Though primarily known as a popular competitive trading card game, Yu-Gi-Oh! actually got started as a manga and celebrates its 20th anniversary this fall. The original manga, written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi, began on September 30, 1996, and ran until March of 2004.

The manga’s story focused on Yugi Mutou, who awakens the ancient, mysterious spirit of a gambler after solving the Millennium Puzzle. The spirit inhabits Yugi’s body when Yugi must face off against someone with darkness in their hearts. The “Shadow Games” played in the manga end up subjecting the loser to a dangerous punishment called a “Penalty Game,” which at points included sending the loser to an alternate dimension. Eventually, Yugi discovers that the gambling spirit is that of an ancient Pharaoh, and the true nature of the Shadow Games comes to light.

The Yu-Gi-Oh! manga included the Duel Monsters game, but as an occasional plot device rather than a driving force for most of the story arcs. When the anime adaptation came around in 2000, the card game shifted to be the primary focus of the story – which then propelled the sale of the card game itself, as well as other related merchandise. The manga also differs from the anime in that it was originally developed as a horror series, only to eventually evolve into a story about gaming. However, many horror aspects – such as the penalty games and their consequences – clearly remained.

The anime series proved to be popular worldwide, as did the card game, which continues to see widespread competitive play. A number of spinoff series have also been running in the years since, including Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V. Over the last two decades, it’s become very apparent that the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise wasn’t simply trying to ape the success of Pokémon and similar shows, and has instead firmly rooted itself in the gaming and anime scene in the eyes of many fans.