Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duelist, Vol. 12: Magician vs. Magician

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist #12

by Kazuki Takahashi

Yugi fights Pandora, a duelist who uses one of Yugi's own favorite cards, the Dark Magician! But can Yugi duel while chained in the path of a roaring buzzsaw? Meanwhile, Jonouchi fights an old enemy, Insector Haga. For the sake of his sister, Jonouchi must fight an army of vicious bugs... and that's not all. His own deck has been infected with Haga's parasitic insects! Is this the end?

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Young Adult, Shonen

208 pages, Paperback

First published July 4, 2000

About the author

Takahashi (高橋和希) started as a mangaka in 1982. His first work was Tokiō no Tsuma (闘輝王の鷹), published in 1990. One of his earliest works was Tennenshokudanji Buray (天然色男児BURAY), which lasted for two volumes and was published from 1991 to 1992. Takahashi did not find success until 1996 when he created Yu-Gi-Oh!

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two Dark Magicians with two slightly unique designs are rad-a-dad-dad.

Coolest design is probably Gearfried the Iron Knight this volume. Dark Magician Girl is introduced. Battle City wages on!

[Burberi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yayyy Dark Magician Girl

[Leandro Escobar-herrera · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great card battles are being bogged down by the stench of cheese.

As a kid, it really bothered me that at this point in the books, they were mainly focusing on the card battles. Now as an adult, I enjoy this stage of the books because the battles have some good and clear strategy, making them a joy to follow. I also have a greater appreciation for the art in these book, which not only remain amazing but also have improved, which is clear in Weevil who makes a delightful return.

What bothers me endlessly is the cheesiness and the PSA tone this book has. I really ruin the battles against Pandora, which Yami wins not by being a creat duelist but because his cards love him. Also, would somebody start following the rules? Jonouchi got 1 card not 2 from Weevil, and Yu-gi got none from Pandora.

The saving grace is the battle against Weevil, where we see some actual character growth. Yu-Gi-Oh! spends to much time telling us and instead of showing us, which is a misuse of the medium.

[Wendell]

Yugi is a young duelist who was walking around the areas of buildings, and suddenly a joker who is also a magician had his attention and wanted to challenge him to a duel to see who is the best duelist among magicians. As they went inside a private room where they can duel, Pandora locked both him and yugi's legs. And the deal of the game was that each duelist has two thousand four-hundred points. And the duelist that reaches zero will have their legs cut and the winner will get to escape. This was a risky move from Pandora but he is willing to try this. Both of these guys were great duelist but yugi had no worries that he wouldn't win this duel.
As the match begins to start yugi begins first and takes out his first card; which is magnetic warrior. One of his favorite battling cards. Then Pandora takes out a card and summons magic card. yugi summons a trap card and waits for Pandora to make a turn that way he may use his trap card to destroy whatever monster Pandora may take. Pandora fell for his trap and his monster was destroyed and Pandora's life points was half taken. Coming to the end of the Battle Pandora is magician and he was able to see what yugi may have on his deck, He also knows yugi has a dark magician in his deck and is willing to summon him first before yugi can which can help him win the battle.
But in order for Pandora to summon him He must summon to monsters from his deck and will have to wait for yugi next turn. By then if yugi summons a monster or lays a trap card, Pandora can sacrifice his two monsters that way he can summon Dark magician and win the game. In his mind he believes he will win but yugi always has a back up plan. Since Pandora is a magician and has a dark magician card. Everything he does with that card, yugi can do the same which throws Pandora off. Instead of having one magician in his deck he has two!!!. Dark magician girl which Pandora did not know of. Yugi had took this advantage And used his turn to attack Pandora With Dark magician girl. With this hit Pandora lost all of his life points and caused yugi to win the battle.
Yugi is free from chains while Pandora stays and gets destroyed.

[Joseph B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yu-Gi-Oh Duelist Vol 12 continues the Battle City storyline by focusing on two sets of duels; Yugi vs Pandora and Joey vs Weevil. The Pandora duel ranks as one of my favorite duels in the series. Yugi meets a fellow Dark Magician user who cuts his cards and ruthlessly handles them in stark contrast to Yugi's heart of the cards mindset. There's fun combos, epic plays, and it really cuts to the core of what Takahashi believes Duel Monsters to be about. Joey vs Weevil is a surprisingly engrossing duel. Weevil starts off by cheating and Joey has to continuously come up with strategies to counter that. Both duels end how you'd expect but the journey getting there is a blast. Vol 12. lives up to the Battle City quality and delivers a fun collection you won't want to miss.

[Adrian Santiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ni me interesan los Mago Oscuro, y el insector cómo cae en la punta de la v...

pero a la vez, qué buena historia. Qué buenos juegos, personajes, cartas, diseños y duelos. La verdad.

Incluso lo sanguinario del juego de Arkana, que aquí ni importa tanto su "amante" y todo lo que sucede al final. El duelo de Jonouchi primero se sintió un tanto como relleno, pero a la vez sí que está bien estructurado, pensado y ejecutado. Incluso primero "aburre" que regresen weyes que ya habían sido derrotados, pero a la vez está padre (y ni se diga en la vida real, que fue un buen pretexto para meterle soporte a los decks de insecto, dinosaurio y demás).

