Yu-Gi-Oh! R, Volume 1

遊☆戯☆王R [Yu-Gi-Oh! R] #1

by Kazuki Takahashi, Akira Ito

The shocking sequel to Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duelist and prequel to Yu-Gi-Oh!: Millennium World! When the follower of an old enemy returns to take revenge, Yugi Mutou must duel to save a friend's life. But can he overcome the power of the three "Jashin," the terrifying Evil God Cards?

It's been many duels since Yugi defeated Maxmilion Pegasus, the super-rich designer of the collectible card game "Duel Monsters." But Yako Tenma, Pegasus' protégé, has never forgiven Yugi for his master's horrible fate. To draw Yugi out, Yako kidnaps Anzu Mazaki and takes her to the heart of the Kaibacorp building, guarded by dozens of the world's most dangerous gamers! But Yako's true plan for Anzu is much worse than mere revenge...

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Supernatural, Shonen

216 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 2009

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

[cobwebbing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic overview of the whole series with some spoilers ahead, boys.

I'm definitely in the minority here, but I like Yu-Gi-Oh! R just fine. My favorite things about the original series mostly involve the blending of goofy and dark elements and I think this spinoff manages that. You just sort of have to roll with the nonsense to enjoy it. See: the basic premise behind the weaksauce antagonist and the retreading of the concept of God cards. See also: Bandit Keith, a reoccurring minor antagonist from Duelist who Pegasus killed by way of... handgun... in a very literal sense... effectively coming back as a zombie.

I think the biggest shortcoming is that because of the nature of the story it's just a gauntlet of a bunch of minor characters with no real stake in the plot. They're fun, quirky Yu-Gi-Oh! characters, but there are only a true few standouts. After that, there's the problem of how Anzu is handled, but I just have to raise my hands in surrender at this point with YGO's complete inability to write its main female characters with much sense of nuance.

The one A+++ part is the rematch between Jounouchi and Bandit Keith. That was INCREDIBLY satisfying and I enjoy the themes about existentialism and death a LOT. Managed to singlehandedly solidify Keith as one of my favorite characters, slimeball that he is, and further encouraged my love of Joey boy.

So, in summation, it would be a stretch to say this spinoff is GOOD, but it has its moments and I enjoyed it.

[Jules ♈ (witchyrover) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I completely forgot I read this manga. Can't believe it counts. Sorta (this manga was really hard to find on internet) Haha anyway... onto the review!

I have no words to describe my feelings when I finished this. A lot of nostalgie was one of them, I mean I looove Yu-Gi-Oh! One of the best anime of all time (yes I watched only the anime. Don't judge!). But when I heard that there was a part of the anime that was only manga I just had to read it. #ChildhoodFeels #IWannaBeYounger #AgainDontJudge #YOLO

Nonetheless, it felt off to me. There were things I did not completely understand.... it was a bit messy (maybe if they turned this into the anime, that would be cool!). But I don't think this is the right thing for me to read... I think that I need to start from scratch or have a bit more backround information. Again, it was confusing. There were parts that made no sense to me at all.

I would definately buy Yu-Gi-Oh! at a comic store one day... but maybe not this series. Not that appealing.

[Joel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dear nostalgia.
I've been a Yu-Gi-Oh fan since like forever: I've watched the anime, I've played the card game, I've played many video games. Yet, I had never read the manga.

And I'm happy I did. Actually I already bought the whole R series.

The plot is not that interesting but it's okay. I liked the characters, however it is weird to read their original names instead of the US version names lol.


The Best: I really enjoyed the art style and it's cool to see both the holographic monsters and the actual cards.

The Worst: All duels were way too short.


I do know this is not the original manga but I started here because it is shorter.
And oh... there was no card inside :(

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

Here's the trouble with trying to build off of another author's concept. A: the art isn't as great and makes the Pharaoh seem smug rather than confident (there's a difference between how Kaiba and Yugi are, Kaiba is smug, Yugi is not). B: And then Joey/Jonouchi's character just isn't right...he seems to be denser than usual and has lost all of the confidence in his dueling ability that he had already progressed through. It seems that Ito is trying to develop characters that have already been developed and it's throwing the whole story/concept out of proportion.

