**There is just so much to discuss about the Yu-Gi-Oh comics, I'm going to keep it short and simple and just talk about volume one and maybe a little bit of the other volumes and comics. Also, I am using the english names of the characters not Japanese.
What can I say about Yu-Gi-Oh? Probably one of my favorite comics of all time. I still keep up with the franchise. Kazuki Takahasi is a huge influence on why i wanted to get into the art industry. Yu-Gi-Oh truly means the world to me, it shaped me who I am today. It's funny how many life lessons you can learn from a comic or a TV show. Now listen up kids, the comic is EXTREMELY DIFFERENT from the anime. Takahasi wanted to create a horror comic which involved games. Soon Yu-Gi-Oh turned into something completely different. Which I guess is ok, I feel that the comic has a bit more substance to it while the anime had a whole lot of love. So the characters do act differently from the comic to the anime. I guess its nice to see different renditions of the story even if Takahasi wanted to go in a totally different direction with the comic. The story talks about how in ancient Egyptian times, Egyptians would play shadow games which allowed for souls to be destroyed and let you see into the future. Enters Yugi, the main character, to be at school playing games by himself. Yugi was bullied a tremendous amount and at times taken advantage of. Anyways, Yugi then proceeds to take out an ancient Egyptian artifact, a puzzle which he wishes to solve. The golden box has an inscription on it which states "This treasure can be seen but you haven't seen it" which is basically an unfinished puzzle. Joey and Tristan come into panel and swipe Yugi's box and begin to bully him. Yugi frantically dances around for them to give the box back but they continue to bully him. You learn a little about Yugi's character since he doesn't like to fight and doesn't have any backbone to stand up for himself. In the comics, it is key that you see Yugi develop his character and end up being able to fight his own battle. Back to the story: Tea grabs the box from Tristan and tells and aids Yugi.
Joey and Tristian scoot away as Tea defends Yugi. Since it is Japan, and almost every older comic is pervy, tea goes on to say that she's not too fond of Joey and Tristian since they are bullies and that apparently playing basketball they were trying to look up her skirt. Typical, everyday boys. Yugi is oddly pervy as well and starts to fantasies about Tea's skirt. Its so insane how different each character is in the anime. Tea starts to ask about the box and Yugi proceeds to show Tea the inside of the box which contained a puzzle. Yugi goes on to tell Tea that he lives in a game shop his grandfather owns. The puzzle is a momento of his grandpa. The puzzle was apparently found in Egyptian ruins and that the person who solves the puzzle will have one wish granted. Yugi has been trying to solve the puzzle eight years.
I'm going to end the story of the comic their and talk about the comic itself. The story of Joey and Tristian bullying Yugi ends up changing as they all become very close friends. Their friendship grows over time and that is a huge key to the story. Friendship is something very important to the author and he really wanted to emphasis the relationship between Joey and Yugi. Tea also becomes very close with the gang and they all go on adventures together. Grandpa Solomon, Yugi's grandfather, is completely different from the comic to the anime. He is a little more sarcastic and funny and is also oddly a pervert. Yugi finished the puzzle in the first comic after the seen where he is beaten and threaten by another character you do not see in the anime (when i say anime I'm talking about the recent Yu-Hi-Oh anime first season, you see everyone from the comics in Yu-Gi-Oh season 0). Yugi finished the puzzle and a power starts to consume Yugi. You can guess that Yugi wished for him to be stronger, to be able to fight and have courage. His body now shared a soul of a 3,000 year old Nameless Pharaoh. The spirit for now is called Dark Yugi, who like to play games called penalty games, which punishes the player if they fail. These penalty games are a serious change from the anime to the comic, there were no chilterns card games. Instead, if you possibly lose the game you would die or become extremely hurt. Victims of Dark Yugi's have been burned alived, killed, handicapped, mentally damaged, etc. This story is also inspired by symbolism in Christianity and horror. Dark Yugi does not remember who is he, when he first arrives in the first volume he is completely insane. Dark Yugi and Yugi change each other for the better and this is such a huge thing in the comics and anime. They are both brought together to better one another. Yugi's good nature eventually influence Dark Yugi and he becomes light while Dark Yugi show Yugi how to be strong. Dark Yugi stops his penalty games in the manga because he grows, he also begins to feel what its like to endure that pain. Dark Yugi learns compassion from Yugi and truly loves hims. Yugi and Dark Yugi's bond grow throughout the comics but their change for each other is what gives this story such love and emotion. You also see a bond and love grow between the group of friends and the many more they meet during the comic.
There is so much more to write but I think I wrote too much.
