4Kids Entertainment has gotten a bad rap for the corporeality of censorship that they added when they dubbed a testify into English. Due to the vast amounts of cultural differences between Japan and America, it is only natural that at that place would be content that is considered fine for i region only is inappropriate for another. As 4Kids mainly dealt with cartoons that were intended for children, they had to take the scissors to many popular shows. In the case of shows similarPokémonandOne Slice, they went way too far.

When 4Kids Entertainment bought the rights to dubYu-Gi-Ohin 2001, they likely had dollar signs in their eyes. The show was tailor made as a marketing tool for a carte du jour game. When they actually got the show, it was plant to be filled with violence, realistic firearms, sexualized women, and religious symbols. In order for Yu-Gi-Oh to become broadcast-worthy, 4Kids had to literally censor the hell out of it.

We are here today to look at some of the idiotic, unnecessary and downright hilarious censorships that were imposed upon the Yu-Gi-Ohfranchise. From roofing upwards the Dark Magician Girl's assets to Mai's misguided mental torture.

Here are 15 Ways Yu-Gi-Oh! Was Censored In America!

15 Shrinking The Dark Magician Daughter'south Chest

In the episode of theYu-Gi-Ohanime, called "The Principal of Magicians, Part 3", Yugi summons a new version of his iconic Nighttime Magician monster into battle. He calls upon the Nighttime Magician Girl for the start time and uses her power to defeat the fell Arkana. Night Sorcerer Girl exists for no other reason that unabashed fan service. Her pattern is based upon pure sex appeal. She wears a tiny outfit that barely covers her body and has an oddly fetishistic master/student human relationship with the Night Magician.

The Nighttime Sorcerer Girl is somewhat unique in theYu-Gi-Ohfranchise, as she has been censored in almost every form of media that she has appeared in. This comes in two forms. Firstly, the size of her breasts was reduced, with her visible cleavage being totally erased in some cases. Secondly, the pentagram that appears in the jewel on her outfit is usually inverse to look like a ruby (so that it matches the other gems on her clothes). These changes have appeared in the Yu-Gi-Ohcard game, video games, and the anime. They have even appeared in theYu-Gi-Ohmanga adaptations, which are usually a lot less strict about censorship.

14 The 4Kids Shadow Realm

The delineation of decease can be a tricky thing to piece of work effectually in a children's show. This isn't something that is restricted to anime, as there can be problems adapting classic literature into a drawing. In some cases, the death will be toned downward as much equally possible. In others, information technology can be totally ignored or changed. One of the almost famous examples of this happened in the Ocean dub of Dragon Ball Z,where no i was actually killed. Whatever time a character died in the original Japanese version of the episode, they were instead sent to "Another Dimension" in the English dub.

When it comes toYu-Gi-Oh,some of the deaths involved the Pharoah destroying his opponent's minds. In order to show this on the screen, 4Kids came upward with the concept of the "Shadow Realm". Instead of dying, a grapheme was either physically or mentally banished to a plane of darkness. This alter allowed them to shoddily cover upward a lot of the deaths on the prove (equally we will come across afterwards on).

The Shadow Realm is supposed to be a realm of darkness and suffering. Those banished there may exist forced to endure an eternity of torture and horror. So... why is that meliorate than dying?

xiii The FINAL DEATH

In the episode of theYu-Gi-Ohanime called "The Nighttime Spirit Revealed, Function ane", Yugi is duelling against Dark Bakura. Every bit role of his Occult deck, Dark Bakura uses the Destiny Board trap card. The issue of this card allows you to summon another office of the Destiny Board onto the field each turn. In one case all 5 pieces are on the board, you win the duel. In the English dub of the episode, each of the v pieces of the Destiny Board contains a letter. Together, they spell out the give-and-take "Terminal".

When the episode was broadcast in Japan, the cards actually spelt out "Decease" instead. This word was considered too much for the audience, as you can't even use words pertaining to death in a kids show. While changing the artwork for theYu-Gi-Ohcard game was easy enough, the dubbers had to go to considerable expense in order to change the anime. This is because the Destiny Board actually appeared as a Ouija lath in the episode, so they had to change the letters that it stopped on.

12 Finger Guns

The depiction of realistic firearms in a cartoon series can stop the show from being broadcast in certain regions. EvenThe Simpsons was not safe from this, as the episode where Marge go a police officer was heavily censored in the United kingdom for years. When information technology comes to creating a show from scratch, the creators might modify the firearms and then that they resemble futuristic weapons (like what the police officers used in the '90sSpider-Mancartoon).