[Burberi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Black Slifer? Dayum

[Ren · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up to 4

Yu-Gi-Oh! content I haven't yet consumed? In the year of our Lord 2022?! Love that for me.

Granted, this spin-off series wasn't conceptualized or written by Kazuki Takahashi, but as an active member of the Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom on AO3 (and fanfiction.net before it) that's hardly new territory for this fan.

So it wasn't put together by the man himself, but was it good?

Yeah, I'd say so.

I, like many other reviewers starved for content, agree that the premise of this mini-series is its strength. The idea of wrapping an arc around the fallout from Pegasus's disappearance/death (pick your poison) at the end of Duelist Kingdom is a good one that was criminally under-explored in the Duke Devlin/Dungeon Dice Monsters filler arc. Having the 'big bad' be Pegasus's protegee is much more compelling, and such a person is much more likely to have a meaningful grudge and the skills to do something about it. I also like the continuity of Kaiba's 'Solid Vision' technology being at the center of another Pegasus adjacent plot as well as how having it be the center of another in-universe story bolsters the worldbuilding.

Speaking of bolstering world building, author Akira Ito made a couple of neat additions that build off of stuff we already know about the Yu-Gi-Oh! world:

1. Solid Vision, Plus
We know from the main series that as Kaiba continues to tinker with his own Solid Vision VR software it becomes more and more, well, solid, and harder to distinguish from reality, so the idea that Yugi and co. hadn't realized that Tea had already been kidnapped by the time they first encounter Tenma feels reasonable and honestly, pretty creepy.

2. Duel Professors
Given that Ito worked on Yu-Gi-Oh! GX he obviously knew where dueling was going in-universe, so it was a cute little nod to the idea of a duel academy in the future to have Tenma's henchmen be 'Card Professors', and it was also a little bit of retroactive ground laying.

3. Accessible Duel Disks
Maico Kato not only had the most aesthetically interesting deck of anyone in this volume, she was also the most fleshed-out as a character, and one of only a handful of older duelists we meet in the entire series that has an 'on-screen' duel. Moreover, she is (if memory serves) the only duelist we ever meet in DM that isn't able-bodied, and certainly the only duelist in a wheelchair. And she gets her own customized Duel Deck that sits on her lap.

I thought that was nice to include from a visibility standpoint, and also in-universe acknowledgement that you don't have to be able-bodied to be able to access Kaiba Corporation's technology. I like that this by extension means that their research and development department (if not Kaiba himself) cares enough about accessibility to have modified Duel Discs on the market.

However, despite having really good bones, I have to agree with a lot of other reviewers that the execution wasn't always the best. Other reviewers have pointed out the sloppiness of the writing of the duels themselves, which is a big problem if we're meant to read at least thirteen speed duels before returning for the final duel against Tenma.

Additionally, it was a big missed opportunity, since Tenma is supposed to be connected to Pegasus, not to have him feel more like Pegasus. Not necessarily derivative of Pegasus in terms of mannerisms, but give the man some type of theatricality and sense of fun. This guy takes himself way too seriously to be Pegasus's protegee. Hell, I'd buy that filler villain from Battle City, Arcana, being Pegasus's protegee before I'd buy it of hecking Tenma.

Finally, a lot of people seem to dislike that there's a sliding backwards in terms of character development when it comes to the main cast (Joey specifically), and that the Pharaoh feels a bit out of character, but full disclosure: I never cared enough about the Pharaoh as a character to notice anything ooc and given that this entire arc is plot rather than character-driven I don't really care if the character development from Battle City didn't carry over.

I do, however, care a great deal about Kaiba's characterization, so I'm going to need Ito to get that right when Kaiba makes his appearance in the story in volume 2 or else my review shall be nothing short of absolutely scathing.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It should be stated from the start that Yu-Gi-Oh! R is very much a niche addition to the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it exists almost solely for the benefit of completionists and long time fans of the series. Please keep this in mind going forward, as this series should probably not be analyzed in the same way as the previous entries in the franchise.

