Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duelist, Vol. 19: Duel With the Future

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist #19

by Kazuki Takahashi

Kaiba faces the mysterious eighth duelist, Ishizu Ishtar, the woman who gave him The God of the Obelisk... and now she's taking it back! Even though Kaiba has an Egyptian God Card, Ishizu has the Millennium Tauk, which gives her the power to see the future! Kaiba's the only hope for victory may lie in the sands of time, in the secrets kept for centuries by the mysterious Egyptian Tomb Guardians. But even Kaiba may not be ready for the horrifying secret origin of the mad heir of the Tomb Guardians, the last of the line. His name is Marik Ishtar... Ishizu's brother!

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

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 2, 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 2 out of 5]

Interesting duels, still underwhelming. Having Marik’s dark half in is a lot of fun. I like his hair. And all I can hear is that distorted voice in my head from the anime. The over-emphasis on god cards is a little unfun. I think it’s exhilarating when the opponent outsmarts the wielder of a god card such as when Yugi decks out the puppet using Slifer. That’s why Kaiba’s duel here feels….Bleh.

And when they enter the battlefield they just don't adhere to the same rules. The anime is notorious for this, but it goes too far when card effects just don't happen, aren't applied properly, or at all. And the reasoning grates even further, something like Kaiba saying (bad translation)"god won't allow it!"

Overall not one of the better additions to Battle City, however Marik is here in full force!

[Roselyn Blonger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my... cada vez que creo que no se puede poner más emocionante, pasa otra cosa increíble, o atroz, o todo junto. Nunca pensé que el pasado de Marik fuera tan oscuro, ni que Rishid había pagado por todos. Pero lo mejor fue el suspenso del final... todavía no puedo creerlo.

[˚⊱ Avi ⊰˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rereading after finding at a used book sale and I still love this franchise. As the first show I really fell in love with as a kid, this will always have a place in my heart, even as an drama about a childrens card game, lol

Though, I would say the manga is definitely not for children.. lol

[Burberi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love this arc

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

More intensity! More fun! Much different than the anime!

[Joseph B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Duel with the Future lives up to its name as the finals continue; this volume centering around Kaiba facing off against millennium item wielding Ishizu Ishtar. With the last last two chapters give a lot of backstory to the Ishtars. Kaiba vs Ishizu has an interesting dynamic to it; wherein Ishizu sees the future and predicts Kaiba's every move... save one. While at times it may feel a bit tiring as Kaiba falls deeper and deeper into Ishizu's strategy, how bold it is makes it an interesting duel in my opinion. The history detailed at the end of this volume is also a bit overdue. As we learn the full extent of Marik's motivations and their history with the Pharaoh. Overall another worthy volume in the Battle City arc.

[Adrian Santiago · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un preámbulo necesario para explicar la historia y motivaciones, pero que no es ni tan profundo ni tan "extenso". Pero está bastante bien, quizá es que ya me sé la historia (que no cambió nada en el anime), así que por eso es reconocer la parte "aburrida" de las motivaciones del villano.

Pero igual tiene consistencia dentro de la historia. En el mundo real nos "burlamos" de los "frikis" qur juegan yugi; en la historia del manga los duelistas son super valientes que tienen corazón y lo dan todo y en un duelo se decide el destino del mundo y todo éso. Osea que no es tan full original, pero dentro de la historia pues está bien.

[Kassy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Yu-Gi-Oh manga is definitely insane. I think I really liked the Duelist Kingdom part, but this Duelist City Tournament is amazing too.

This volume had Kaiba and Ishizu duel and it was a crazy duel. The way Kaiba thought he was going to win at the beginning with the God card and Ishizu had it all planned cause she saw the future, but she didn't predict Kaiba sacrificing his God card for Blue - Eyes White Dragon was insane and he ended up winning the duel. CRAZY.

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

Very entertaining volume

The final quarter finals battle was pretty intense and I'd enjoyed every bit of it. And when it got to the tragedy part, I was even more interested in reading through the end.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I'm loving this plot to find Yugi's memories. The addition of the Tomb Keepers has definitely added a dark twist to this series.

[KowaiMangl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg OMG I knew it was coming but seeing what "Marik" did to his father was nasty...... literally cutting off his back.....eww....no thank you

[Jane Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Si Kaiba esta en portada no decepciona :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😻👌😁❤️

[Inge · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the story about the grave tomb family. The family got cursed...
They did the cursing actually their selves.

