Yugi Mutou sketch, first book - 4/28/15

Yugi: "Whaaaa? Nothing like that happens to me." Pg. 18


Yugi Mutou looked a lot different in the first book than what people know. I find myself liking both styles Takahashi did for him. If you read the manga, you can tell that Yugi's "rules" hadn't been established yet. (ex. Now, Yugi always has three bangs on the left, two on the right, and one down the center. They also always have four bends to make the zigzag shape. His spiky hair generally has 5-7 points depending on the angle of his head and is rather symmetrical.) This image of Yugi is close to those rules, but many around him broke them. The amount of bangs was kind of random. However, Yugi is the fastest character that metamorphosis to his final look. Almost everything is right by book 3. Only one detail remained, and that was an extra bend in his bangs that remained until about the 9th book.

Now, only reason I notice all of this, is because I've been drawing Yugi, so I've discovered his "rules." First book Yugi is hard to draw, because he doesn't have a set formula on how he always looks.

I feel that Takahashi's original style really went well with the atmosphere and substance of the early manga. It wasn't about a card game. It was about a shy little boy, who got beat up a lot, found and solved and ancient Egyptian puzzle, got possessed by a spirit that used shadow magic in the structure of, on the spot, made up games to punish evil doers.  It's dark and the style fit. I also think that his art was more fluid in the beginning when it came to facial features. It wasn't so, predictable, anime faces. And he showed teeth more too...

Now, I'm not bashing what the style became. I love both. When the series's games became solely the cards, the new style fit it too.  And Yami/Atem got handsomer, so I can't complain.




Yugi Mutou belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.
I drew this sketch.