Crazy, keep on driving!
I'm gonna do a post listing the differences between the Japanese and English versions of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, just because. This is only important and general differences, not every single minute difference between the Japanese and English dubs.
The first season of Yu-Gi-Oh! that aired outside of Japan is titled Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Monsters in Japan, but simply Yu-Gi-Oh! elsewhere. In Japan, this is to differentiate it from the previous anime, which was simply titled Yu-Gi-Oh! and made by a different company, which was never dubbed. English speaking fans often refer to this anime as "Season Zero".
First, name changes.
Yugi Muto kept his name, but the pronunciation of his last name was changed from "moo-toh" to "moh-toh" for some reason.
Yami no Yugi (literally "Dark Yugi") became Yami Yugi, with "Yami" being treated as his actual name for a while.
Katsuya Jyonouchi became Joey Wheeler.
Mazaki Anzu became Tea Gardner.
Hiroto Honda became Tristan Taylor.
Sugoroku (Yugi's grandpa) became Solomon.
Dinosaur Ryuzaki became Rex Raptor.
Insector Haga became Weevil Underwood.
Pegasus J. Crawford became Maximillion Pegasus.
"Bandit" Keith S. Howard became just Bandit Keith, as if "Bandit" were his actual name.
Kujaku Mai became Mai Valentine.
Yami no Player Killer (Player Killer of Darkness) became PaniK.
Malik became Marik, though both are pronounced identically in Japanese so people still argue about what the name is actually supposed to be.
Rishid became Odion.
Pandora became Arkana.
Meikyū Kyōdai (Labyrinth Brothers) became the Paradox Brothers.
Mei became Para.
Kyū became Dox.
"Ghost" Kotsuzuka became Bonz.
Mr. Crocketts became Croquet.
Shino Mono Maneshi (Imitator of Death) became Ghost Kaiba. In the Japanese version he was said to be an employee of Industrial Illusions (Pegasus's company) with the power to copy other people's appearances, whereas in the English dub he was said to be Kaiba's evil side that Yugi banished to the Shadow Realm.
Card names:
Magic cards became Spell cards (likely to avoid copyright problems with Magic: The Gathering).
Black Magician became Dark Magician.
Black Magician Girl became Dark Magician Girl.
Black Magic became Dark Magic Attack.
Black Burning became Dark Burning Attack.
Horobi no Burst Stream (Burst Stream of Destruction) became White Lightning.
Chaos Soldier became Black Luster Soldier.
Sacrifice became Relinquished.
Thousand-Eyes Sacrifice became Thousand-Eyes Restrict.
Elf no Kenshi (Elf Swordsman) became Celtic Guardian.
Holy Elf became Mystical Elf.
Seinaru Barrier Mirror Force (Holy Barrier Mirror Force) became just Mirror Force.
Honō no Kenshi became Flame Swordsman (really just a translation).
Shi no Deck Hakai Virus (Deck Destruction Virus of Death) became Crush Card Virus.
Shisha Sosei (Resurrection of the Dead) became Monster Reborn (mistranslated as "Reborn the Monster" in early episodes of the anime).
Cyber Bondage became Cyber Shield.
Migite ni Tate wo Hidarite ni Ken wo (Shield in the Right Hand, Sword in the Left Hand) became just Shield & Sword.
Other changes:
Yami no Sekai (World of Darkness) became Shadow Realm. Yes, there is such a thing as the Shadow Realm in the Japanese version, but it's a rather different thing from what it became in the dub. In the original, the Shadow Realm is a realm where Shadow Games take place, hence the name, and essentially functions as a pocket dimension which prevents outsiders from interfering with the game, or players from leaving the game until there is a winner. It also causes all duelists to feel the damage their cards take as actual damage to them. If you think about what happens when Pegasus duels Yugi in the Duelist Kingdom finals, that's what the Shadow Realm is.
Naturally, many instances of death in the original anime were censored as "being sent to the Shadow Realm" in the dub. One time this didn't happen, incidentally, was with Yugi's duel with PaniK (Yami no Player Killer originally), where in both versions it was made clear that the loser would be "burned to a crisp".
Some plot points were changed occasionally. In the original, Yami no Bakura kidnaps the soulless Mokuba because he wants the information about Kaiba Corp that Seto trusted Mokuba with. In the dub, he kidnaps Mokuba because he wants a new soulless body to inhabit. Both versions later made it clear that Ryou Bakura is the only person whom Dark Bakura can possess.
The second episode of the dub had Pegasus explain the origin of the game Duel Monsters to Yugi, almost a whole season before it was actually revealed in the Japanese version. Surprisingly, everyone still acts shocked during the actual reveal. The original version just had Pegasus taunting Yugi.
