Yu-gi-oh is one of my favourite animes and is my most recent craze. It is a T.V. anime, a card game and a video game.

<-- That is the Dark Magician, my favourite duel card. It has good power, a cool look and yet has excellent finesse.

Facts:

Yu-Gi-Oh! debuted in 1996 as a comic book series about a game player with mystical powers. An early TV version was canceled in six months, then in 1998 the writer, Kazuku Takahashi, introduced a plot twist that enthralled the nation. The scary monsters, mildly erotic female characters and decidedly uncute art were a hit first with 10- to 14- year old boys before catching on with older audiences.

US media giants, almost certainly including Disney and Warner, are bidding furiously for North American rights. Will it catch on in the US? It might. But don't tell the bidders about the display case at TV Tokyo headquarters, filled with relics of game ventures that flopped...

Finally, in April 2001, 4Kids, the same company that made Pokemon a phenomenon in the US and other places, licensed the Yu-Gi-Oh anime. It immediately the most popular show of that time period for kids/teenagers of many ages.

Later on, in January 2002, Upperdeck got the right to translate and sell the Yu-Gi-Oh card game in US and elsewhere. The anime also was expanded to showing 6 times per week as from April 2002.

Legend has it five thousand years ago, ancient Egyptian Pharaoahs used to play a magical game very similar to Duel Monsters. This ancient game involved magical ceremonies, which were used to foresee the future and ultimately, decide one's destiny. They called it the Shadow Game, and the main difference back then was that the monsters were all real! With so many magical spells and ferocious creatures on the earth, it wasn't long before the game got out of hand and threatened to destroy the entire world! Fortunately, a brave Pharaoh stepped in and averted this cataclysm with the help of seven powerful magical totems.

Now, in present times, the game has been revived in the form of playing cards.

Meanwhile, Yugi's grandfather gives Yugi an old Egyptian puzzle that no one can solve, but when Yugi finally pieces the puzzle together, his life is forever changed. The puzzle instills Yugi with incredible powers, and ultimately creates his alter ego, Yami Yugi!