Yu-Gi-Oh! Gx, Vol. 1, 1

At first glance Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Volume 1 from Shonen Jump/Viz Media appears to look exactly like the anime, however after reading through even the first five pages, it changes elements of the anime's storyline so much that it is an entirely different show. For readers who fell in love with Yu-Gi-Oh! GX the suprise here is that those readers will not have a leg up on the competition in knowing what and where the storyline is going. More importantly this makes a great complement or even addition to the series. For newcomers to GX, this is also a great manga series as well, for they read this one they not be spoiled about the events that have occurred on the anime either. The only negative that can be seen is if one was looking for this series to be an exact repetition of the anime that premiered before the manga was even published. Yu-Gi-Oh GX 1 introduces the reader to the main character Jaden Yuki and his friend Syrus Truesdale as they go through life at the Duelist Academy, a school that trains the elitist in duelists. Fans of the show will encounter several familiar faces such as Chazz Princeton, Alexis Rhodes, Vellian Crowler, and a few others. The story introduces several new characters. Also for the familiar characters they have also received new cards, new decks, and new strategies. Some of the dueling is much more fast paced in this form, and the strategies are more intuitive in some cases. One of the highlights of the series in this manga form is the artwork. Although many people may be used to seeing the duels in action, they will not be disappointed with the attempts that have been made to capture that same feel in the form of the artwork and design. A few of the battle sequences and panels look amazing with the instants that the writer Naoyuki Kageyama decided to capture, for example when Alexis is taking an attack she is literally bathing in the midst of the light blast being emitted by the attack. There are many other instances like them and they are well. Other benefits is the attention to detail paid in the new cards that were created for the story as well as the characters. They look exactly as they do in the anime (by the way, the anime and this were done by two different teams). Initially there are a few blemishes, but their cause can not be determined. A few phrases sound weird and make it sound as if the people have never seen the show before. Howver these similar phrases also just sound weird grammatically or just sound out of place if one were to say them while actually playing the card game. For example instead of saying "Reveal Trap Card", they say "Reverse Trap Card Open" or "Face-Down, Card Open". Those phrases are not always present but they do crop up. Otherwise the translation if modern English sounding and works well. Jaden also says on of his catch phrases for fans of the series "Throw down, a face down!" It would have been good if he could have also said "Get your game on," too! Yu-Gi-Oh! GX