R is what many would consider to be a 'spin-off' of the popular Yu-Gi-Oh manga and anime franchise, as the narrative takes place after the events of the Yu-Gi-Oh: Duelist series but prior the Yu-Gi-Oh: Millenium World series. R is written and drawn by Akira Ito with the story outline and editorial duties being handled by the original franchise writer/creator Kazuki Takahashi. Ito was previously an assistant artist to Takahashi during the original serialization of manga, and was chosen by Takahashi personally to adapt this spin-off.

When reviewing this volume (and I suspect the series as a whole) the main aspect that seems to divide readers is the narrative. The art is obviously consistent with the standard set by previous series (Ito's artistic pedigree assured as much), and the characterizations of the established cast are both accurate and consistent throughout.

Where the story really starts to show it's cracks is when Ito attempts to pace the plot and introduce the new characters. It is very telling when Ito states in a short author's note at the beginning of the volume, "...Yu-Gi-Oh R focuses on things that we couldn't include in the original series...". R reads like a conglomeration of interesting ideas, characters, and plot points that don't really fit together in a way that makes the whole better than the sum of it's parts. The plot involves a few interesting angles, including a protege of Duel Monsters creator Maximillian Pegasus, a corporate takeover of Kaiba Corp, and new 'Wicked God' cards; but again, these beats are introduced very quickly and then put to the side in favor of a slew of new plot points and characters. This habit of rushing through plot points, characters, and motivations seriously hinders the readers ability to become invested in the story; this is on contrast to the previous series' which seemed to benefit (most of the time) from a more decompressed story with the proper time given to flesh out concepts and characters.

In short, Yu-Gi-Oh R is an interesting (if ultimately mediocre) presentation of the creative bits and pieces of Yu-Gi-Oh that spawned throughout it's development. These ideas, concepts, and characters help give insight into the development of what became integral to the franchise's storied success; it is just unfortunate that those pieces could not fit together into something more profound or expansive. R succeeds as a look into the growth of the franchise and it's concepts, but it fails to manifest those concepts into a unique or engaging story.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can say with all honesty that this manga was a waste of time. It's an irrelevant, forgettable part of the overall Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. Fortunately, this book is a quick read. Unfortunately, the whole series is five volumes long. Five volumes?! One only shudders as the thought of so much filler material included in so many books. You'd be better off rereading all 30+ volumes of Yu-Gi-Oh classic.

You can read my complete review of YU-GI-OH R volume one at my manga review blog, Nagareboshi Reviews: http://nagareboshi-reviews.blogspot.com/

[Sebastien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je suis tombé par hazard l’autre jour sur les 3 premiers volume ( à prix dérisoire) du spin-off de Yu-gi-oH. J’ai toujours eu pour principe d’éviter le plus possible les spin-off car chaque fois ou 9 fois sur 10 le spin off est carrément poche ou vraiment moins bon. Rare sont les spin-off à la hauteur de la série originale. Donc est-ce que Yu-gi-oH R lui fait partie de l’exception. Voici donc ce que j’en ai pensé. Cependant je vais faire une petit spécial avec cette critique, je vais traité de la série originale dont j’ai fait la lecture il y a 5 ans, juste avant de commencer �� écrire des critiques sur goodreads, il est évident que je vais la relire dans le futur, mais il me sera impossible de faire une critique a la hauteur si je n’en parle pas un peu.

Yu-gi-oH sa veut dire le roi du jeu, donc l’histoire tourne autour d’un petit garçon du nom de Yugi qui n’a pas d’amis et souhaite en avoir. Il est donc persécuté par des voyou, ignoré par les personnes populaire et il n’a l’attention que de Anzu, une fille de sa classe. Yugi passe donc son temps seul et pendant ce temps il monte un puzzle de son grand père appeler le puzzle millénaire qui a le pouvoir d’exaucer les voeux. Une fois réussi, Yugi réveille une âme qui a pour mission de jouer a des jeux et de punir les malfaisants. C’est donc avec l’aide de cette seconde âme que Yugi et ses nouveau amis (car il s’en fait) combattrons les forces du mal au travers de plein de jeux aussi varié que différents.

