Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duelist, Vol. 21: Duel the Lightning!

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist #21

by Kazuki Takahashi

Only four duelists remain in the running! On the Tower of Alcatraz, Jonouchi faces Marik, the evil Egyptian duelist whose grudge has smoldered for three thousand years. But can Jonouchi fight while he's trapped in a steel cage surrounded by molten lava? And can he overcome the power of Marik's Egyptian God Card, the Sun Dragon Ra? If he wins, he'll get his dream of facing Yugi in the finals. But if he loses, he'll get a one-way ticket to the grave!

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

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2002

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]

Ok, this duel has Joey and it wasn't a total bust. 3 stars for Griffindor!

It's lame to 'win' a duel by not actually winning. That might be the biggest blight in Battle city. Causes of victory: knockout, power of friendship, rules that can only be read in heiroglyphs, rules on a card that...change in a another duel? Half the time I just let them give me fresh explanations on the cards that are played, and that we have seen them before lol, as if they are brand-new.

"This is Slifer! And because you don't have any cards in hand, and I do, it ACTIVATES SPECIAL ABILITY Slifer instantly attacks a number of times equal to the cards in my hand! And let's not forget he gains attack power equal to the number of cards in my hand TimESOneTHOusAND!!11!

THAT MEANS YOU LOSE. NEVER UNDERSTIMATE THE POWER OF A GOD-CARD.

[Leandro Escobar-herrera · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unpredictable match with a predictable ending, Yu-Gi-Oh! continues to play to its strength without going out of the safe zone.

Jonouchi is the best main character in this series, and a volume focuses on him is a pure treat. The growth he has done over the last 10 volumes comes out more organically in this one. This gentle Jonouchi has not only found his voice, but it is strong and a steady. But as always with Yu-Gi-Oh!, we know who is going to win the match just by hearing the opponents.

This is not to say, that it is not an interesting match, because it certainly is! The ingenuity and cunningness of Jonouchi makes the match a delicacy. But protecting main antagonist in plot armor makes this delicacy turn sour.

It is sadly too bad that everything in Yu-Gi-Oh! upgrades as it goes along, besides its plot.
At least it is not that stupid this time around.

[félon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Viser Des is the worst and I hate it. That's more an issue with the art though; I hate seeing it at work on the monsters.

Other than that, this was pretty much regular Yu-Gi-Oh! content, though progressively darker and more intense as it approaches the climax of the arc. I mean, you can kind of guess what the final duel is going to be (and I'm certain I am guessing because while I remember the god cards from the anime, I don't recall seeing the majority of these duels) and it's been pretty obvious from the start but that doesn't make it less enjoyable to read. All the volumes are good; kind of unnecessarily drawn out, sure, but I've always known that would be the case.

[Joseph B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume 21 of YGO: Duelist sees the four-way duel come to a close as the first duel of the finals begins... Jonouchi vs Marik. Jonouchi has every motivation to avenge Mai as Marik thinks he'll have a quick duel to dispose of Jonouchi seeing him as a nuisance. As the story continues though; you get to see some clever strategies (and luck) from both sides as Joey faces off against an Egyptian god card multiple times with nothing but his regular deck. This is one of my favorite duels in the series. While it has a predictable ending, the journey to it is highly enjoyable.

[Kassy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume was truely insane. The 4 - person duel was crazy. Joey sacrificed himself so he could duel Marik in the semi finals and that duel ended very poorly. It was going back and forth for a while. Marik was actually worried he would lose and ended up using the sun dragon's 3rd special power and now Joey is dead I think? But Yugi saw a vision of him being alive so I am confused.

[Adrian Santiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un buen duelo, con los poderes de Marik un tanto más "mostrados" en sus técnicas de puntos y masacres al oponente con torturas. Lamentablemente, estuvo más cañón el de Mai, más brutal y sádico.

No está mal, pero tampoco me encantó la otra forma de Ra, estuvo medio difícil de dibujar y no se ve tan imponente. La historia va bien.

[Jane Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luego de una pausa larga con este manga he regresado a su lectura. Sí, el final siempre fue predecible, pero el proceso de como llegamos a él resulta divertido. El arte sigue perfecto como lo recordaba.

[Roselyn Blonger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gustó mucho, pero este creo que es un volumen al cual el anime le es muy fiel. Aunque eso no tiene nada de malo, sólo que esperaba más detalles y profundidad, pero igualmente los duelos fueron apasionantes.

[Ami Damani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love yu gi oh

Cool l reconstitution Shinjuku hiking minimum minimum hunting hugging Huynh hung h uhh u h unthinking h h h h

[KowaiMangl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just found my new favorite volume.......I nearly cried near the end.... poor Jonouchi.... he's my favorite character......I can't believe he died.. He has to come back......
Right?...

[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 really liked the lightening duel. It was something different then the other duels it felt less dragging.

[Jaden John · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is a truly good book that focuses more on joey then Yugi

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welp my heart just got ripped out. It's fine 🙂

[Burberi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh no poor Jonouchi. Marik is such a sadistic fuck. And Kaiba is still a lil bitch.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little Pan's Labyrinth in Helpoemer
I forgot this part of the anime but if Jonouchi is really dead, I would be shocked.

[Дени ★ Проданова · Rating 4 out of 5]

Най забавния панел в цялата манга е точно в този том. Марик използва специално умение на свое чудовище, което като бъде убито отива в гробището на противника и от там на всеки ред се пресяга и краде по една рандом карта от ръката на противника и я завлича в гробището. Обаче тази призрачна ръка като нацепи един средняк на Джоноучи и просто паднах...

[Emma L.B.]

- Will re-read before I put a review -

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

More of the same, but loses a star for some occult references.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

So the semi-finals have been decided. Jonouchi faces off against Marik in order to save Mai from having her brain eaten in the Shadow Realm. This volume does justice to his character and illustrates just how far he's progressed. He duels smart, but Marik of course brings the duel to the Shadow Realm and tries to use scare tactics and torture devices to weaken Jonouchi. The ending is a jaw-dropper as Ra rains lightning and it strikes down Jonouchi. All he has to do though, is draw one card to defeat Marik as he no longer as any defense. Jonouchi, against all odds, manages to stand and pull the winning card, however he passes out before he can declare an attack and Marik is pronounced winner. Lame. But Marik's reaction to almost losing is to throw-up and that was amusing.
We're in the home stretch and Takahashi isn't slowing down!

[Everla · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story was good. I'm not a normally a huge fan of the volumes that are all duel and nothing else, but this time it was different. The ending was a huge shocker...