Yu-Gi-Oh! R Volume: 1 by Kazuki Takahashi and Akira Ito

9/10

Yugi Mutou has to prove himself as a champion duellist when the follower of one of his enemies comes back to take him on once again. This is the sequel to Y-Gi-Oh! Duellist and the prequel Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium World. Published by Viz Media who are responsible for many successful manga like Shaman King, Naruto, Psyren, One Piece and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.

For those who have no idea what this manga is about, Yugi Mutou had originally solved a puzzle from Ancient Egypt called the Millennium Puzzle and a spirit enters his body known as the King of Games. Using this spirit, Yugi fights his enemies at the Duel Monsters, a collectible card game. Maximillian Pegasus, the games rich creator sees Yugi as a threat, he gets him to go to a remote island to fight him in several duels, using his grandfather being kidnapped as leverage. Pegasus has his own artefact, the Millennium Eye and he uses it to great effect against Yugi. During the Duellist tournament, Yugi beat him and brought his soul back to his grandfather. A player who considered Pegasus a genius wanted to play Yugi for three god cards, but Yugi won the tournament and Yako Tenma, Pegasus's protégé hates Yugi for having defeated his master, and waits eagerly to get his revenge.

Yugi Mutou starts out as a kid alone, but soon gets some serious friends in Katsuga Honda, Anzu Mazaki and Katsuya Jonouchi. In Duel Round 1: A Wicked Shadow! Yako Tenma has kidnapped Anzu Mazaki so that Yuki comes to her rescue. First he has to win at a series of games in a tournament of Yako's choosing, and it isn't certain that Yugi will win. If he wants to win so badly, he will have to go through Yako's minions one by one, starting with Deschutes Lew, card professor and mercenary.

Yu-Gi-Oh! R Volume: 1 pits Yugi against many enemies, and, in similar style to the previous series we see him fight them in sequence using his cards and the warriors behind them. We see how he rates each time he fights and how close he comes to losing even when he has some top rate cards. What is fun to note is that all the enemy minions are cocky about their abilities, and they should be, as they have a leader in Yako Tenma. All the enemies are well drawn, but the best has to be Pete Coppermine who is nothing like his name.