Yu-Gi-Oh! Teases Special 20th Anniversary Art Box

Prepare to duel! Yu-Gi-Oh! is arguably the most popular card battle series that actually revolves around card battles. While there have been many series focusing on the game itself, the initial anime followed a young boy named Yugi who shared his body with an ancient pharaoh. Using the cards themselves as a weapon in his duels, the series spawned its own real life card game as well as numerous anime series sequels following new characters. In celebration of the series’ 20th anniversary, an “art box” is being released that fans may not be able to pass up.

Containing three different books, the entries in this art box display the original 9600 cards that made up the card battle game. Tallying over 800 pages, the books themselves will put a spotlight on the different cards’ artwork as well as monster designs for the characters that appear in both the manga and the anime series. If this isn’t enough for super fans out there, the set also includes an entirely new card in the form of “Shin Exodia”, a chibi form of the monster card that is arguably the strongest in the game.

The first book, titled “Kazuki Takahashi Art Works”, will feature work from the creator himself, displaying the different designs of the cards. The second, “Monster Art Works”, contains blown up versions of the monsters in the game, detailing the process for the creation of each. The third and final book, “Card Art Collection”, details each card individually with the entirety of all 9600 cards. The box itself will cost you around $160 USD and will release this November.

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.

Are you interested in picking up this 20th Anniversary Monster Art Box for Yu-Gi-Oh? What are your memories with the card game either as a manga, anime, or on a tabletop? Let us know in the comments or feel free to hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.