When anime fans think about Yu-Gi-Oh! as with other anime similar to Yu-Gi-Oh!, it’s unlikely that Dragon Ball comes to mind, since goku and Yugi immediately seemed like they had absolutely nothing in common. Goku is a muscular Saiyan filled with cosmic power who can’t wait for his next battle, while Yugi is a rather diminutive human teenager who lets his cards fight for him. However, upon taking a closer look at their respective origins, it becomes clear that Goku and Yugi are a lot more alike than fans might realize.
In the first chapter of the Dragon Balls, Goku is walking alone in the forest in search of food. Later, Goku was contacted by Bulma (who was a stranger to him by this time) because Bulma was searching for the Dragon Balls, and Goku was in possession of one. As fans will soon learn, Goku’s grandfather left him the four-star Dragon Ball before his death, as the mystical orb was his precious possession. Little did Grandpa Gohan know when he left the Dragon Ball to Goku, however, the orb would be Goku’s official call to adventure. Bulma only found Goku because he had a Dragon Ball, at which point Goku travels the world and ends up training with Master Roshi, who then sets him on the path to becoming a presumably warrior. The most powerful in the universe.
Yugi by Yu-Gi-Oh! has the same call to adventure as Goku of Dragon Ball
In Yu-Gi-Oh! episode 1 (written by Junki Takegami, Masashi Sogo, and Shin Yoshida, and directed by Kunihisa Sugishima), Yugi is playing Duel Monsters with his friend, Joey, and clearly defeats him. When Joey comments on how good Yugi is, Yugi says that he has more experience and has better cards than Joey, and that’s how he continues to win. Yugi then adds that his deck is nothing compared to his grandfather’s, especially one particular card: Blue-Eyes White Dragon. When Yugi started talking about his grandfather’s super rare card, Kaiba, who was looking for the fourth Blue-Eyes White Dragon card, overheard. When Yugi took his friends to his grandfather’s game store, they were followed by Kaiba, who was able to see for himself that grandfather Solomon Muto in fact had a Blue-Eyeed White Dragon.
The moment Kaiba saw the Blue-Eyed White Dragon, the events of the entire anime began. Yugi’s grandfather is hospitalized trying to protect his most valuable asset from Kaiba, and Yugi is forced to fight Kaiba in his grandfather’s name. When Yugi defeats him, that victory catches Pegasus’ attention, and from that point on, everything else is history. Everything that happens in Yu-Gi-Oh! can be traced back to the time when Yugi and his grandfather revealed they were in possession of a Blue-Eyeed White Dragon – in the context of this episode, it’s even rarer than a Dragon Ball, as only There are four blue eyes White Dragon in the world as opposed to the seven dragon balls.
A rare artifact is sought after by an outside force who acts as the hero’s call to adventure. This description matches the origin of both goku and Yugi, making the two characters – who have absolutely nothing in common – more alike Yu-Gi-Oh! and Dragon Ball fans may have thought.