Let’s face it: 4Kids Entertainment botched the English dubs of a lot of animes. One of these was the Yu-Gi-Oh series. Aside from the OBVIOUS violent, religious and sexual scene/script changes, censors, and flat-out omissions (i.e. finger guns, the creation of the fictitious “Shadow Realm” to censor Death, the removal of blood, crosses/crucifixes, punches, guns/knives, etc.), they completely changed the motives and/or backstories of some of the characters (mainly Kaiba, Mai, Pegasus, Marik and the members of Doma), the exciting original soundtrack was thrown overboard for a more ambient soundtrack and intros (“It’s time to Duel!”), the editing was bad (text removal, card design, different graphics/sound effects, etc.), the “humor” was just god-awful, and, worst of all, the voice acting was half-assed and as if the actors didn’t really care about this show. As a result of this carelessness and other scandals, 4Kids Entertainment Inc. officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011, but resurfaced again in 2012 under the new name 4K Media Inc., and became a branch of Konami.
One good example of this half-assery is the three different examples of the summoning of Exodia the Forbidden One. The 4Kids version was so heavily censored and dumbed down for children compared to its original counterpart: They (4Kids) added more points to the pentagram, they removed the hissing of one of the Blue-Eyes White Dragons, the music seems too complicated, killing the suspense in the process, and the voice acting is, again, half-assed and censored to ash when compared to the others. And Yugi doesn’t say “MIND CRUSH” at the end, meaning that millions of kids across America missed out on an epic moment, when there LITERALLY is a Trap card called Mind Crush in the Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game (15800838). Still, one could argue that the 4Kids Exodia scene was so painfully bad, that it actually was iconically good.
Meanwhile, the uncensored and Japanese versions reference miracles, pentagrams, hell fire’s rage, and crushing evil, such heavily religious influences on this scene. They also heavily influence large, silent pauses with the roaring bass of the arena, then abruptly fill it with the Japanese original soundtrack.
Even censorships as small as altering a single word can change the targeted audience for an anime or cartoon. For example, 4Kids dub Yugi says: “I’ve assembled all five SPECIAL cards.” However, the uncensored English dub Yugi says: “I’ve assembled all the five NEEDED cards.” The change from “needed” to “special” suggests 4Kids made Yami Yugi pander to the jargon used by kids. We know Exodia’s win condition. Don’t dumb it down for everyone else.
The uncensored English version, however, still uses the Anglo names and accented voices. But, the workaround for this is that the tones of the characters are much more involved, as if the voice actors actually care about the show. So while “Joey Wheeler”‘s Brooklyn accent is still there, his voice is so emblazoned with the excitement of the victory of his friend, Yugi Muto, that we hardly notice. The same goes for Mokuba Kaiba; he isn’t as in denial as the 4Kids dub, he is only in SHOCK of what just happened over all else. In short, the scene still doesn’t lose it’s heavier mood and influence on religion. Also, neither one mentions the literal phrase “Heart of the Cards”, in reference to drawing the right card at the right time. Just the overall “having your heart and cards as one”, meaning believing in the bond between your deck overall, not playing just for power.
And finally, “Exodo Flame!” is just better than “Obliterate!” “Obliterate!” shows that 4Kids was lazy and in a rush to get the English dub of Yu-Gi-Oh out of production and on air as soon as possible.
So, yeah. Next time somebody says “Yu-Gi-Oh is a children’s show”, show him or her this video.
All footage shown is property of 4K Media Inc., a division of Konami. The Japanese footage was originally aired by NAS • TV Tokyo.
Also, under the Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, I am using the following copyrighted footage for constructive criticism, comment, and educational teaching/research of worldwide animation based on cultures and languages. This is covered under “Fair Use”, and is also guaranteed under my First Amendment rights, granting me my freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition.
So, tell me what you all think. Let me know in the comments below which version you enjoyed the best. If you still think the 4Kids rendition of Exodia the Forbidden One is the best, explain why. I’d love to talk to you about it in the comments. If you prefer the Season Zero or the Manga versions, tell me about them! If you enjoy my all-around content, subscribe and ring that notification bell for whenever I get around to making a new video!
Nguồn: https://soundsofrva.org/
Xem thêm bài viết khác: https://soundsofrva.org/giai-tri/
2:54 N A N I ? ! ? !
The description is incredibly cringey and wrong. The quality of the dialogue and voice acting in the 4Kids dub is leagues better than the literal translation of that test dub and certainly better than the Japanese. Hell, i doubt the uploader is actually capable of judging the Japanese voice acting quality because he probably doesn't speak Japanese, and so has no way to judge it in reality. This is especially provable by how stilted the "better" English dub sounds ("Did you lose all hope and decide to pull any card?" "You're saying you performed a miracle?!"), because it's too closely trying to imitate the Japanese (whose subtitles are already stilted and unnatural in English).
