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Welcome to part 1 of Censored Gaming's video series taking a look at how Yu-Gi-Oh Duel
Monsters was censored in the US by English localizers, 4Kids Entertainment.
There are many changes between the Japanese and English versions, and whilst it would
be great to be able to go through them all, as there so many, this series will be focusing
on the ones that are censorship in nature - censorship being defined as changes that
were made for moral-related reasons, such as due to wanting to target a younger audience.
But, with that out of the way, let's kick things off with the first ever episode, which
is titled "The Terrifying Blue Eyes White Dragon" over in Japan.
This episode features Yugi's debut battle with Kaiba, which he gets coerced into following
his Grandpa being defeated and sent to hospital due Kaiba's new advanced 3D battle system.
The fact that the monsters and attacks appear on the field in a dramatic fashion causes
his grandpa to collapse from shock.
In Japan though, Kaiba will taunt Yugi saying that the old man is dying.
This was removed in 4Kids's version, so that his grandpa is just called weak.
Next up is a series-wide change that has been made to Yugi's signature card, The Dark Magician.
Occult references are a big source of censorship to the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise and it is this reason
why The Dark Magician was renamed in the English release from its Japanese name of "The Black
Magician" - references to "Black Magic" being seen as too taboo for Western shores.
Normally when The Dark Magician attacks in the Japanese version, his attack name will
be called "Black Magic" too.
The attack name was completely removed in the English release with no substitute being
given.
Occult references are also the reason for our next change, which is a series wide change
that's been made to Exodia.
In the Japanese version, the card designs will show triangular objects around the border
- the intention being that when the cards are combined into one a pentagram will be
displayed.
4Kids' changed this to a Spellbinding Circle instead.
Changes were also made to the graphics when Exodia is summoned to the field.
In Japan, a pentagram will be displayed, whereas in the English version, this was obscured
with a lot more lines.
And lastly for episode 1 is a change made to Yami Yugi's "Mind Crush" special power
- an ability that's not really mentioned in the dub but plays a big part in the Yu-Gi-Oh
storyline.
Holders of millennium items, such as Yugi's millennium puzzle, are able to inflict supernatural
punishments to people who either lose or cheat in a Shadow Game.
Mind Crush is the name for one of Yami Yugi's punishments and, whilst it can allow him to
kill his opponent, it can also be used for other purposes like is seen in this episode.
In the Japanese version, Yami Yugi uses his mind crush on Kaiba to seal away the evil
in his heart.
This is a reference to the manga, where instead of just sealing away the evil, Kaiba's heart
is shattered into pieces and turned into a puzzle, sending him into a coma.
In the English version there is no mention of any of this and Yugi just tells him to
open his mind and maybe he'll begin to see why he lost.
Next up we have episode 2, which is titled "The Illusionist No Face's Trap" over in Japan.
This episode features numerous monster names that were renamed in the English version.
The first of these being Devil Dragon which was changed to Koumori Dragon in the English
release, with Koumori being the Japanese word for "bat" - it is likely that this was renamed
to remove the occult "Devil" part of its name.
This is similar to the change that was made to Summoned Demon, or Summoned Skull as it's
known in English territories.
The word "Demon" is something that's been removed many times.
For instance, in the Japanese version of the game, there is a whole monster type known
as the "Demon" type.
This was renamed in English though to the "Fiend" type.
Another monster type that's been changed is the "Undead" type, which was renamed to the
"Zombie" type.
It is likely that this is to try and distance the franchise away from mentioning death.
This also sees monster's such as episode 2's Undead Warrior renamed in the English version
to Zombie Warrior instead.
But to move away from that and onto episode 3, which is titled "The Lost Exodia" in Japan.
The first censorship change made to this episode can be found when Yugi gets beaten up by a
bully in a flashback scene.
Listen carefully and you'll notice that the 4Kids' dub removed the loud punch sound effects.
Another change was made to the scene that introduces Mai.
The 4Kids' version on the right removed a scroll up effect that pans up her body.
This was likely due to them feeling it was too suggestive in nature.
Apparently 4Kid's also felt that characters needing to pee was too inappropriate as well,
as is shown in our next scene.
Here Tristan and Téa sneak onboard the boat to Duelist Kingdom and, in the Japanese version,
Tea is complaining about needing to go the bathroom.
In the 4Kids' version though, she is complaining about being cold.
In Japan, Tristan tells her to just pee in the corner and so she gets angry and says
that she's not a boy.
In the English version, Tristan instead says something that's gone on to become a meme
in the Yu-Gi-Oh fan base due to it seeming very random.
The English version also removed a bit of extra animation showing Téa squirming.
Following that we have a change that was made to Mai and Rex Raptor's scene inside Rex's
private quarters.
Using her seductive charms, she tells Rex that if she wins in a game she gets to have
his room, whilst if he wins, she will give him a kiss.
This causes Rex to blush with embarrassment.
In the Japanese version though, this could be seen as more suggestive in nature as she
says that she will do *whatever* he tells her to do.
Mai's cards also got changed due to their suggestive deigns.
The design of Harpie Lady had extra clothing added to it, so that less skin is shown.
The Harpie Lady power-up card, Cyber Shield, was also altered, to remove the spikes coming
out of the breast plate.
It also had its name changed in the English version from the Japanese name "Cyber Bondage".
And then lastly, yet another change made to Mai in this episode is another removal of
a pan up shot of her body.
In the 4Kids' footage on the right, you can see that they replaced the shot of the lower
part of her body with another shot of the cards.
That's all this time though but part 2 will be coming soon taking a look at the next episode
and more.
If this is something you're interested in then please make sure to subscribe and leave
a comment below and, until next time, thank you for watching.