Pour faire simple, Yu-gi-oH original est un amassi de hit and miss au début. Les 5 premiers volumes sont assez pénibles par bout et on peine à vouloir avancer tellement les story arcs sont simples et manque d’inspiration. Jusqu’au moment où l’auteur met le pied sur l’accélérateur et nous propose des jeux plus complexe, des jeux plus intéressants et surtout des enjeux plus intense. On a même droit à une game de donjon et dragon totallement sublime. Mais ce qui fait le charme de cette série c’est Demon and Wizard le jeu de carte ressemblant a magic the gathering qui fait le charme de cette série. L’auteur nous invente des carte toutes plus puissantes que les autres et nous fait vivre es duel haut en couleur entre nos héros et les méchants duellistes adverse. Donc a part les 3 premiers volumes, le reste de la série est vraiment incroyablement bonne. Tellement qu’à la fin on en aurait pris un peu plus.

He bien, avec Yu-gi-oH R on l’a notre un peu plus. L’histoire se passe juste après le combat final de Duel City et avant l’arc final, donc un petite apparté avant la fin. Je recommmande cependant de lire Yu-gi-oH R après avoir lu la fin. L’histoire commence simplement, Anzu se fait enlever et il faut battre un paquet de duelliste pour la libéré. Classique, simple mais pour un court spin-off que demander de plus. C’est donc avec un peu de nostalgie que l’on replonge dans l’univers de Yu-gi-oH mais avec le pied sur la pédale. On voit que l’auteur (un assistant de l’auteur de la série originale) veut se faire la main avant de passer aux choses sérieuses. Mais on est rapidement satisfait par de meilleurs duels et même des duel avec d’autres personnages montrant des cartes bien différentes et des stratégies bien différentes.

Le dessin est presque pareille à l’original (il faut être bon pour voire une grosse différence) il est donc original, très stylisé et surtout il est approprié à la série. Plusieurs se refuseront de dire que les dessins sont beau, mais personne ne pourra dire qu’ils ne sont pas original et qu’ils sont intimement lier à la série et surtout à l’originalité de celle-ci. Pour ma part ce style graphique me plait beaucoup et je ne l’échangerait pas contre qui-quonque.

Au niveau de l’ambiance et du style on a droit à un monde assez déjanté comme dans la série originale où les adultes frolent l’incompétence et qu’on dirait que des jeunes de 14 ans dirigent le monde. Mais c’est ça Yu-gi-oH, c’est avant tout les enfants et quelques adultes qui s’amusent à des jeux et lorsque le tout devient trop sérieux, Yugi vient à la rescousse.

Yu-gi-oH R comme la série original sont a mon avis des muste à lire au moins une fois dans sa vie car si vous lisez Yu-gi-oH vous en voudrez plus et ce plus c’est Yu-gi-oH R. Même si ces séries ont des défaut difficile à avaler (les deux ont un début un peu décevant et même presque horrible et sans inspiration) mais dans leur tout ces 2 séries vont de paire et nous font vite oublier les défauts pour pouvoir jouir d’un moment extrêmement agréable de lecture. Je le dit Yu-gi-oH est un manga a lire et au moins à essayer. Je ne peu lui donner plus de 4 étoiles car il y a vraiment des trou scénaristique et des moment pénibles. Je donne donc la même note à Yu-gi-oH R car il va de paire avec la série. Si vous avez la série originale vous devez vous procurer ce spin-off. Il n’est pas à la hauteur de la série originale, du moins pas dans son entièreté, mais il est très proche d’une suite digne de ce nom et si vous lisez la série originale vous en voudrez plus. Donc hautement recommandé aux fan de la série, si vous ne la connaissez pas oubliez ça, liser l’original sinon vous serez perdu dès le premier chapitre.

[Joseph B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll preface this as a review done during a re-read; and I will say that overall "R" is a serviceable filler manga/spin-off. While doesn't soar to the heights of the original, it has some enjoyable moments despite the initially breakneck pacing and which slows to a barely tolerable crawl towards the final act.

This first volume collects the first nine chapters, in which we get a whopping six duels. Many of which are just a chapter long. They're decent little battles considering that but overall I found myself remembering less than a handful of moments in them because they are almost all throwaway side characters that are only seen once. The villain may pique your interest due to his retroactively introduced ties to Pegasus. Akira Ito's writing is decent; and his art is solid homage to the original. It isn't Takahashi; and as mentioned in other reviews that is most apparent in panels with the Pharaoh.

