Top 20 Most Censored Yu-Gi-Oh! Moments
Script written by Alex Crilly-Mckean
Top 10 Most Censored Yu-Gi-Oh! Moments
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Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Most Censored Yu-Gi-Oh! Moments.
For this list, we’ll be looking at the darker and more scandalous scenes of the original “Yu-Gi-Oh!” anime series, and how the English dub watered them down.
#20: Peeping Scene
After Joey’s victory over Rex Raptor, the gang decides to camp out overnight and Mai Valentine joins them with some much needed supplies. Tea ends up deciding to bathe in a mobile shower with Mai guarding over her from the outside. When she suddenly hears a noise outside, Tea calls Mai over, leaving the shower completely unguarded. In the original Japanese version, Yugi has to hold Joey and Tristen back, as they attempt to use this moment as a way for them to sneak a peek behind the curtains. Not only was Mai warning Joey to stay away from the shower in the english dub removed, but this entire creepy moment with Joey and Tristen as well.
#19: Yugi & Tea’s Date
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Throughout the series it becomes very clear that Tea kinda has a thing for the Pharaoh. This culminates in Yugi making Yami go on a date with her with the two going through various activities within Domino City. For some reason 4Kids was scared by the concept of dating and decided to change it to Yugi wanting Tea to help Yami find out more about himself. There are many other moments where Tea’s feelings are toned down in the English Dub, such as her getting jealous whenever Rebecca shows affection to Yugi.
#18: Removing the Ending
In the english dub version, after saying goodbye to Atem, Joey asks Yugi to give a wrap up speech, to which he obliges and things suddenly fade to black. For those of you who thought this was incredibly abrupt it’s because 4Kids decided to cut out the full ending entirely. In the Japanese version we’re treated to scenes of our heroes returning to Egypt as well as a montage of various characters throughout the series doing their thing. Also completely removed was an epilogue with Yugi telling us that his own story is just beginning.
#17: Tea Climbing Scene
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When Tristen suspects that Pegasus cheated in his duel against Kaiba, he decides to investigate alongside Tea and Bakura. The trio decide to use a grappling hook and climb up a tower in order to get into Pegasus’ room. In the original Japanese version, after being told to go first in case she falls, Tea insists that she goes last as she doesn’t want them looking up her skirt. After a disagreement amongst the group, Tristen and Bakura remedy this problem by climbing up the tower whilst wearing blindfolds. While it’s obvious this was removed from the dub due to the upskirt situation, climbing up blindfolded is incredibly dangerous and they didn’t want to give kids any ideas!
#16: Millennium Eye
After Yugi’s epic duel against Pegasus we are told about the villain's past and how everything came to be. One of the most important moments of this flashback is how he obtained the Millenium Eye. In the original Japanese version, Shadi forces it right into his eye socket in an incredibly gruesome and bloody scene. Of course this was way too violent for kids television, so all instances of the blood dripping down his face at this moment were digitally removed.
#15: Solomon Muto the Pervert
The perverted older man is one of the most overused tropes in all of anime, so it’s no surprise that this also applied to Yugi’s grandfather Solomon Muto. During Kaiba’s KC Grand Championship, Solomon develops a crush for the much younger duelist
Vivian Wong and expressively shows during the gang's encounter with her. The english dub would modify his horny hijinks to him being excited to witness such a duel. Another heavily edited scene between the two is when Solomon injures his back, all moments of him staring lustfully towards her are removed.
#14: Yugi’s Mom
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Another long running trope in anime is the hero's parents being noticeably absent, sometimes even dead. This may be surprising to some but Yugi’s mother is actually briefly shown in the series. Her first appearance is a brief cameo in the hospital alongside Solomon at the end of duelist kingdom. Her more notable appearance is at the beginning of episode 50, where after Yugi speaks to Atem, she asks him who exactly he was talking to. This scene was bizarrely removed entirely from the English dub for no reason whatsoever. Maybe 4Kids thought this brief appearance would have confused kids, but we think they were just going over the top here.
#13: Bandit Keith Alcoholism
Earlier in the series we are shown that Pegasus had humiliated Bandit Keith by getting a child to defeat him in a duel at the Intercontinental Championships. Episode 32 showed us the results of this embarrassment as Bandit Keith’s life had taken a turn for the worst. Everyone’s favorite American duelist is shown to have become addicted to alcohol. He’s even shown to gamble money over duel monsters. Of course there was no way this was ever going to be broadcasted on children's television, and was thus removed.
#12: Rare Hunter Beatdown
4Kids were never ones to shy away from censoring violence, and this scene is a prime example of it. In episode 70 during Battle City, Marik sets up an encounter with the Rare Hunters for him and Joey. The two proceed to get beaten down in gruesome fashion, leading Joey to becoming unconscious. Surprising to no one, most of this scene is cut out by 4Kids. Another notable violent moment later on in the series that was removed is when Joey strikes Yami Yugi right in the face, hoping to make him come to his senses.
#11: Dark Magician Girl
Alongside Dark Magician and the Blue Eyes White Dragon, Dark Magician Girl is one of the most iconic monsters in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Franchise. But she’s also notorious for being one of the most censored parts of the show. Not only is her chest size drastically reduced or digitally drawn out, but it is often covered up. Alongside the removal of the pentagram that we mentioned earlier, there are also times when her outfit is lengthened. And in her debut episode, they even briefly added in a skirt to hide her thighs, though this censor would not be used again down the line.
