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More than 17 years after the card game's Western release, Yu-Gi-Oh continues to be very popular
with fans, with new cards being released all of the time.
It's not just the card game though.
Whilst not as popular as the Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters series that took the entire world
by storm in the early 2000s, new anime series are continuing to be produced, with the latest
Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS currently being broadcast on TV in not just Japan but also Western countries.
Then there are all of the video games released based on the series, with the newest recently
being announced to be coming for Nintendo Switch later this month - entitled Yu-Gi-Oh!
Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution.
However, as Censored Gaming has covered numerous times in the past, Yu-Gi-Oh media has a tendency
to get quite a few changes made when its released overseas, to try and tone certain parts down
and make it more child friendly.
The anime series' runs in the 2000s are rather infamous for the changes the English production
company 4Kids made to it to tone it down.
However, what isn't discussed as much are the changes that still go on to the franchise
in the present day.
Censored Gaming has so far made a video taking a look at some of the ways that Konami has
changed the first few episodes of the new anime series and you can find that linked
in the description below if you want to go check it out.
Since then though, there have been dozens more episodes released in English and quite
a lot more changes - so please let me know if this is something you would like to see
more of.
Today however, we'll be taking another look at the card game and how some of the brand
new cards released in 2019 have had their artwork changed for Western audiences.
One of the big new archetypes released in 2019 are the Witchcrafter cards.
In fact, the names for these cards was also slightly toned down overseas, as the original
Japanese name is "Witchcraft", a more direct reference to the occult themes that have regularly
been reduced from the Western card game.
Alongside this, a few of the monsters within this new deck have had changes made to the
English versions to tone down suggestive artwork.
One of these has had her top pulled up to cover her bra, whilst another has had her
upper chest coloured in black.
These same changes can naturally also be found on support cards that feature the monsters
on their artwork.
Also, one of the support cards has made another change to a different monster that's featured
on it.
As you can see, the blue haired girl has curiously had the drool coming out of her mouth removed,
which is supposed to depict that she is sleeping.
This year has also seen new cards released for the Cyber Angel archetype and with this
deck consisting of a lot of feminine-looking creatures, rather unsurprisingly there has
been changes made to some of the cards outside of Japan.
As you can see, this new monster had extra material added to her chest and pelvis areas
in the West to make her look more modest.
Furthermore, these changes have also affected a spell card released featuring the new monster.
Whilst not a completely new change, another support card released for this archetype this
year has made changes to monsters featured on it to keep consistent with changes Konami
has made to the Western card game in the past.
This is also the case for another support card featuring Cyber Petit Angle, but this
time for not suggestive reasons but religious ones.
As you can see, the monster had the halo over its head removed outside of Japan due to Western
religious sensibilities and this is consistent with the monsters other appearances within
the game.
As fans will know, the Harpie Lady archetype are another series of cards that have had
lots of changes made to them in the West, ever since their first appearance way back
from when the game first began.
This year has seen lots of new Harpie cards released, such as the new monster Harpie Oracle,
and here there's been some similar changes made, with the monster been covered in purple
spandex to cover her skin and also having her wings extended to cover more of her body.
Another new Harpie monster is Harpie Perfumer, which again had all of her exposed skin covered
with material.
Then, whilst the monsters featured on them aren't new, to keep consistent with previous
Western redesigns some of the new Harpie support cards released have had their artwork altered
outside of Japan.
And there's been changes to a few other cards here and there for similar reasons as the
others.
Lunalight Sabre Dancer had her skirt lengthened and extra material added to her chest and
Hiita the Fire Charmer, Ablaze had her skirt lengthened and the gap between her shirt and
her stomach reduced.
And then lastly, you may be interested to know that the fan favourite card Dark Magician
Girl is still having changes made to her appearance outside of Japan, as seen in the new card
Bond Between Teacher and Student, which has the hexagram on her outfit in the middle of
her chest replaced with a jewel and also her cleavage is reduced.
It's also worth pointing out that these and other changes that are made to the cards then
have the knock-on effect of affecting other Yu-Gi-Oh media such as the anime and the video
games.
In other words, the changes that get made to the card game are then made to the video
games and things as well.
What do you think about these changes that are being made to the Yu-Gi-Oh card game?
As always, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below and consider subscribing
to see more videos on how media is changed around the world.
Until next time, thank you for watching!