Top 10 Most Censored Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Moments
Script written by Jason Bowman
#10: Sent to the Stars
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The original Yu-Gi-Oh! Series was notorious back in the day for changing pretty much every death that occurred to the person being sent to the completely made up “Shadow Realm”. This term would spill over into GX for the two “Shadow Duelist” episodes featuring the battle against Titan. Later in the series however, the show would take on the brand new term “Sent to the Stars” for whenever a duelist would lose a death game. We’re not exactly sure what “Sent to the Stars” means, but we’re sure any duelist would rather that, than death itself!
#9: Dealcoholized Deck
When Chumley Huffington’s father arrives at the Duel Academy with the intention to pull his son out of the curriculum and help run his family business, the two face off in a duel. In the original japanese version, Mr. Huffington is the owner of a sake company, which means his deck is obviously alcohol themed with “Drunken Monsters”. The 4Kids dub threw all of this out of the window, with his company being changed to a hot sauce one with all the bottles painted red and his monsters dumbed down to being “Dizzy”. We’re not sure how hot sauce makes you dizzy exactly!
#8: Doctor MIA
In episode ninety seven titled “The Dark Light”, Jaden and the gang watch a Pro-League clash between the duelists Doctor Collector and the champion known as The D. The conclusion to this duel is notable due to the fact that the loser, Doctor Collector, is burned to death due to a fire caused by the “Ultimate Destiny Card”. In the 4kids version however, the death is taken out entirely, and his missing body goes completely unexplained.
#7: Gravekeeper's Doom
The Gravekeeper’s archetype has always been a fun one to play in the TCG, so it was especially great to see them get some love in this episode of GX. During a trip to the ancient ruins on the island, the gang are transported to another world, which leads to Jaden dueling the Gravekeeper’s Chief with grave consequences. In the original, had Jaden lost, he would have been turned into a mummy. In the english version this was changed into the loser being buried alive. We’ll let you decide which of the two is worse!
#6: Look Both Ways Before Dueling
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Whilst dueling Jaden, Thelonious Viper tells him about his heartbreaking past involving his son Pierce. After rescuing him from a war zone as a baby, Thelonious adopts Pierce and later gives him his very own deck of duel monsters cards. Unfortunately, the wind blows the cards onto the road, and whilst trying to recover them Pierce is hit by a bus and killed. The 4Kids version omits this last part entirely, instead telling us that he became very ill. The funniest thing about this is that both his death and following censorship are almost identical to Noah Kaiba’s in the original series.
#5: The Light of Destruction… or Brainwashing
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The Light of Destruction is a malevolent entity that serves as a major antagonist in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. Its sole goal is to wipe out all life in the universe, possessing various duelists and getting them to use a life destroying satellite. According to 4Kids this was a little bit too much, and so they dumbed down its ambition entirely. Instead, in the dub The Light of Destruction wants to dominate all of humanity, brainwashing them with the satellite and forcing them to worship it. It also claims that without this, humanity will destroy itself. None of this makes any sense if you actually consider what this entity is actually called.
#4: Mr. Phoenix’s Final Destiny
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The father of fan favorite Aster Phoenix, Mr. Phoenix was a Duel Monsters card designer known for creating the “Destiny Heroes”. Appearing only in flashbacks, we are shown that Mr. Phoenix met his end when the Light of Destruction influenced the criminal known as “The D” to murder him whilst trying to seal the “Destiny Hero - Plasma” card. Aster unfortunately finds his father dead on the ground surrounded by cards. In the English dub, Mr. Phoenix’s fate is toned down considerably. Instead he’s somehow kidnapped along with the card, with his body digitally removed when Aster goes into the room.
#3: Swimsuit Bathing
In the third episode of GX, Dr. Crowler’s scheme against Jaden ends up resulting in Syrus trespassing in the girl’s dorm. In one scene we see Alexis, Jasmine and Mindy bathing together in the school's public bath. In an often used anime trope, the girls are discussing breast sizes. In the 4Kids version, this discussion is cut out entirely and each of the girls have digitally added on swimsuits to cover them up. This visual edit especially makes no sense when the very next scene they’re shown to be without them when they catch Syrus.
#2: Zane’s Last Beat
Throughout the series we’re told of Zane Truesdale's worsening heart condition. It’s later revealed that this is due to the cards within his “Cyberdark” deck having an intense desire to win, leading the heart condition to be fatal. This all comes to a head in his duel against Yubel, where after losing to them he finally succumbs to it in an incredibly sad but dramatic fashion. In the english version, while it still exists, his heart condition is played down immensely, and is never mentioned to be fatal. Instead of dying he is, as we mentioned earlier in this list, is “Sent to the stars”. Zane’s death is made even worse in the dub due to the fact that his triumphant return was never broadcasted.
#1: Yubel
The main antagonist of the Dimension World arc, Yubel is an incredibly important character in the series who has a deep connection with our hero Jaden, and eventually turns over a new leaf. Yubel’s appearance takes on both masculine and feminine traits, something you wouldn’t see as much if you watched the dub as 4Kids covered them up to make it less obvious. When Yubel first appears in the series, they would occasionally use a masculine voice from time to time. The dub however omitted this entirely, solely using a feminine voice throughout the series.