#10: The Dark Energy Disks
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Yugi’s duel with the twisted Arkana truly was an epic showdown of Dark Magician vs. Dark Magician with incredibly high stakes; however, the final fate of the loser differs between both dubs. In the original Japanese dub, whoever loses the duel would get their legs violently chopped off by a buzzsaw that slowly approaches each time they lose life points. In the American dub, however, the saws are given a blue glow and named “Dark Energy Discs” that send anyone they touch into the ‘Shadow Realm’. Obviously, the idea of a duelist’s leg getting amputated is pretty graphic for kids television, so it was a necessary change by 4kids, even if both duelists were able to make it out of the duel intact.
#9: What REALLY Happened to Marik’s Father?
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Both versions painted a very different picture of Marik Ishtar. The American dub shows him as a power-hungry ex-tomb keeper wanting to steal Yami’s power while the original has Marik only wanting payback for all the pain his heritage caused him… especially thanks to his own father. In the original, Marik puts an end to his dad in the most permanent, and fatal way. To counter this, the English dub has Marik simply banish his father to the Shadow Realm with no trace of the original grisly deed to be found.
#8: Mai’s Harpy Ladies
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We all know Mai Valentine’s true ace in the hole is her Harpie Ladies – ferocious, beautiful… and slightly scandalous. In the original Japanese dub –as well as the actual card game, the Harpies’ attires tend to be very revealing –they also occasionally don armor with… questionable attributes. To keep things kid-friendly, the US dub and international card prints have these vicious beauties covered in bodysuits and armor that are less suggestive. We may not enjoy it, but it’s still marketed as a children’s anime and card game, and not all countries are very lenient on risqué material -even if there’s no real harm.
#7: Mai’s Punishment
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Sometimes a little censoring is understandable in case things get TOO intense –such is the case for Mai’s duel against Yami Marik. Throughout the whole battle, Mai was forced to endure all kinds of torture –most of which had to be edited out in the American dub- as she slowly loses her memories of her friends and loved ones. Her ultimate outcome when she loses is depressing either way – in the English dub, she is trapped in isolation in the Shadow Realm while her memories slowly fade away; while in the original, she’s trapped inside her mind losing her memories until she eventually perishes.
#6: The Fate of Alister’s Brother
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All of Dartz’s minions have their own respective tragic backstories in the “Waking the Dragons” arc –each of which was censored one way or another. The one that really catches our attention is Alister, and how he and his little brother, Mikey, ended up caught in the middle of a war in their country. In the original, Mikey ended up in the crossfire of an exploding tank and perished almost instantly. Whereas in the American version, the flashback is heavily edited and claims that Mikey was captured instead. An understandable change since child fatality is a big no-no for most audiences, and it’s at least nice for them to try something besides using the Shadow Realm as a scapegoat for tragic events.
#5: Lumis and Umbra’s Trap
Some of you may have figured this out by now, but in the original, there WAS no Shadow Realm. It was actually designed for the American dub by 4Kids as a way of toning down the darker elements of the Japanese dub… especially for the more fatal aspects. For example, Yugi and Kaiba’s double duel with Lumis and Umbra on the skyscraper – in the English dub, whoever loses all their life points first would plunge into the Shadow Realm through the glass. In the original, the outcome is a lot more straightforward – the losers plummet through the floor and fall straight to their demise… honestly, we’re still not sure if there’s a difference.
#4: Téa Versus the Mugger/Predator
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Téa and Yugi have been best friends ever since he saved her life, though the setup for the rescue can be told in one of two ways. In the original story, Téa was blackmailed by a creepy man with a video camera –the guy obviously having some perverse intentions. In the American adaptation, the camera is edited out and the creep is a mugger who tricked Téa so he could rob her. The reason for this change is obvious, and much needed as the situation could’ve ended WAY worse. Either way, it leads to a happy ending where Yugi comes in to take out the trash.
#3: FINAL or DEATH?
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You never want to mess with ouija boards… especially one in the hands of Yami Bakura. In his duel with Yugi, he plays the Destiny Board trap card that could guarantee him victory once he plays all four Spirit Message cards over time. In the Japanese version, when all five cards are in play, they spell out the word “DEATH” …a fitting message considering Bakura’s ghoulish strategy. However, the guys at 4Kids thought “Death” was a bit too extreme for their dub, so they had it changed to “FINAL” instead. While “Final” doesn’t quite have the same edge, it still would’ve meant curtains for the King of Games had it not been for Slifer the Sky Dragon winning him the duel.
#2: The Millenium Rod’s Hidden Surprise
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In addition to its terrifying Mind Control powers, it turns out that Marik’s Millennium Rod has a hidden blade in the staff’s shaft. You’d only know that if you watched the Original dub since all known traces of the blade were removed/edited out from the English dub. More than once in the Japanese dub, Yami Marik has snuck into the unconscious Odion’s room and draws the knife, ready to slay his other half’s loyal servant for good. Of course, in the American dub, the blade is edited out, and instead, Yami Marik just plans to send Odion to the Shadow Realm as usual… though the edit is more than a little obvious.
#1: The Finger Guns
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We all knew this one was coming, it’s too hokey not to mention even once. The original Japanese dub wasn’t afraid to have the bad guys pull guns on other characters, but 4Kids recognized how the use of real firearms is taboo for children’s programming. Their ultimate solution – edit the firearms and any instances of them shooting at anyone out of the episodes. Unfortunately, this runs the risk of making the edited scene look silly with the baddies pointing their fingers at someone, trying –and failing- to be intimidating. This infamously goofy edit really waters down the intensity the original anime had to offer, but it definitely makes the English dub memorable one way or another.