[Kassy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume was definitely intense. Yugi fought duelist who also used a Dark Magician deck and who was killer crazy literally. Threatening to cut off Yugi's feet if he lost was intense, and he almost cut off his own feet which was crazy the Egyptian guy wouldn't let him unlock his feet but Yugi saved him which is good.

Joey's duel with the insect duelist was also pretty crazy. The parasite card he planted in Joey's deck is definitely considered cheating in my book and I am so happy he found a way to stop him and win.

[Alex Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the Joey/Weevil duel (I'm literally reading the manga and still using the english dub names, I can't help it) - I rocked an Insect Queen and Parasite Paraside in my deck for my whole childhood - no idea what I traded away to get my hands on them, hope I didn't con anyone (I was a little shit).

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of the same, but I always appreciate an Insector Haga appearance. The synergies of an Insect deck remind me of the decks I build in Magic.

Solid bridge for some of the more epic duels to follow. Subtle foreshadowing. Silent Doll incoming.

[Sebastián Ubilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es un buen manga

[Kurtis Burkhardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always loved yugioh, it was my favorite show as a kid and my first manga! Love all the great characters and the Egypt story line it has😻👌😁❤️

[Inge · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the way Yugi and Pandora battle each other. Nerve rakking. Slavery is a big topic in this book.

[Jaden John · Rating 5 out of 5]

love it

[Daniel Pappas · Rating 4 out of 5]

very cool

I like that they will do two entire duels in a single book. Makes the pacing better for me and I stay invested.

[Emi えみ Takami 鷹見 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first volume I've read since Kazuki Takahashi-sensei's passing. Rest in peace and thank you for the wonderful childhood memories. I grew up with Yugi and the gang.

[Roselyn Blonger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me encantó el duelo entre Yami y Pandora, sin duda fue muchísimo mejor que en el anime. Admito que no me esperaba ver a Yami tan derrotado cuando Pandora usó el ectoplasma para extraer el alma de su Mago Oscuro, pero me encantó cómo resultó todo.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty iconic duel that I remember from the anime...it's Dark Magician vs. Dark Magician as Yugi faces Marik's Ghoul, Pandora. However, this magician isn't playing fair as he locks Yugi's legs and threatens to saw him in half if he loses. Plenty of dark tricks ahead in this one, it didn't feel as kid-friendly as it's cartoon counter-part. The end of the duel too, has Marik planting suicidal tendencies in Pandora's mind and Yugi being all "meh" about it. Marik also confronts Yugi and let's him know he's merely a "host" to the Spirit of the Puzzle. At this point in the game, Yugi realizes why his "other self" is battling but is totally on board in helping him retrieve the lost memories. It was touching. On the other side of the city begins a duel between Insect Haga and Jonouchi begin a duel of their own, however Haga isn't playing fair. He's planted a virus card in Jonouchi's deck that he must defeat. He admits to Anzu and Gramps that his sister is afraid to remove her bandages in order to see and that is his new drive, to show her true courage. Honda and Ryuji have gone to retrieve her.
An action-filled volume that varies drastically from the anime that keeps readers and fans intrigued.

[Nightshade · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is interesting about the manga is that Yami and Yugi are treated more as separate individuals and do not share all of their thoughts so much. In this volume Marik introduces himself to Yugi because previously he had only met Yami, who had not told Yugi about their encounter. Marik is very scornful of Yugi, commenting that he is only a vessel that is holding Yami’s soul.
Rather than the saws sending the loser to the shadow realm as in the anime, they actually cut off the loser’s legs below the knee. This is one of the ways in which the manga is more gruesome than the anime. This is the first appearance of the dark magician girl, and she gets a great entrance. I really like Yugi’s magician deck and all of the spell cards he has that work with the dark magicians.
Meanwhile Honda and Ryuji go to the hospital to bring Jonouchi’s sister to him as she is too scared to take off her bandages. In the anime it is very clear that Honda likes Shizuka, but in the manga he is doing this to help out his friends.
The difference between the manga and the anime remain very interesting.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my favorites in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist mangas. I loved the duel between Pandora *cough*Arcana*cough* and Yugi in the anime, so I was excited to read about it in this and I was not disappointed! If anything, it's better in the manga, as most things are. The best thing about it was that Yami isn't such a push-over and a pansy. He's a freakin' beast.

The duel between Jonouchi and Insector... eh. Most of Jonouchi's duels are boring, so I can't say it was surprising.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Quickie Review

A bit more startling than it was in the anime--especially the fate of one of the duelists--this one moves at breakneck speed thanks to it containing two insane card duels. This is definitely a good installment.

[Sarah Maddaford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed on previous volumes Yu-Gi-Oh! Volumes 1-4 and Duelist Volumes 1-5 as well as the final volume

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent volume as usual. I love this manga. =)

[Дени ★ Проданова · Rating 5 out of 5]

Това е един от любимите ми томове. Битка между магьосници в стил SAW.

[Emma L.B.]

- Will re-read before I put a review -