Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (manga)

This page covers the manga. For the anime, see Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (anime).

Judai Yuki is an ordinary student in Duel Academy, a school where aspiring duelists learn the secrets of Duel Monsters. Although he's a member of Osiris Red, the dorm lowest in the hierarchy, where students fear expulsion due to their low grades, Judai has a grand dream: to become the King of Duelists.

Published in Shueisha's V-Jump in Japan and Shonen Jump in the US, the manga is based on the anime that came before it. Although the main cast and setting remain largely the same, their development in the manga is quite different, as it covers none of the arcs the anime did. The manga also introduces a completely different set of antagonists and villains, following its own continuity.

The first two volumes of the manga cover everyday activities and spars within Duel Academy, exploring the relationships between cards that house spirits and their masters. However, as the series progresses, a darker presence seeking vengeance slowly reveals itself and attempts to infiltrate the school to obtain the spirits.

The manga is written by Naoyuki Kageyama and supervised by Kazuki Takahashi.


 * Adaptational Badass: Manjoume often suffers from The Worf Effect in the anime. No such thing happens here. He even manages to
 * Beauty Contest: The Miss Academia contest, where a poll to determine the prettiest girl in Duel Academy is held. When Asuka and Seika Kohinata tie for first place, Asuka decides to duel Judai for his vote. She doesn't actually care to win the pageant, however.
 * Big Brother Mentor: Judai to Sho. The latter even calls the former "Aniki".
 * Eleventh-Hour Superpower: During the final turn of the
 * Executive Meddling: Both the anime and the manga had the tail end of the series rushed due to the execs wanting to push out the newer YGO series (Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's and ZEXAL respectively).
 * Expy: has almost identical background and motivations with
 * An Ice Person: Asuka's deck is full of monsters themed around hail, snow and ice.
 * Hot Teacher: Ms. Hibiki is a total babe. The trope is rarely brought up, however, usually depicting her as a Cool Big Sis to Jaden.
 * Not-So-Innocent Whistle: Judai does this when suggesting that Asuka and Misawa should exchange numbers, saving Misawa the embarassment of asking her himself.
 * Mythology Gag: The final chapter of the manga contains many references to the anime continuity. None of these had previously been shown in the manga.
 * One Turn Kill: David Rabb pulls this against.
 * "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Judai gives one in the first chapter to Ryuga, who forces his students to surrender their cards if they lose against him.
 * Reluctant Fanservice Girl: Asuka practically has to be dragged to the beauty pageant when someone nominates her as a contestant.
 * Sadistic Choice: Chronos forces Judai to duel Sho. If he wins, Sho will be expelled, and if he loses, his deck will be confiscated. He decides to win, and it turns out that Sho's 0 on the last test, the reason he was in trouble, was not his final grade.
 * Sexy Mentor: Ms. Hibiki in the manga. Her brother Koyo is a male example.
 * To Be a Master: Judai aspires to duel professionally like his mentor, Koyo Hibiki.
 * Yin-Yang Bomb: Manjoume's ace card, "Light and Darkness Dragon". It's even in his name!
 * You Monster!:  calls Tragoedia this after the latter refers to humans as insects. He states he'd rather be an insect than a monster.
 * Yokai: Misawa's cards actually have "Yokai' listed as their Type, although the OCG/TCG equivalents are Zombie-Type.