Top 20 Most Censored Yu-Gi-Oh! Moments

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.