{"id":296124,"date":"2024-07-30T17:15:09","date_gmt":"2024-07-30T09:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snkrdunk.com\/en\/magazine\/?p=296124"},"modified":"2024-07-30T17:36:19","modified_gmt":"2024-07-30T09:36:19","slug":"yu-gi-oh-tcg-censored-yu-gi-oh-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snkrdunk.com\/en\/magazine\/2024\/07\/30\/yu-gi-oh-tcg-censored-yu-gi-oh-cards\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything to Know About Yu-Gi-Oh TCG Card Censorship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While it may be an unexpected fact to some, it\u2019s nevertheless true that the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG is no stranger to controversy. A notable part of this controversy can be seen in censored Yu-Gi-Oh cards; this censorship typically occurs after the cards are reprinted abroad. This is due to differences in sociocultural norms between Japan and the rest of the world in matters such as religion, violence\/gore, and sexuality, among other matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Card censorship in the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG can broadly be divided into several categories. The vast majority of Yu-Gi-Oh TCG card censorship relates to religion, violence\/gore, firearms, and sexuality; there are also a few outlier examples which don\u2019t fit into any of these categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Religious References<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Among the main examples of religion-related censorship in the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG are cards which have had a hexagram, better known by most as a \u201cStar of David\u201d, removed. Since the Jewish population in Japan is extremely small, most people there would not immediately make the association between the hexagram and its religious context. However, outside Japan it\u2019s much more likely for such cards to be seen as trivializing Judaism and thus inherently anti-Semitic; thus, all hexagrams on Yu-Gi-Oh TCG cards were cut when they went abroad. Among these cards are Double Spell, Magicians Unite, and Owner\u2019s Seal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many Yu-Gi-Oh TCG cards also reference Christianity. Once again, there\u2019s a cultural disconnect because of the small Christian population of Japan; hence, the symbolism of the crucifix doesn\u2019t \u201ccarry\u201d in quite the same way in Japan as it does abroad, leading to more instances of some considering the cards\u2019 illustrations to trivialize the religion. For this reason, cards such as Card of Last Will, Grand Convergence, and Mystical Donator all had their respective crucifix imagery removed in their international versions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, elements such as pentagrams and demonic horns are almost always removed from international cards\u2019 illustrations. In the 1980s and 1990s, many people in the West were taken in by the idea of the \u201cSatanic panic\u201d, when vast swathes of pop culture were incorrectly linked with Satanism. While there obviously aren\u2019t any links between Yu-Gi-Oh and Satanism, it would nevertheless have been a really bad look when the cards went abroad. Thus, cards such as Chaos Scepter Blast, Fiend\u2019s Hand Mirror, and Dark Magician Chaos, among others, had related imagery scrubbed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Violence\/Gore<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Social taboos against visual displays of violence and gore in media are generally stronger in the West than they are in Japan. For this reason, many cards were censored in their international versions. For example, blades and axes shown on characters in illustrations are either removed or obscured in the international card versions. Some cards for which this censorship took place include Zombino, Frightfur Wolf, and Bad Aim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the most notable examples of card censorship related to violence and gore are those which involve blood. In Japanese media and pop culture, depictions of blood aren\u2019t deemed as \u201cinappropriate\u201d as they are in the West; hence, if the cards with illustrations that do have blood in them were left uncensored, many people abroad might find the cards off-putting. Some cards which experienced censorship of blood imagery include Junk Puppet, Rigorous Reaver, and Super Rejuvenation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All references to deaths via violent means are censored in international prints of Yu-Gi-Oh TCG cards. The censored illustration of the Dramatic Rescue card depicts a girl who\u2019s tied to a tree instead of having a hand in a guillotine. Butterflyoke\u2019s sanitized version, meanwhile, removes a hand in a pond to delete the allusion to a drowning person. Another example is the international version of Wattcancel which replaces an Ojama Yellow being electrocuted to death with an image of a red X with a lightning bolt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Firearms<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Cards that depict firearms are also subject to censorship in their international versions (yes, that also includes the US. Surprised?). Guns are usually either redrawn to look less realistic (examples: Gatling Dragon, Meklord Emperor Skiel) or replaced by lasers (examples: Machina Defender, Twin-Barrel Dragon).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grenades, such as in Ring of Destruction, and cannons, such as in Junk Box, aren\u2019t spared either. They might be redrawn or even outright removed from censored international versions. Even bullet shells are scrubbed from these censored illustrations. Cards for which such applies include Magical Musket – Last Stand and Igknight Reload.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sexuality<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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When most people think of the word \u201ccensorship\u201d, they\u2019ll usually relate it to sexual content first. True to this idea, much sexual content is indeed excised from international cards\u2019 artwork. There are way too many examples to provide a succinct list of specific cards; however, what we will do is provide several methods by which sexual or suggestive content is censored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n