Yu-Gi-Oh!, Volume 3: Capsule Monster Chess Book

3.5 stars. While this volume was in a few ways less strong than some of the others, it benefits from having the second half of Shadi's arc, as well as giving us Mokuba's first appearance.

In the first part of the book, Shadi continues his test of Yugi's heart in an attempt to get to see the "other him." It's here we first meet another memetastic bit of Yu Gi Oh -- the power of friendship saving the day. But yeah, in general, it's well drawn and well paced, and if a little silly, it's a pretty enjoyable arc.

That unfortunately makes the next tale -- a one-chapter story about a ravenous tamagotchi -- seem worse by comparison than it might have if it came somewhere else. It never really finds a rhythm, and ends up feeling like it's either too short or too long.

Following that we get a two-parter about a little kid who wants to be a superhero. This fares better tan the previous one, but it feels a little too predictable even within the Yu Gi Oh canon at this point. There's just nothing here to really recommend it.

Luckily Mokuba bats cleanup. :D We met the older Kaiba earlier, and he was generally just a stuck-up gamer kid who wasn't above stealing from his "friends" and lying about it. But now we get the younger brother, and boy is it weird. Mokuba rolls up with his elementary school gang, who use TASERS and GUNS to kidnap Yugi and force him to play a game of Capsule Monsters and it's sort of amazingly hilarious. And for one brief, shining moment, Seto seems like the saner, more normal brother. Embrace it while it lasts, hehehe.