'Yu-Gi-Oh!' Gets an Adorable Magician Girl Makeover

Kazuki Takahashi's Yu-Gi-Oh! is still one of the most beloved franchises to this day, and a lot of [...]

By Nick Valdez

Kazuki Takahashi's Yu-Gi-Oh! is still one of the most beloved franchises to this day, and a lot of that is due to his great monster and character design. One design that notable checks off both of those boxes is for the Dark Magician Girl.

But did you think she could be even cuter? Yup! Thanks to an illustration from ACT-AGE's Shiro Usazaki, Dark Magician Girl got a cute new makeover.

If you're unfamiliar with Shiro Usazaki, she's the illustrator for Tatsuya Matuki's ACT-AGE. Making its debut earlier this year, this series follows a young actress named Kei who meets a genius director during an audition for rookie actresses. The series has made major waves among Shonen Jump fans for its art, and this is definitely the case with Usazaki's take on Dark Magician Girl.

Usazaki paid further tribute to Yu-Gi-Oh! as part of the 50th Anniversary celebration for Weekly Shonen Jump, contributing a piece of Yugi with ACT-AGE's main character Kei for one of the issue's covers:

For those unfamiliar with Yu-Gi-Oh!, the series was originally created by Kazuki Takahashi. It ran in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump 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 series were created for the series, but the one most fans will recognize is Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters. Yu-Gi-Oh! 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. The first season of the series, which fans often dub as "Season 0," was more focuses on deadly games of chance with horrible consequences. It's a darker season of the series featuring many changes from the series' identity later on.

The series is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year, and it's now more popular than ever. Some collectors have made the merchandise even more valuable than ever, with some of the rarest cards in the trading card game selling for ridiculous amounts.

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