Complaining that a few edits were done to religious iconography is absurd, that has nothing to do with the quality of a dub. And the humor? Sorry, but Japanese humor won't translate well at all, and if all you have is the subtitles then you won't understand a lot of it. Calling the pieces of Exodia "special cards" instead of "needed cards" literally changes nothing in the meaning, because the point is their significance. Hell, immediately afterwords he calls them pieces of a puzzle, obviously referencing hi Millennium Item, so the aspect of "needing all the pieces" of Exodia is still there. This is pure weeaboo nonsense based on nothing of substance. Saying "Exodia, obliterate" isn't lazy, you are out of your mind. "Exodo Flame!" means absolutely nothing to an English speaker (and it doesn't in Japanese either).
You have no idea what the point of dubbing or localization in general is, Jesus Christ.
What even is that second one?
You forgot the Odex Dub! XD
Wait, the good dub still kept the Japanese text in the cards? Oh thank Obelisk! If it aint broke DON'T fix it… Japanese characters look so much better on DuelMonsters than english letters
Where can I find the uncensored dub?
Ok, I grew up on the 4Kids dub, so maybe it's the nostalgia talking, but… "Obilterate!" and "OPEN YOUR MIND!" sound best to me
I have two exodias
“OPEN YOUR MIND” was really good and fits. I also prefer “HELLFIRES RAGE! EXODO FLAMEE!
How does his voice sound like a 30 year old and a body of a 12 year old
All you people bashing on the dub, shut the hell up, sorry just my opinion
And after Exodia used obliterate a franchise was born to take your allowance once more
Obliterate! And, Open your mind! Are hands down the best. So iconic.
I think of the uncut dub and say to myself, this is what the series could've been. Shame it wasn't, though the 4Kids dub version of the scene is iconic
那你!?!?!?!?!? Means *Nani?!?!
Rules? Ha pathetic…
YU-GI-OHHHHHHHH
Commenting on your thing in the description about "needed cards" vs "special cards", in Japanese it just says "5 cards" so I think you're just reaching there.
4Kids is the most iconic and my favorite
Exodia making three blue eyes his bitches definitely set the stone for this show
MY GRAMPA D***
Hehe
Idk I feel like him saying “open your mind” is way more mature
😀
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” -Seto Kaiba
It's interesting to have the original 4Kids version and the uncut version of this scene, so you can really hear how the voices changed over time. By the time they did the uncut version, Kaiba sounded less sinister, and Atem's voice deepened. It really sucks that they only got nine episodes in (and that each volume only had three episodes). I wonder if I ever came across these as a kid but didn't pay them any mind.
Where is the uncensored version from???
AHHH IMPOSSIBLE
Did anyone notice before exodia comes out of green star after he's summoned on the English version there are two stars in place?
4kids has been hated but at least they entertained children rather than indoctrinate them.
I remember watching this as a kid, I got suspended from school for beating up a kid like the next day because I felt like I was him
my man wrote a whole ass essay in the description
Japanese OST is shit. 4kids dub and ost is GOAT.
yugi sounds like a grown man
He is not your grandpa pharaoh 😂
I would prefer watching the 4kids version everytime even its just for the music.
4kids version all day
Uncensored for English. They went up to like ep 12. It would have made a stronger impact as an anime.
3:24
I just love Exodia's design ❤
Yami: Implores Seto to open his heart.
Also Yami: Mind crushes Seto.
I still kinda like the 4kids version more! Yeah there's a lot of censorship that I don't get, like the editing of the cards to take out the name and description (what is up with that?), but I think they nailed the music which easily draws me in, the voice acting is as dramatic and cool as I remember, and Exodia is still top notch.
I admit, now that I'm older and notice the bad editing, I do kinda wish for an unedited version with the swears and adult themes and definitely guns, but they did some edits that I prefer. Like "Shadow Realm" I like more than Hell as it honestly sounds more mystical and mysterious, some card edits I like are Exodia's, which just look like a throwing star in the original's design to me and the biggest example the Barrel Dragon, which was turned from a gun dragon to a laser dragon. I just think a laser dragon is cooler. Also , if I'm not mistaken, there were moments of … attempted rape in this series . . . yeah I'm happy with that being cut out.
Point I'm making, the 4kids dub had its ups and its downs. To me it was half and half.
2:35 DBZ power level sound
One of the biggest flexes in anime
"My grandpa's deck has no pathetic cards, Kaiba. But it does contain… the unstoppable Exodia!"
"… That's Celtic Guardian, Yugi."
"… Oh… crap."
"Yeah, you probably should have looked at what card you drew before flipping it around for me to see and spouting off about it."
I always wondered why the cards in the show looked so different from the real ones. I never knew that they just changed them in the dubbed version. I guess it was to avoid having to translate all of them.
The game is fun but y do they exaggerate so much from losing
IMPOSSIBLE
People are pissing me off, they keep saying Yugi kills Kaiba in Japanese version, but he's alive in the seasons close to end of series when they vs. Marik so Kaiba didn't get killed dammit lol.
this is cringe now