Another issue "R" just nips in the bud is Anzu; who is abducted in the opening chapters sparing the writer from having to do anything with her for quite awhile. I suppose that is better than the alternative. Overall "R" has garnered a polarziing reputation over the years. Likely you'll either hate it or find it a solid enough throaway story if you are hungry for more original Yu-Gi-Oh.

[Roselyn Blonger · Rating 2 out of 5]

No sé por dónde empezar, lo que sí sé es que me decepcionó. En primer lugar, los duelos eran todos iguales: un comienzo triunfal, un súbito ataque enemigo que casi los derrota y, por último, una remontada de un turno. No había ingenio ni astucia, sólo un montón de cartas inventadas para avanzar la trama.

Segundo, les cambiaron las personalidades a todos. Yami se preocupaba tanto por Anzu que ni siquiera recordaba a Yugi o, peor aún, que es Yugi quien está enamorado de Anzu. Después, convirtieron a Jonouchi en un tonto bufón que no sabía hacer nada bien. Por último, Yugi, Anzu y Honda quedaron reducidos a breves cameos.

Tercero, el arte es terrible. Tanto así que dejan de parecer los mismos y se reducen a una burda copia deforme. Me cuesta creer que sean dibujados por el mismo autor ya que los ojos eran tan grandes que apenas cabían en sus cabezas y los cuellos eran tan gruesos que nunca se les veían completamente. Varias páginas me dieron escalofríos.

Voy a terminarlo solo porque amo Yu-Gi-Oh!

[Adrian Santiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un "no-oficial" arco de Yugioh que tiene mucha acción y una trama rápida y directa.

Éso de "directo" lleva a clichés como la corporación de Kaina siendo "hackeada" aun cuando tiene una seguridad impenetrable; un wey que quiere venganza por motivos que con un pistolazo se resuelven pero tiene que ser a través de duelos haha, otro amigo de Yugi "secuestrado" para obligarlo a pelear, y una amenaza "más grande" que la anterior pero que a la vez es como una simple copia y recuerda al arco de los dragones en el anime.

Lo que me encantó fueron los mercenarios. Los de Joy son una total copia de sus enemigos en Ciudad Batallas, pero los de Yugi sí están entretenidos y con deck temáticos muy padres; sobre todo el de vampiros.

[Timothy Pitkin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starting one of the most infamous Yugioh series which as a reputation of being bad and so far I can kind of see it. There are like 6 duels within 9 chapters which means they have go by so fast and they really do not give any time to learn about any of these characters which is pretty bad. The only new character we learn anything about is Tenma which is great but rest of it so boring. Tenma is kind of a disappointment as he is supposed to be a adopted son of Pegasus but he really does not act like it since he just acts like a stereotypical villain as I would have preferred if had some of Pegasus' traits like how flamboyant he was.

[Kelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, this is a fun continuation of the main series that takes place in Duelist.

This sequel is set right between the events of Duelist and Millennium World and provides more information on Pegasus as well as on Kaiba Corp’s operations.

I found this to be a delightful addition to the series, allowing readers to fall right back into the world of Yu Gi Oh and all of the series’ most beloved characters.

Definitely recommend for fans of the series~

[Karlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This show was such a big part of my childhood that when I found out there was so much manga around the show, I immediately picked this one up! I cannot wait to see where this duel goes since the first one ends on a cliffhanger (typical).

[JJ Broenner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed the Content and while preserving the Japanese characters authenticity and story lines it was dramatic and entertaining. There were many duels with this volume I including many types of decks and duelist. Looking forward to reading the other volumes soon.

[Chalinviri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este SI es un epílogo.

Aunque la historia si tiene su cierre, parece que fue un corto de tajo y de alguna manera fue una forma de cerrar ciclos para algunos personajes. Aunque su final lo sentí muy simple, creo que sirvió a modo de dar cierre al faraón.

[Michael Leasure]

oof

[Jaden John · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great star to a series!

[Kurtis Burkhardt · Rating 4 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😻👌😁❤️

[Nikita · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not apart of the official series but still enjoyable. I like it

[Kiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was surprised by the premise, seems like a repeat of Death-T, but I have to see where it goes.

