The manga began serialization in Shueisha's V Jump magazine from December 2010 to June 2015 and is licensed in North America by Viz Media.
In Canada, the series aired on YTV starting June 2, 2012, while new episodes of Zexal II moved to Teletoon on May 4, 2014.
One day, during a duel with a rival named Shark, a mysterious spirit called Astral appears before him, and helps him to win.
Astral explains to Yuma he is searching for his lost memories, which have been transformed into 100 Xyz Monster (エクシーズ モンスター, Ekushīzu Monsutā) cards called Numbers (ナンバーズ, Nanbāzu), which have been scattered across the globe.
After coming up against a boy named Kite Tenjo for the second time, who is hunting the Numbers, Yuma and Astral gain the ability to combine their forces using the power of ZEXAL (ゼアル, Zearu).
Entering the World Duel Carnival tournament, Yuma finds himself up against various rivals, including the vengeance-seeking Vetrix and the maniacal Dr. Faker, who want the Numbers for their own gain.
In this new story, as the curtain falls on the World Duel Carnival, peace has finally returned to Heartland City.
A manga series written by Shin Yoshida and illustrated by Naohito Miyoshi began serialization in the extended February 2011 issue of Shueisha's V Jump magazine, released on December 18, 2010.
[8] A spin-off manga written by Akihiro Tomonaga and illustrated by Wedge Holdings, titled Yu-Gi-Oh!
It was revealed that Satoshi Kuwahara would be the director, that scripts would be supervised by Shin Yoshida, that Masahiro Hikokubo would choreograph the duels, and that Hirotoshi Takaya would adapt the character designs for the anime.
[12] Although, TV Tokyo and Nihon Ad Systems filed a lawsuit against 4Kids Entertainment and demanded the termination of the Yu-Gi-Oh!
licensing agreement with them in March 2011,[13] a stay of proceedings was ordered preventing the termination of the contract or the resale of the franchise until a ruling was decided.
[16] Ultra Kidz premiered the series in the United States with Latin American Spanish dubbing on June 1, 2018.