Yu-Gi-Oh! Yu-Gi-Oh! ( 遊☆戯☆王 Yū-Gi-Ō! , lit. "Game King") is a Japanese manga series about gaming written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi . It was serialized in Shueisha 's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine between September 30, 1996 and March 8, 2004. The plot follows the story of a boy named Yugi Mutou, who solves the ancient Millennium Puzzle. Yugi awakens a gambling alter-ego within his body that solves his conflicts using various games. Two anime adaptations were produced; one by Toei Animation , which aired from April 4, 1998 to October 10, 1998, [2] and another produced by NAS and animated by Studio Gallop titled Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters , which aired between April 2000 and September 2004. The manga series has spawned a franchise that includes multiple spin-off manga and anime series, a trading card game , and numerous video games. Most of the incarnations...