The first season of Yu-Gi-Oh! that aired outside of Japan is titled Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Monsters in Japan, but simply Yu-Gi-Oh! elsewhere. In Japan, this is to differentiate it from the previous anime, which was simply titled Yu-Gi-Oh! and made by a different company, which was never dubbed. English speaking fans often refer to this anime as "Season Zero".
First, name changes.
Yugi Muto kept his name, but the pronunciation of his last name was changed from "moo-toh" to "moh-toh" for some reason.
Yami no Yugi (literally "Dark Yugi") became Yami Yugi, with "Yami" being treated as his actual name for a while.
Katsuya Jyonouchi became Joey Wheeler.
Mazaki Anzu became Tea Gardner.
Hiroto Honda became Tristan Taylor.
Sugoroku (Yugi's grandpa) became Solomon.
Dinosaur Ryuzaki became Rex Raptor.
Insector Haga became Weevil Underwood.
Pegasus J. Crawford became Maximillion Pegasus.
"Bandit" Keith S. Howard became just Bandit Keith, as if "Bandit" were his actual name.
Kujaku Mai became Mai Valentine.
Yami no Player Killer (Player Killer of Darkness) became PaniK.
Malik became Marik, though both are pronounced identically in Japanese so people still argue about what the name is actually supposed to be.
Rishid became Odion.
Pandora became Arkana.
Meikyū Kyōdai (Labyrinth Brothers) became the Paradox Brothers.
Mei became Para.
Kyū became Dox.
"Ghost" Kotsuzuka became Bonz.
Mr. Crocketts became Croquet.
Shino Mono Maneshi (Imitator of Death) became Ghost Kaiba. In the Japanese version he was said to be an employee of Industrial Illusions (Pegasus's company) with the power to copy other people's appearances, whereas in the English dub he was said to be Kaiba's evil side that Yugi banished to the Shadow Realm.
Card names:
Magic cards became Spell cards (likely to avoid copyright problems with Magic: The Gathering).
Black Magician became Dark Magician.
Black Magician Girl became Dark Magician Girl.
Black Magic became Dark Magic Attack.
Black Burning became Dark Burning Attack.
Horobi no Burst Stream (Burst Stream of Destruction) became White Lightning.
Chaos Soldier became Black Luster Soldier.
Sacrifice became Relinquished.
Thousand-Eyes Sacrifice became Thousand-Eyes Restrict.
Elf no Kenshi (Elf Swordsman) became Celtic Guardian.
Holy Elf became Mystical Elf.
Seinaru Barrier Mirror Force (Holy Barrier Mirror Force) became just Mirror Force.
Honō no Kenshi became Flame Swordsman (really just a translation).
Shi no Deck Hakai Virus (Deck Destruction Virus of Death) became Crush Card Virus.
Shisha Sosei (Resurrection of the Dead) became Monster Reborn (mistranslated as "Reborn the Monster" in early episodes of the anime).
Cyber Bondage became Cyber Shield.
Migite ni Tate wo Hidarite ni Ken wo (Shield in the Right Hand, Sword in the Left Hand) became just Shield & Sword.
Other changes:
Yami no Sekai (World of Darkness) became Shadow Realm. Yes, there is such a thing as the Shadow Realm in the Japanese version, but it's a rather different thing from what it became in the dub. In the original, the Shadow Realm is a realm where Shadow Games take place, hence the name, and essentially functions as a pocket dimension which prevents outsiders from interfering with the game, or players from leaving the game until there is a winner. It also causes all duelists to feel the damage their cards take as actual damage to them. If you think about what happens when Pegasus duels Yugi in the Duelist Kingdom finals, that's what the Shadow Realm is.
Naturally, many instances of death in the original anime were censored as "being sent to the Shadow Realm" in the dub. One time this didn't happen, incidentally, was with Yugi's duel with PaniK (Yami no Player Killer originally), where in both versions it was made clear that the loser would be "burned to a crisp".
Some plot points were changed occasionally. In the original, Yami no Bakura kidnaps the soulless Mokuba because he wants the information about Kaiba Corp that Seto trusted Mokuba with. In the dub, he kidnaps Mokuba because he wants a new soulless body to inhabit. Both versions later made it clear that Ryou Bakura is the only person whom Dark Bakura can possess.
The second episode of the dub had Pegasus explain the origin of the game Duel Monsters to Yugi, almost a whole season before it was actually revealed in the Japanese version. Surprisingly, everyone still acts shocked during the actual reveal. The original version just had Pegasus taunting Yugi.
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