[Jaden John · Rating 5 out of 5]

good book

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kaiba is always a delight and I forgot how gory Marik's origin story is

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can never fully enjoy stories where the future is set, only to fall apart.

[Petra Jayne Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeesh! That ending was brutal! 😬 I love how dark this manga series is.

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

Yu-Gi-Oh lets secret birthrights win over strategy in this disappointing installment.

The leftover from last volume still taste bad and the punishment given feels sadistic and becomes this series “Women in Refrigerators” moment. The last fight in this round is between Kaiba and Ishizu and it starts out promising with some hard strategies. Ishizu have an impressive deck, and even though she cheats by seeing the future, Kaiba’s win still feels like him cheating. He does not win by using strategy our outmaneuver Ishizu, but by having se secret birthright. It is a disappointing resolution, along with some very inconsistent characterization of Kaiba.

What are the good parts then? The last two chapters have an excellent dark flash back to the Ishtar family curse. The ending of that flashback is such a foreboding moment and sets the stage up nicely.

[Mochacat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well that was a fun one! This chaotic and twisted backstory has gotten a lot of "Well looks like this is just self inflicted pain" but I strongly disagree. Going back to the theory I made on the last book when I reviewed it here, Marik (and his yami) arent the bad guys at all. As someone who binged watched all parts of the yugioh animes Its clear that the real villain is whoever thought It was a good idea to put so much responsibility on children(the pharaoh being the pharaoh, Bakura being possessed and depressed from his trauma). The whole "lets rip into the backs of unwilling children and force them to be useless slaves" idea is trash. There are so many better ways they could have protected the memories it makes my brain hurt.

Marik's dad deserved what he got(nice touch with the skinning alive thing Yami marik)
Like marik said before. The human brain is insanely delicate dont force literal children into insanity unless you want to be dead. This isnt Marik or Ishizu or even Bakura's fault (can we get a hand for Rishid by the way? Talk about sibling of the year award)

another thing. I realized something in the design of marik. Unlike most of the characters his age(ignore yugi) he has a very childish face. His facial features dont change that much from 11 to 16. He still has big eyes and a very pastel color pallet. I think this translates to- This poor child never got a chance for his brain to mature past 10. This explains his "spoiled angry 13 year old girl behavior"
When we see his facial expression when his soul is trapped by yami marik it looks a lot like his 10 year old face.

The final thing I want to point out goes back to the review(on goodreads) I made on the 18th vol. Yami marik isnt the bad guy either. If you look at his color palette and facial features they are a lot more mature then Marik's. This shows me his older brother characteristics and continues along with my theory. He tried to protect marik but the emotional overload got the best of him and he decided that Mraik was way way way to weak to contine on. He saw Rishid as a stubborn road block so he hated him too. All he wanted was to keep marik safe but the second time he comes out is because Mariks on the verge of mental collapse. Yami Marik's helping was too much for his and he went crazy due to the situation.

Again this is all mostly just theory(that would make some great fan fics by the way)
does anyone else agree with this??

(edit):oh my freaking lord this book is so traumatizing i forgot how much terrifying gore is in this thing.

[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]

What a cool book! Onto volume 20!

[Dylan Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the others but good In it's own way

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I flew through quite a few volumes at once, so it's all rather fuzzy on specifics. I do feel that volume 19 was underwhelming in comparison with the rest...then again, after the terrifying turn the Mai vs. Marik duel went. This volume brings Ichizu out of hiding. Her Millennium Tauk has shown her a vision of the future. Kaiba will die in his arrogance, killed by Obelisk's attack gone awry. Ichizu knows this is a mere casualty on her path to save her brother from his evil counterpart. However, Kaiba is so sure that the Millennium Item and the prophecy is but a hack and doesn't believe in the occult and other stupid things like the past. He refuses to believe he is this reincarnation of the High Priest from ancient Egypt and he duels rather recklessly to prove it. However, in the end, he defies fate and changes the future by playing Blue Eyes instead of his God Card. He defeats Ichizu and advances to the semi-finals.
Like I said, it was rather underwhelming and probably could have been executed in half the amount of chapters it took. It offered little insight into Kaiba's connection to the past. It was a nice teaser but Kaiba sounded ridiculous shouted about "the past is nothing". The series picks up quickly though in the following volumes.