‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’ Creator Celebrates 20th Anniversary With Special Cover Art

Yu-Gi-Oh! is one of those original anime titles of the ’90s that fans cannot forget. There are fews things as powerful as the nostalgia that comes with Duel Monsters, and the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh! has got the most distant fans feeling emotional with a new piece of artwork.

After all, Yu-Gi-Oh! is celebrating a 20th anniversary this year, and Kazuki Takahashi is here to honor is favorite Duel Monsters master.

Recently, the cover of next month’s V-Jump issue went live on Amazon Japan, and it piqued the attention of plenty. As you can see below, the poster features Yami Yugi front and center, and he is dealing out cards all over the place.

The V-Jump issue will have a whole feature on Yu-Gi-Oh! as the brand is celebrating a massive milestone. 2019 marks the 20th anniversary of the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game, after all.

Started in 1999 under Konami, the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game uses the Duel Monsters created by Takahashi for duels. In 2009, it was named the top-selling trading card game worldwide by Guinness World Record as more than 22 billion cards have been sold worldwide. As of March 2011, 25.2 billion cards have been sold, and Konami continues to role out new decks and booster packs to boot.

With Yu-Gi-Oh! preparing to honor its trading card game this year, the franchise plans to gift fans with some impressive presents. Not only was a new Yu-Gi-Oh! video game announced for the Nintendo Switch this year, but the franchise is in the midst of its on-going anime title Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS as well.

So, are you surprised to hear how old the series has gotten…? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Yu-Gi-Oh! was originally created by Kazuki Takahashi for Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, and ran from September 1996 to March 2004. The series follows Yugi Mutou, a young boy who solves an ancient puzzle and is possessed by the spirit of the Egyptian pharoah. Being skilled at deadly games, the Pharoah goes on to create and solve problems for Yugi based on deadly games of chance.

Two anime adaptations were created for the series, but the one most fans will recognize is Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters. Duel Monsters was the first arc in the story to focus on the “Duel Monsters” card game and was the first season licensed for an English language release by 4Kids Entertainment.