Luckily for theYu-Gi-Ohanime, there were but a few scenes with guns. The way 4Kids got around showing them was ridiculous, still. Any fourth dimension a grapheme pointed a gun inYu-Gi-Oh,it was edited so that it looked like the person was pointing their fingers instead. This happened when Pegasus' cronies came subsequently Kaiba and when Bandit Keith held a gun to Pegasus' head during the Duelist Kingdom tournament. The funny thing is, that latter scene was actually toned down in the Japanese version of the anime also. In the originalYu-Gi-Ohmanga, Pegasus makes Bandit Keith shoot himself in the head, whereas he just activates a trap door and dumps him into the sea in the anime.

11 My Body! The Armour Does Nothing

TheYu-Gi-Ohcard game and anime have frequently had the problem of having to conscience out blood. This is usually done by either changing the image completely or making the blood dark-green. Of all the censorships thatYu-Gi-Ohhas undergone, violence is probably the one that comes up the most. This is only natural, as the game is about monsters battling each other. As the player, y'all have to cede other monsters in lodge to summon high-level creatures to this field. This isn't exactlyPokémonlevels of violence.

Ane of the almost violent cards in terms of blood and wounds was "Armed Samurai - Ben Kai". In his original Japanese artwork, Ben Kai is riddled with arrows that are sticking out of his body. We can see pools of blood gathering around each entry point that is seeping through his apparel. He seems to have undergone Boromir levels of enemy fire (which apparently makes him very happy, going on that big grin he has). In the Western release of the card, the arrows and claret were removed.

10 The Creepy Teacher

The early episode of theYu-Gi-Ohanime, chosen "Face Off, Part 1", featured a few significant changes in the dub. This was partially due to differences betwixt American and Japanese civilisation (in terms of the school system). More importantly, it was inverse because it featured an incredibly creepy storyline.

During the episode, Téa has a flashback to an incident that happened when all of the characters were still in school. Yugi and his friends discovered that Téa was working at a fast food resteraunt and had got the job past lying about her age. The reason she started working was considering she needed the money for dance lessons. She finds a note in her locker that says there was a dance studio in a local warehouse. When Téa arrives at that place, she is accosted past a mugger, Luckily, she is saved past Yugi (who gives him one of the few well-deserved Mind Crushes of the series).

The events of the original Japanese episode need a little caption. In Nihon, high school students are generally non allowed to take part time jobs (except in farthermost circumstances, like filling in for an injured family fellow member). This is considering they are supposed to be concentrating on their studies. In the episode, Téa had taken a job without receiving permission from her school. The note she finds in her locker is actually a photo of her working at the resteraunt, which was intended to blackmail her into coming to the gymnasium after school. The mugger was actually a pervert, who lured Téa to the gym and so that he could picture show her with his camcorder. He was nonetheless Mind Crushed by Yugi for beingness an asshole.

9 Covering Up The Harpie

The deck ofYu-Gi-Ohcards that needed the nigh censoring belonged to Mai Valentine. She mainly used Harpie creatures, who were based on the Harpys of mythology. They each resembled a beautiful woman with avian characteristics. The 2 major issues with the Harpies involved how revealing their outfits were, also equally the fact that their armour often contained spikes in place of nipples.

Almost all of the Harpie monsters wore outfits that consisted of sparse black strips of textile, that just barely cover their modesty. When these cards were localised, they were usually given clothes that completely covered their bodies. This must have been one of the most diffcult things to edit in theYu-Gi-Ohanime, equally all of the Harpies needed to have apparel painted onto their bodies. They also needed the nipple spikes on their armour removed. Luckily for 4Kids, Mai Valentine didn't show up that oft.

8 The Dark Energy Disks

During the Battle Urban center story arc, the main bandage had to deal with Marik's team of Rare Hunters. These were a grouping of mentally unhinged duelists, who sought out rare cards to steal from their opponents. I of these was Arkana, a sometime stage magician who was badly scarred in an blow involving one of his tricks. He entered the Boxing City tournament on the hope that Marik could heal his face, should he defeat Yugi Moto in a duel.

