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Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS, the newest series in Konami's Yu-Gi-Oh anime, was recently broadcast in
English for the first time.
The series premiered on the Canadian TV channel Teletoons on September 1st, with new episodes
appearing every Saturday and Sunday.
This version will also begin broadcasting in other Western countries, like the US and
the UK, at some point in the near future.
Like all other Yu-Gi-Oh series released in the West, this English version has had changes
made to it compared to the Japanese original.
This video will take a look at some of these differences found in the English show, so
you can compare them yourself.
The first thing to point out is that, overall, things have so far been kept pretty faithful
to the original.
However, you can find a few changes in places due to things like translation reasons and
moral concerns.
On the translation reason side, the English release of Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS will try to keep
written text to a minimum - whether this text is in Japanese or English.
Signs like those on these buildings in episode 1, for example, have the text completely removed
overseas and you will be able to find other edits like this throughout the series.
Sometimes text will also be replaced by pictures, rather than translated into English.
You can see examples of this in this news report from episode 3, for example, or the
signs of the crowd during episode 6, which had their messages replaced with pictures
of Blue Angel.
The Japanese episodes also show the duellists' names at the start of duels.
This is replaced in the English episodes with a colour coded graphic effect.
Occasionally scenes showing text will be cut out of the English version completely, such
as during episode 6, when Playmaker receives a lot of hate from people on social media.
In the Japanese version, shots will show some of these messages that he's been receiving,
whereas overseas, Ai just describes the messages and we don't get to see any of them.
As for why changes like these are being made, it's possible that it's due to trying to save
on resources and making the English translation process easier.
It's also a possibility that the English studio feels that younger audience would prefer the
show if it wasn't too text heavy and that this would be more engaging for their overseas
market.
Whatever the case, these aren't the only edits that have been made so far to the show.
There have also been a few other changes due to moral reasons and wanting to keep the show
child friendly.
Violence, for instance, has been slightly toned down in places - such as when AI is
attacked by Cracking Dragon at the start of the first episode.
In the Japanese version, you can actually see AI being crushed.
Over in the West though, a light effect is added to obscure the visuals.
Later on in episode 1 and Cracking Dragon had another edit made to it outside of Japan,
this time when it attacks the city's civilians.
It is only in the Japanese version where you will be able to see scenes showing Cracking
Dragon shooting fire at screaming civilians and making them disappear.
There were originally multiple scenes of this nature and they were all removed in the English
version.
Alongside violence concerns, there have also been a few changes made to content that could
be seen as too suggestive in nature.
All appearances of Backup Secretary, for instance, have been edited in the English version to
reduce the size of her bust.
In the English version on the right, her bust is not only noticeably smaller and less round,
but there is also more silver colouring on the front of her outfit.
Other changes have been made to Blue Angel, who is sometimes given a longer skirt and
longer socks in the English version compared to over in Japan, although this is often done
inconsistently.
And then, perhaps the biggest example of this so far is altering the character design of
Skye, whenever she is wearing her school uniform.
In the Japanese version, Skye is always presented with a skirt and bare legs when in her uniform.
Outside of Japan though, her clothing has been changed so that she wears black leggings
instead - completely covering her skin.
Skye is one of the show's main characters and this change affects all scenes showing
her in her school uniform.
Important to keep in mind though is that so far there have only been a handful of English
episodes broadcast on TV, with many more on the way soon, and that the show is also still
continuing to have new episodes released in Japan too.
Taking this into account, it is likely that there will be more changes like these as the
English show continues.
What do you think about these changes and would you like to see more videos on the differences
between the Japanese and English versions on Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS?
Please let us know in the comments below and, until next time, thank you for watching!