Yu-Gi-Oh! to Debut New Manga Series This April

Yu-Gi-Oh! revealed the launch of an all-new manga series.

As confirmed by the official website for Shueisha's V Jump magazine, a new manga series set in the Yu-Gi-Oh! universe will begin its serialization on April 21 in the magazine's June issue. Unlike most of the other manga spin-offs in the franchise, however, the upcoming series will not be centered around people playing the Official Card Game (OCG). Instead, it will revolve around the very Duel Monsters featured in the OCG by exploring the lore and origins written on their cards.

Chapters of the new manga will be released alongside the Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG Structures manga, which teaches readers how to play the OCG and provides helpful tips in creating a strong and balanced deck. Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG Structures also showcases the newest cards available for purchase by featuring the latest booster or Structure Deck to hit the market at the time of the chapter's release. It is currently the only ongoing Yu-Gi-Oh! manga series, with its serialization beginning in June 2019.

Since the original manga by Kazuki Takahashi began its serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 1996, Yu-Gi-Oh! has become one of the biggest media franchises in history. In a world where a fictional trading card game known as "Duel Monsters" is often used to settle scores and take names, the original Yu-Gi-Oh! manga follows Yugi Muto, a 16-year-old boy who is often bullied because of his soft personality and short stature. Yugi soon finds himself on a grand adventure when he solves the mystical Millennium Puzzle and becomes friends with the ancient spirit of the Egyptian Pharaoh trapped inside. Determined to unravel the mysteries surrounding the Pharoah's past and origins, Yugi and his friends battle skilled duellists and ruthless foes hellbent on destroying the world through the dark magic of the Shadow Realm harnessed by their own Millennium Items.

The OCG based on the fictional Duel Monsters is by far the most famous product to have spawned from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! manga. As of January 2021, around 35 billion cards have been sold across the world, grossing an estimated $9.64 billion in sales. More recently, the franchise launched the immensely popular video game Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel for multiple platforms on Jan. 19. Konami announced that the free-to-play simulator allowing players to collect cards and create decks to duel others online has been downloaded over 10 million times.

The first chapter of the upcoming Yu-Gi-Oh! manga series will be released in Japanese on April 21. The latest Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series, Yu-Gi-Oh! Go Rush!!, will begin airing on April 3.

Source: V Jump, via Anime News Network

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