Yu-Gi-Oh

Yu-Gi-Oh! is basically a variety of many things. The world of Yu-Gi-Oh! contains a hit anime series that has a good storyline, a growing Collectible Card Game (CCG for short), and over seven installments of video games selling worldwide. Yu-Gi-Oh! was created by Kazuki Takahashi in Japan, and it made it's first appearance around 1996. Yu-Gi-Oh! didn't hit the mainstream until 1999 or so.

The anime series is based around a young boy named Yugi and a gift that his grandfather, Solomon, gave him called the Millenium Puzzle. As the story starts to unfold, the origin of the Millenium Puzzle is revealed, as well as the existence of the six other Millenium items. During this time, a new card game is starting to go big. This is the Duel Monsters card game created by Pegasus J. Crawford (English name: Maximillion Pegasus). After being lured into the tournament by Pegasus, Yugi goes through major obstacles, dueling through the tournament and eventually winning.

Yu-Gi-Oh! also details around Yugi's main rival, the Duel Monsters world champion, Seto Kaiba. In the very first episode, Kaiba challenges and defeats Yugi's grandfather in a duel where each of their rarest cards were on the line. The virtual reality dueling system takes Solomon by surprise, and he loses. When Yugi shows up, Yami Yugi (English name: Dark Yugi) makes his first appearance and defeats Kaiba starting the whole chain of events that would lead to Pegasus' and Yugi's final confrontation at the end of the Duelist Kingdom story arc.

The anime is currently still showing in Japan and has reached around the 120th episode. Yu-Gi-Oh! is divided into two main story arcs with some side stories in between. The first is the Duelist Kingdom Story Arc with Pegasus starting up the Duelist Kingdom tournament. The second is the Battle City Story Arc in which Kaiba receives one of the three god cards and starts his own tournament called Battle City. Instead of Pegasus as the villain, Marik shows up and steps in that part of the story. Battle City is divided into three main parts, the Battle City, Battle Ship, and then Duel Tower (finals).

The card game pretty much mirrors the anime except for some of the effects for monsters and magic. The CCG has taken off in Japan with several new installments of the card game series. The expansion sets really help players expand their decks to new levels. An example of this would be the New Ruler, and the Pharonic Guardian sets that came out in Japan. The Japanese version of the CCG is very impressive with a wide database of cards and nearly unlimited possibilities for deck themes.

For the American CCG, although in its infant stages with only two sets, has taken off very well due to the anime series coming out before the CCG. The Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon set contained the Japanese Duel Monster EX, Legend of BEWD, and Phantom god sets. Although deck possibilities are very limited, American players have learned to improvise and are getting the basics of the game. For example, essential cards for an American deck right now would be, Pot of Greed, Raigeki, Dark Hole, and Waboku.

With Yu-Gi-Oh! taking off in Japan, it quickly headed to the United States, and as it gets more mainstream, I'm sure it will have a lot of success. The CCG has much better quality than the Pokemon CCG, and its rules easy to understand. With Konami creating the Japanese version, and Upper Deck creating the CCG here in the United States, it should be easy to get a hold of some Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. As for the anime series, it continues to be a hit in Japan as the Battle City Story Arc continues, and here in the United States, it should have some success next season with Kids WB releasing the end of Duelist Kingdom, and then going to the side story arcs.