Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duelist, Vol. 18: The Power of Ra

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist #18

by Kazuki Takahashi

The third and most powerful od the Egyptian God Cards is unleashed... twice! Locked in combat with the Egyptian duelist Rishid, Jonouchi watches in shock as his opponent summons the terrifying Sun Dragon Ra! But the Ra in Rishid's deck is a mere counterfeit... the true Ra lies in the hands of Rishid's master Marik, at the heart of his deck of sadistic torture cards. And Marik's next opponent is Mai Kujaku! Is she in over her head, or does she have a special reason for challenging the ruler of the gods?

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

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 2001

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]

I understand Joey is the up and coming duelist who embodies a tough guy with a kind heart and true loyalty and friendship. I just can't care for his duels whatsoever at all. His duels are as uninteresting as his deck and strategies. I was rooting for the bad guy not gonna lie.

[Burberi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marik being a bitch again

[Ellison W. Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A much better experience reading compared to the 4kids crud version. It's darker, creepier, and embraces the horror genre in a way that's bone chilling. The duels are condensed and get to the action quicker. Definitely worth the buy.
, as I'm continuing through reexperiencing one of my favorite Mangas from back in the day.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed this one, I found it to be darker and creepier than the previous volumes.

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

Yu-Gi-Oh! embraces its horror tropes to full effect, but its treatment of its female characters and return of Deus Ex Machina are ruining the fun.

This one is hard to review, because there is a lot of things there are great about this one. The emotional punches, the visual, the whole mood of the book is a perfect sweet combination of dark, sadistic and hopeful.

But enough is enough, and Yu-Gi-Oh! desperately needs to treat the female characters better. Mai, who is proven to be an excellent duelist, gets sacrificed to prove how big and bad Marik is. This is the third time she has gotten sacrificed, and at this point it is tired. And it also feels so unjust, because she only loses because she cannot read the language on he card, which only 3 people in the world can read. I would not mind Mai losing to Marik, but it is the way that it is being done. It feels lazy and sadistic.

There are other ways of proving how big or bad a character is, than to sacrificing your female characters for motivation.

[Joseph B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume 18 of the YGO: Duelist series finishes off Jonouchi's duel against Rashid, his Marik impersonation stripped away. While the second half of the volume sees Mai facing off against the real Marik in a terrifying shadow game. Takahashi's art is elevated in the horror-esque shadow duel; where twisted creatures of Marik's deck are drawn in gorgeous detail. The duels themselves are well thought out and entertaining with some fun twists; as Mai uses new deck elements we have not seen before and Marik's strategy is ruthless in response. Overall this is where the Battle City arc peaks and thankfully never really falls until the very end.

[Mochacat · Rating 5 out of 5]

well isnt that lovely! Yami Marik's hit the stage and the theory part of my brains went off like crazy.
Why do I have a feeling that even if it was never confirmed Yami marik wasn't always a psychopath. He was meant to be a friend at first but he got too protective. He got jealous of Rishid's relationship with Marik and his hatred for Marik's father was magnified several times over. The plot in the next book will give me all the details I need to add to this theory.

[Kassy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The duel between Joey and "Marik" ended quite crazily. He tried to use the fake God card and it back fired by attacking both him and Joey. Then the real Marik just about killed the fake one but was distracted by his duel with Mai, which ended with Yugi taking the full blunt of the God cards attack which is insane in my opinion. Anyway talk soon, bye.

[Inge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Apparently Marik is not evil by his self but turned evil by his father who wouldn't listen when his son try to escape the ritual. Rishid kept the evil in but now he is unconsious. The evil gets out and it is insane...

[Roselyn Blonger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh god. Para empezar, el duelo entre Rishid y Jonouchi me pareció bastante relajado, algo que agradecí mucho antes de lo intenso del duelo entre Mai y Marik. Es que, en serio, ese juego fue totalmente macabro ¡en especial por las ilusiones! Oh god, sigo sin palabras.

[Adrian Santiago · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un duelo brutal entre Marik y mai; escenas gore, una cabeza rodando, cartas que fueron censuradas en su poder y en su arte; arte buenísimo, harpías y amazonas con muy buenos diseños y más contexto a qué es y qué quiere Marik. Ufff

Qué gran número y capítulos.

[KowaiMangl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The manga version of Yu-Gi-Oh! Is so dark!
I love it!

[Jane Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Evil Marik has entered the chat*



Que buen tomo :D

[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😻👌😁❤️

[Jaden John · Rating 5 out of 5]

love this book

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mai was robbed. I know why they wanted to keep Marik as the big bad but her facing off against Joey again would've been fun

[Petra Jayne Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great volume! We are introduced to Yami Marik and he is brutal and terrifying. Extremely violent Shadow Game throughout this volume.

[Abraham O'Coffey · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are so much fun to read! I loved reading them all in college while I learned to play the game at the same time.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jonouchi had the Eye of the Tiger 🎵 🎶 🎵 against Rishid. All I could think of.
Marik's shadow yearning to be free, his soul being torn apart, is some of the best artwork Takahashi has exhibited thus far.

[Дени ★ Проданова · Rating 3 out of 5]

Дори в Карлуково няма място за толкова шизофреници, а в тази манга не са един или двама...
Звездата по-малко всъщност не е за самия том, а за сканлацията, която имах нещастието да чета. Толкова лоша работа от към превод и обработка никога не бях виждала. А преводача, на всичкото отгоре, беше нашарил страниците с името си, все едно този преводачески продукт заслужава хвалебствия. Ясно ми е, че трябва да уважавам труда на другите (още повече щом се възползвам от него), ама също трябва да се знае, че ако не ставаш за нещо не е препоръчително да се захващаш.

[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

[Emma L.B.]

- Will re-read before I put a review -

[Kanomi Okina ||Emily the Seraphim|| · Rating 5 out of 5]

ACK!!! Marik finally revealed himself! What will happen to the gang?

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my gosh... I mean, seriously. This volume got dark, and I mean WAY dark. Not suitable for young readers at all. So, Rishid was taken out from lightning when trying to summon a fake Ra. Jonouchi gets a pass to the semifinals. Next in the quarter finals is Mai vs. Marek. And now that Rishid is out for the count psycho Marik emerges and forces Mai into a Shadow Duel. Using his twisted dark magick, Marek ties Mai's monsters to her life, whenever they are hurt or cut down, she feels their pain. Though it is an illusion, only visible to Mai, she feels everything and grows weaker. It is a twisted torture of the poor Mai as she bravely pushes through with her new Amazoness deck to defeat the evil Marik. However, when she tries to summon Ra, she doesn't realize there is a special ritual unbeknownst to all except Marik. He summons a lightening storm to take her down and the volume ends with Jonouchi jumping in front of Mai to save her life.
The best volume yet of the series but definitely not okay for younger readers.