Showing posts with label Naohito Miyoshi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Naohito Miyoshi. Show all posts

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Review: YU-GI-OH! ZEXAL Volume 2

YU-GI-OH! ZEXAL, VOL. 2
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CREATOR: Kazuki Takahashi
WRITER: Shin Yoshida
CARTOONIST: Naohito Miyoshi
TRANSLATION & ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Taylor Engel & Ian Reid, HC Language Solutions
LETTERS: John Hunt
ISBN: 978-1-4215-4980-4; paperback; Rated “T” for “Teen”
200pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 U.K.

In the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal follows Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s. The manga made its debut in the Japanese manga magazine, V Jump (February 2011). Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal the anime debuted in April 2011 in Japan and in North American half-a-year later.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal is set in futuristic Heartland City. The series focuses on Yuma Tsukumo, a hot-bloodied young fellow who wants to become Duel Champion. He is accompanied by Astral, a mysterious spirit that only Yuma can see. Together they search for Numbers, special cards that hold Astral’s memories and are also highly sought after.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, Vol. 2 (The Numbers Hunter!!) welcomes the Numbers Hunters, duelists looking for the 100 Numbers cards. Welcome Kaita! In order to return his brother, Haruto, to normal, Kaita must find all 100 cards in order to appease Dr. Faker. Faker uses Haruto’s powers to assault Astral World, in addition to his other plots and machinations with partner, Mr. Heartland.

Meanwhile, Yuma’s pals: Kotori Mizuki, Tetsuo Takeda, Cathy, Takashi Todoraki, and Tokunosuke Hyori, form the Numbers Club to help Yuma find Numbers. Their first mission takes them to the amusement park, Heartland, where Yuma has a date with the duelist, Captain Corn.

[This volume includes a Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card.]

Of the few Yu-Gi-Oh! manga that I’ve read, this is most kid-oriented. The Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal manga is about a kid with questionable talents who struggles to learn to get better. The manga is like that – a youngster struggling to get better. It has the elements of being a high-quality manga, but right now, it has a lot of characters and too many dangling plotlines. Perhaps things will come together over the course of the series, but right now, young Yu-Gi-Oh! readers will like it.

B-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux