Yu-Gi-Oh! Has an Iconic Anime Dub But It Completely Butchered Yugi’s Best Arc

Few anime dubs are as iconic as Yu-Gi-Oh!’s. The stellar and hammy vocal performances of the English cast always found a way to make the story as engaging as possible, even with how much it was watered down from the original Japanese, and over 20 years later, it remains one of the most memorable English dubs of all time.

As iconic as Yu-Gi-Oh!’s English dub might be, it’s unfortunately also rather infamous. Like with many anime licensed by 4Kids Entertainment, Yu-Gi-Oh!’s English dub often heavily altered the story to either simplify things or inject often pointless comedy into the script, and in one of the most egregious examples of the dub changing things, Yu-Gi-Oh!’s English dub completely butchered Yugi’s best arc from the original Japanese dub and the manga. Whether that ruins the anime for English fans will vary depending on the person, but with how great an arc it was, it’s ultimately a letdown, regardless.

How Yu-Gi-Oh!’s English Dub Completely Changed A Major Arc

One Of 4Kids’ Biggest Changes To Yu-Gi-Oh! Explained

Yugi’s major character arc in Yu-Gi-Oh! was about him learning how to be a strong person, and that showed itself mostly in his relationship with Atem. As Atem began his quest to regain his memories, Yugi realized that Atem regaining his memories would mean that he would have to leave him someday, but Yugi nonetheless resolved to help him. By Yu-Gi-Oh!‘s final arc, Yugi was still uncomfortable with letting Atem go, but by beating him in the Ceremonial Battle, Yugi completed his arc of becoming his own person and was finally ready to face the world on his own.

Yugi’s character arc was a great one, but it was completely ruined in the English dub. While the original Japanese dub was very upfront about Yugi helping Atem regain his memories and what that meant, Yu-Gi-Oh!’s English dub cut out nearly all discussion of Yugi’s arc of becoming strong and Atem’s need to find his memories, replacing it all with generic dialogue about destiny and saving the world up until the final season. Because of that, the way Yugi’s arc ends feels far more abrupt than it was supposed to, and the show is ultimately worse off for it.

Why Yugi & Atem’s Arc Was So Important To The Anime

Yugi & Atem’s Best Character Arc Explained

Yu-Gi-Oh!’s English dub butchering Yugi’s main arc was a big deal not just for Yugi, but for Atem, as well. For Yugi, his need to become his own person was the driving force of his entire character, and while it wasn’t as pronounced as in the manga, it still gave him a lot of depth as a character in the anime. As such, the butchering of Yugi’s arc in Yu-Gi-Oh!’s English dub makes him come off as far less interesting a character than he’s supposed to be, even though he’s supposed to be just as engaging as Atem.

The absence of that arc was also bad for Atem’s character, as well. Yugi’s growth throughout the series also fed into Atem’s growth, as seeing Yugi grow up helped ease him into the idea that it would be okay for them to be separated one day, so Yu-Gi-Oh!’s English dub completely changing Yugi’s arc meant that Atem couldn’t also grow as a person by watching it play out. The English dub tried to make up for that by giving Atem more dialogue centered around saving the world, but unfortunately, that usually just made him feel more one-note, than anything.

While Yu-Gi-Oh! is a story about magic and card games, at its core, it’s supposed to be a story about growing up and all the good and bad that comes with it. As sad as Yugi and Atem’s separation was, they both know that they’ve grown enough to be okay with everything, so the story still ends on an optimistic, if not bittersweet note. That doesn’t work in the English dub, however, as Yu-Gi-Oh!’s English dub butchering Yugi’s character arc removes most of the nuance of his and Atem’s stories, and the ending is all the weaker for it.

Why 4Kids Might Have Changed Yu-Gi-Oh!’s Biggest Arc

Was There A Point To Changing Yu-Gi-Oh!’s Story?

The way 4Kids Entertainment changed such an important arc in Yu-Gi-Oh! is nothing but tragic, but it’s not impossible to understand why they did it. Like many of their anime, Yu-Gi-Oh! was heavily marketed to children far more than in Japan, and no matter the era, there’s an assumption that children respond better to stories that are kept as simple as possible. With that in mind, 4Kids Entertainment might have changed Yugi’s arc in Yu-Gi-Oh! to make things easier for kids to understand, and that’s especially likely when looking at shows like Pokemon, Shaman King, and One Piece, as well.

Yu-Gi-Oh! was one of the biggest anime in the world when anime was at its peak of popularity in the 90s and early 2000s, and over 20 years later, the franchise is still held in high regard both because of nostalgia and because of its own merits, and much of that is owed to how popular the original anime was. All the changes done to Yu-Gi-Oh!’s story in the English dub ultimately helped the series become as popular as it is, and while it might be worse off for it narratively, the same can’t be said about it financially.

Does Losing Yugi & Atem’s Arc Ruin Yu-Gi-Oh!’s English Dub?

Is Yu-Gi-Oh!’s English Dub Still Worth Watching?

Yu-Gi-Oh!’s English dub only suffers from losing Yugi and Atem’s big arc, but whether or not that ruins the show is another issue, entirely. While the absence of their arc erases much of the emotional weight and nuance of the anime, the dub is still fun to watch thanks to the great vocal performances and how well the story is conveyed, even with all the changes and censorship. There’s a lot lost in the lack of seriousness, but overall, Yu-Gi-Oh!’s English dub is still fun to watch, despite how different the story it is from the original Japanese.

Fortunately, even people who have a problem with the English dub have plenty of alternatives at their disposal. Nowadays, Yu-Gi-Oh!’s original Japanese dub is available for streaming on most platforms, so if someone wants to see what things were like with the original script, it’s easy enough for modern Yu-Gi-Oh! fans to watch the series in Japanese and gain a proper understanding of Yugi and Atem’s arc. That doesn’t make up for how badly it was butchered in the English dub, but at the very least, it still allows for as optimal a Yu-Gi-Oh! viewing experience as possible.