The episodes involving Arkana were always going to be a problem to dub, due to how violent the concept of his duel was. When Yugi battles Arkana, both of them have their legs fastened to clamps. In the original Japanese version of the episode, 2 round saws are role of the duel arena. They each represent the life points of the duelist that they are assigned to. The role player who loses will have his legs cut off by a saw (this never happened in the show, equally Yugi saved Arkana earlier he could be harmed).

When these episodes were dubbed, a lot of edits had to be made. The circular saws were at present changed into "Dark Energy Disks". Equally soon as they came into contact with the loser of the duel, then that person's soul will be banished to the Shadow Realm. They were described as being made purely from evil magic and not metal. The Dark Energy Disks wouldn't saw your legs off, they would merely blackball your soul to eternal torment.

7 Irresolute Angels To Fairies

While censoring things like violence, nudity and guns might seem like a no-brainer, theYu-Gi-Oh franchise has often had to deal with changing religious symbolism also. This used to come up a lot in the early days of the franchise when it dealt with ancient Egyptian iconography. I of the biggest offenders was the appearance of pentagrams (like in the Exodia cards, or on the Night Magician Girl's amulet). This too included crucifixes (which were unremarkably changed into a different shape).

One of the monster types inYu-Gi-Ohhad to undergo major changes in society to appear in the English language language version of the game. In the Japanese version ofYu-Gi-Oh,there existed a gear up of monsters based on Angels. These looked like the Western idea of the term (winged people wearing robes that accept a halo over their caput). These were changed into Fairy-type monsters in the W. All of them needed to have the halos removed from their artwork. Some of the Angel-blazon back up cards that resembled Heaven were now called "Sanctuary" instead.

vi The Fate Of Alister's Brother

TheYu-Gi-Ohanime had a significant amount of filler, as the manga that it was based on was still running when the show was circulate. Filler episodes in anime are ones created entirely by the Television show staff that are used to fill the gaps between the stories from the source textile. They generally aren't well-received, due to the fact that they cannot have any lasting outcome on the story.

Unlike a lot of anime series, filler episodes were actually toYu-Gi-Oh's benefit. Equally the show was essentially a big commercial for the card game, the filler immune for new cards to be showcased without having to clumsily innovate them equally office of the original plot.

1 of the biggest filler arcs was "Waking the Dragons". 1 of the villains of this storyline was Alister, a man who held a grudge confronting Seto Kaiba. In the original Japanese Yu-Gi-Oh anime, Alister lived in a war-torn country, where both sides were receiving weapons made by KaibaCorp. Alister's blood brother was killed when a tank blew upwards. In the English version of the evidence, Alister's brother was only captured and might really nonetheless be live somewhere.

5 Panda Abuse

One of the most unusual edits to aYu-Gi-Ohcard involved the upshot of domestic corruption. This is something that doesn't come up equally often in cases of censorship, just information technology'due south not totally unheard of.EarthBoundfor the Super Nintendo changed the sound consequence for when Pokey is dragged into the other room by his begetter. Information technology was originally supposed to sound similar he was being beaten in the Japanese version of the game. In the English language port, the sound was changed to make it seem more like yelling.

TheYu-Gi-Ohcard "Maji-Gire Panda" originally depicted an angry Panda trashing his dwelling house, while his wife and kid cowered in the corner. The effect of this bill of fare involves increasing the Panda'south assail past 500 for every Fauna-type monster that is destroyed. This is presumably why the Panda is angry, as he has simply discovered that one of his monster friends just got whacked and he is having a Tony Soprano style meltdown. The people at Konami felt that that the cowering family was a bit much, so they were edited out of the Western release of the card. Now it just seems similar the Panda is trashing his hotel room in a drugged upwardly, Keith Moon kind of manner.

4 Falling For Umbra & Lumis

As silly equally the concept of the Shadow Realm may exist, it helped 4Kids out of a lot of situations. TheYu-Gi-Ohanime took itself far too seriously at times. Similar the Arkana duel mentioned to a higher place, some of the menu games involved threats of dismemberment. Yugi would have no trouble destroying his opponent's heed if they lost a duel (if they were a dick most information technology). At i point, Kaiba threatened to bound off a cliff if he lost a lucifer (which was heavily toned downward in the dub). Basically, bill of fare games are matter of life and death inYu-Gi-Oh.