[Harrison Delahunty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pure nostalgia read for me. It’s silly, it’s cheesy as hell, it’s a lot of fun.

[Mateo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible continuation of "Yu-Gi-Oh"... 1/10

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this back in 2011 and am revisiting it three years later, and... holy moly, how did I give this thing 4 stars when I first read this? I must have been suffering from severe Yu-Gi-Oh! withdrawal.

I don't have anything against the storyline (which is nothing special), and the art is okay (again, nothing special), and it's good that they're not dragging out the duels against the unimportant card professors. But who on earth was in charge of scripting the duels? They're terrible.

Even taking into account how the original manga sometimes cut corners on the rules (especially in Duelist Kingdom), the duels in Yu-Gi-Oh! R are spectacularly terrible. I was basically skimming through the duels this time around, and there is a deplorable number of mistakes:

YUGI VS. DESCHUTES LEW
* The text of Castle Gate states, "Once per turn, if this card is in face-up Attack position, you can Tribute 1 Level 5 or lower monster..." Deschutes uses this effect even though he played Castle Gate in Defense mode.

YUGI VS. TILLA MOOK
* Yugi uses Bounce to gain control of Tilla's Evil Eye of Coercion, which can be used only when the player has control of a "Vampire" monster (which Yugi did not). This one's iffy because the text of Evil Eye of Coercion states, "Activate only while you control a 'Vampire' monster," so arguably it could be used by anyone after activation.

YUGI VS. KIRK DIXON
* Kirk uses Intruder Alarm-Yellow Alert to Summon Caterpillar Tank (2700 ATK) during Yugi's Battle Phase, in order to fend off Dark Magician Girl (2000 ATK). The Summon is supposed to trigger a replay, but Kirk treats it like DMG will still continue her attack no matter what.
* Yugi uses Diffusion Wave-Motion, which can only be used with Level 7 or higher Spellcasters, with Dark Magician Girl, who is Level 6.

JOUNOUCHI VS. PETE COPPERMINE
* Pete activates Teletemporate to remove Mindmaster from the field (to protect it from being destroyed by Divine Knight Ishzark). This means his field has no monsters, so technically Jounouchi could have then decided to attack Pete directly.

YUGI VS. MRS. MAICO
* Mrs. Maico loses 1500 LP after Gazelle (1500 ATK) destroys her Leprechaun (now 0 ATK), which puts her at 2500 LP. After she Summons Green Baboon, she somehow has 1500 LP instead of 2500 LP.
* Green Baboon's ATK mysteriously drops from 2600 to 1600 during the final attack. It should not have been able to be destroyed by Archfiend of Gilfer (2200 ATK).
* Even assuming Green Baboon had 1600 ATK, she still should have had 900 LP left after Gilfer's attack, had she had the correct amount of LP before the attack.
* Let's not even mention how Mrs. Maico played De-Spell like it was a Quick-Play Magic card (which they do alll the time in the series, so we should be used to it).

[Taleechia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to re-read the first duel three times before I finally understood that they were skipping turns. Which made the duel difficult to follow. Did Yugi lose the first duel against Yako, or did they decide to stop? Who knows!
“This building is divided into ten blocks.” *Shows map made of 16 blocks* Also, there are 13 card professors. So 13 people + Yako in 10 blocks? Or 14 in 16 blocks? Do two blocks not have duelists? Who knows!
The art isn't consistent with the previous three series. There are a few panels where the stances are odd or characters wear unfamiliar expressions. I haven't seen any new strategies or exciting new cards. No revelations have been made. Maybe it's because I just finished Duelist #24, but this volume is boring.

Add to all this that I can’t take Yako seriously. He’s the main villain, but I can’t think Yako without thinking of Yakko the Animaniac. And you can’t take an Animaniac seriously.

[Blue Dragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading the Yu-Gi-Oh Millennium world series, I thought it was too good to be true, when I heard Kazuki Takahashi came out with Yu-Gi-Oh R! the art and storyline is just as good as the others, though the storyline seems a little darker to me then the others, just a little bit.
But that doesn't stop it from being an awesome book!

[Hillingdon Libraries]

Find this book at Hillingdon Libraries

[Jonah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definetly the best Yu-Gi-Oh series that has come out in a long time!!

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stands in for whole series