area has a monster encounter rate of 80%,” says Bakura, as he rolls a 05, “Not a good roll for you! The closer to 00, the stronger the monsters that appear. Five monsters emerge from the trees! The players attack first! The battles will all take place using the 10-sided dice! If you roll a number under the attack success rate, you manage to hit the monster! The closer the dice are to critical, the more damage you inflict on the enemy.”

Jonouchi steps up for the first swing. He throws the die and gets an 82.

“Bad luck!” says Bakura, “Joey needed to roll a 30 or less to hit Beega. Not only does Joey miss, he trips and falls!”

(I should mention that “Joey” is Jonouchi’s character name. Not sure if this is what it was in the Japanese version, or if the English translaters used this name to save space.)

Honda steps up next. He throws the dice and rolls a 21. His magic gun blows a hole right through one of the monsters.

Next, it’s Yugi’s turn. Yugi’s beast tamer abilities allow him to turn a monster into an ally, but it only has a 50% success rate. Yugi uses his magic hands to rub one of the enemy monsters and successfully converts him into a friendly pal named Poki.

Three monsters remain. Anzu steps up last and throws the dice. She rolls a 00 — Super Critical!

“That means she can use the top level magic for an apprentice magician!” says Bakura.

Anzu’s magic creates an explosion so big that it blows up the remaining three monsters.

Get Your Head in the Game

After the explosion dissipates, the heroes hear someone chuckling behind them. They turn around and see the chuckling coming from the young man.

“So you are the four heroes who would defy me,” he says, “You fell for my trap and enterd the forest of the dead. This will be your grave!”

Bakura continues to narrate: “The young man’s form changes and grows before your eyes. For he is none other than–The Dark Master Zorc!!!”

“Before you die, there’s one thing you should know,” says Zorc, “Thre is no sword in the world that can defeat me! Ha ha ha ha!”

Bakura declares that the players have been caught with their defenses down, and therefore, Zorc gets to attack first. Bakura throws the dice and rolls his own Super Critical.

“Zorc’s Shadow Power assaults the players,” says Bakura, “and his target is you, Anzu! Mind Doll!”

Anzu goes unconscious and falls on the table.

“What did you do to Anzu?” cries Yugi.

“I told you, didn’t I? In role-playing games, you have to become the characters. You transcend reality to become the people of an imaginary world and live the adventure that unfolds! Don’t worry. Anzu is alive in Monster World!”

Anzu regains her conscoiusness in a strange forest, where everyone else looks a lot bigger than they used to be.

“She’s been turned into a lead figure!” cries Yugi.

“When the Dark Master Zorc’s attack is the Super Critical 00…or if the player rolls a fumble of 99…the player’s soul will be sealed into their figurine by the shadow power! The only way to retrieve her soul is to defeat the Dark Master Zorc.”

“I’m gonna do it!” cries Jonouchi, as he throws the dice. He rolls a fumble.

“Ahem! It wasn’t your turn to attack,” says Bakura, “Not only is you roll the worst possible, but so is your gaming etiquette, Jonouchi! To roll the dice without the master’s permission is to break the rules of the game! Prepare yourself!”

Jonouchi gets turned into a lead figure next. More specifically, his soul gets transferred from his body to his lead figure.

Honda steps up to fight next. Bakura instructs him to roll to avoid becoming frozen by fear. Honda needs a 70% or lower to overcome his fear, but he rolls a 94.

“This roll is stupid,” cries Honda, “I’m not scared of Zorc.”

“There is no ‘you’ there is only your charcter,” explains Bakura, “Zorc wins the initiative!”

Bakura rolls another Super Critical.

“No way,” cries Yugi, “That means that Zorc has rolled two super criticals in a row!”

“The dice don’t lie,” says Bakura, as he transfers Honda’s soul into his miniature.

“Well, Yugi, you’re the only one left,” continues Bakura, “Now you must roll the dice and move the pieces all on your own. And before I forget, if the characters’ hit points reach 0, they will die! Not just in the game, but in the real world! So be careful with the lives of your friends. The battle continues! The magic gunman gets one more chance to attack.”

“Before that,” responds Yugi, “Transfer my soul to my miniature too!”

Bakura is straight-up confused.

“Yugi, it would be easy to grant that wish,” says Bakura, “But if you, the last player becomes a miniature, who will throw the dice?”

The other me, thinks Yugi.

“Ah well, the game master is supposed to be of service to the players,” says Bakura, “Very well! I’ll do as you say! With this, it’s game over!”

Bakura transfers Yugi’s soul into his miniature as well. Just as Bakura thinks he has secured victory, he notices another entity sitting across the table from him.

“We were in the middle of a battle, weren’t we,” says Yami-Yugi, “The magic gunman draws a bead on Zorc!”

Yami-Yugi rolls a 03. The magic gunman blows Zorc’s arm completely off.

“Don’t worry guys, your lives are in my hands,” says Yami to the miniatures, “And starting now…so is Zorc’s!”

Thoughts: Paranormal Playtime

So anyway, if you are familiar with the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, you probably remember when Bakura turned Yugi and his friends into their favorite Duel Monster, and then Yami-Yugi had to step in and win the game for them. Episode 13 from the anime is a compilation of all the Bakura chapters from the first series, just as Episode 1 combines all of the Kaiba chapters. I think it was clever to reintroduce Bakura through Duel Monsters instead of Monster World, since the second anime focuses more on the former game. Unfortunately, Bakura’s passion for table-top RPGs gets overshadowed (at least until the final arc).

Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokémon are often compared closely together, but true fans of both know there are enough differences to make them distinct. These chapters of the manga (and corresponding episode of the anime) remind me of the Pokémon episodes featuring the Saffron City gym leader, Sabrina. Fans tend to remember these episodes as some of the creepiest because Sabrina uses her psychic powers to turn Ash, Misty, and Brock into dolls after losing to her in a Pokémon battle. Oddly enough, there are a lot of similarities between the characters of Bakura and Sabrina. Both were outcasts as children and were overcome by supernatural powers. Sabrina chose isolation to practice her psychic powers and created an alter-ego, in the form of a doll, that housed her innocent side from her childhood in order to maintain a cold demeanor. Bakura, on the other hand, chose isolation in order to protect his friends from getting hospitalized by his dark alter-ego that is the evil spirit of the Millennium Ring. To satisfy her loneliness, Sabrina forces people to become her friends by turning them into dolls. Likewise, Bakura’s alter-ego turns people into RPG figurines so Bakura can play with them forever. Both characters are pretty sinister and very memorable.

Now that Yugi and his friends have been tunred into figures, their lives are quite literally in the hands of Yugi’s alter-ego. Will he be able to guide them to victory against the Dark Master — Zorc? Stay tuned for the next Yu-Gi-Oh! manga review!