In the episode of the anime, called "Double Duel, Part 1", Yugi and Kaiba are forced to work together against a pair of opponents. They had to face the Rare Hunter duo known every bit Umbra and Lumis, on top of a alpine edifice. The duel takes place on a segmented glass roof. When a role player'south life points striking nada, so the glass volition shatter beneath them and they volition fall into a portal to the Shadow Realm.

The original Japanese version of this episode was a tad more graphic. In that location were no portals to the Shadow Realm to take hold of the losing thespian. Instead, they simply fell to their death.

iii Facing The Parasite

The "Parasite Paracide" card has 1 of the most disturbing designs in all of Yu-Gi-Oh.

One of the first duelists ever shown in the anime was Weevil Underwood. He used a deck based around Insect-type monsters. He was quickly dispatched by Yugi Moto at the outset of the Duelist Kingdom tournament only returned with a vengeance for Boxing City. This fourth dimension, he faced Joey Wheeler and used a selection of powerful insects that used body horror as a weapon.

During his duel confronting Joey, Weevil used the "Parasite Paracide" card. In its original Japanese artwork, the card depicted an insect that was literally bursting out of a man's face. The effect of the card allowed it to exist placed on the opponent'due south side of the field, where it transformed all of his monsters into insects. This was shown in the anime/manga with Joey'south monsters having tendrils coming out of their torso. A lot of these scenes were removed for the English dub of the testify.

ii The Nerf Dragon

Censoring the realistic depiction of firearms is not something that is limited to just guns. There accept been severalYu-Gi-Ohcards that have contained weapons that needed to be censored. This extended to bombs and explosives, as even cards that showed dynamite that looked like it came out of a Warner Bros. drawing would nevertheless demand to have its fuse removed.

When it comes to guns, the way they are usually censored is by making them less realistic. This is often washed by making them resemble futuristic laser weapons. One of the earliest (and most poorly washed) examples of this happened with the Butt Dragon. This was one of Bandit Keith's monsters that he used as part of his Machine deck. It resembled a robotic dinosaur with iii behemothic revolvers on its dorsum and arms. When the Barrel Dragon showed up in the English version of the anime & card game, the guns were inverse drastically. They at present looked like Nerf guns that had been painted in a way so that they could be taken to a rave.

i Where Is Mai Mind?

One of the most problematic characters for the dub was Marik Ishtar. When he finally started duelling during the Boxing Urban center arc, it was revealed that his deck was made upwardly of monsters that were based around the concept of torture. This wouldn't be much of an issue if they were merely playing a regular version of theYu-Gi-Ohcard game. Marik, however, tin can turn any friction match into a Shadow Duel with the power of his Millennium Item. A Shadow Duel forces the players to endure the suffering of their monsters. This is peculiarly hard for players who do non possess supernatural abilities that can help them maintain their sanity nether such extreme circumstances.

When Marik battles Mai Valentine during the last part of the Boxing Urban center tournament, he turns their match into a Shadow Duel. In the original version of the testify, Mai was shown existence tortured past the furnishings of Marik's monsters. Once she loses the duel, Mai's mind is trapped within an hourglass. Marik tells her that one time the sand runs out, she will die.

In the English dub of these episodes. The Shadow Duel affects Mai's memories. The torture scenes are replaced with Mai seemingly forgetting who everyone is. When she is trapped within the hourglass, she is told that she will lose her memories once the fourth dimension runs out. In this case, 4Kids may accept washed the correct affair. The original scenes of Mai'southward torture were especially fell. While a lot of the censorships made toYu-Gi-Ohmay seem frivolous, they were necessary for getting the show on the air in the kickoff place.

---

Next ten of the Most Niche Ten-Men Mutations

About The Author

Scott Baird (2693 Manufactures Published)

Scott has been writing for Screen Bluster since 2016 and regularly contributes to The Gamer. He has previously written articles and video scripts for websites like Cracked, Dorkly, Topless Robot, and TopTenz. A graduate of Edge Colina University in the Uk, Scott started out as a moving picture student before moving into journalism. It turned out that wasting a childhood playing video games, reading comic books, and watching movies could exist used for finding employment, regardless of what whatsoever career advisor might tell yous. Scott specializes in gaming and has loved the medium since the early '90s when his first console was a ZX Spectrum that used to take xl minutes to load a game from a record cassette histrion to a black and white Television receiver set. Scott now writes game reviews for Screen Bluster and The Gamer, also as news reports, opinion pieces, and game guides. He tin can be contacted on LinkedIn.

More From Scott Baird