tyrantyoshi
Dec 22nd, 2004, 09:34 PM
You may be asking, what is this? I'll tell you. This is an article I wrote some time ago, originally posted on http://www.xerocreative.com. After getting some positive repsonse, I decided to start a petition to get uncensored cards. I have been posting this on many YGO forums, asking for you support. Please, sign it here http://www.petitiononline.com/a5678/petition.html
The petition itself is not online, I am actually going to mail it to Konami. Read the article below and please sign!
To see all the cards that have been censored, click here http://upnetwork.net/kurai/mask.php?kuragari=edits
Hello peoples. As you know, everyone hates censorship, and censorship on the art on Yu-Gi-Oh cards is no exception.
The topic that inspired me to write this is here.
http://www.xerocreative.com/forums/index.p...howtopic=111849
As you can see, censorship really screws up a card. What is that? A lightblub? A lollipop? We will never know. One thing is for certain though, we don't want a stupid yellow thing on top of the gun.
Thus, I am going to take a trip down memory lane, and discuss the censorship of YGO cards. Please read the whole thing, as there is a section at the end that tells you, yes you, how you can help.
The bucthering of YGO is famous. From the disgusting English presentation of the anime, to the censorship of any PG rated card, censorship has really gotten on our nerves.
The originality of the censoring of YGO cards began with this little fella.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/tyrantyoshi/012.bmp
Trial of Hell was an early card. He was released in the Legend of Blue Eyes series of cards. Later, his name was changed to Trial of Nightmare.
The first question that arises...why? Why did they change the name of this card? Konami's argument would probably be....
"Hell is an offensive word that should not be used around children."
So, you probably don't want your 5 year old yelling Hell out all the time...but wait....if the parents don't want him to see the word, why are they buying the cards? This, my friend, is the major flaw of the system.
We all know its not a kids game. It has over 40 pages of card rulings, a extremely long manual, and takes the average person more than 2 months to get everthing about the game down. Even then, they're will be things they don't know, such as card rulings.
Kids WB are the one's responsible for giving it the kiddie image. They have destroyed the anime and turned it into the next Pokemon... Thus, Konami felt that the card game had to go along with the kiddie image. Perhaps this is the real reason behind their censorship?
Moving on....
Next, we take a look at the most famous censored card of all time: Gemini Elf.
Here are the English and Japenes versions side by side (note: to avoid advertising, I removed the name of the website where I got these)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/tyrantyoshi/elfs.jpg
As you can see, some extra clothing was added to the elves. The question again...why Konami, why? Want to avoid possible [Censored] appeal?
If thats the case....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/tyrantyoshi/ama.jpg
Why are those cards like that? They are even more underdressed than the elves! Is it because Konami didn't want to be criticized again? Perhaps they actually made the right desicion?
[Censored] appeal is all over the place. Most young girls' idols dress in skanky clad clothing all the time. But the artwork on the card is just that, art. Kids are allowed to look at nude stuff in art musems, but this is bad? Once again, Konami needs to get the facts straight and realize what they are doing isn't helping but rather hurting the game.
Then we get to the thrid case...religious imagery.
Konami's repsonse-"We don't want to offend religiuos groups, so, card artowrk is altered to prevent that."
Really, what dosen't offend religious groups today? They are always complaining about something! Konami dosen't want the symbol of black magic in the background (that star behind Dark Magician and Exodia in the Japenese version), yet, cards like Call of The Haunted and Saint Joan feature things like crosses. It's based on MYTHOLOGY. I sincerley doubt any of us will be consumed by the forces of darkness because we play a card game where some characters are demons and wizards.
Changing fiend to demon dosen't do a thing. They mean the same thing. Plus, Magic The Gathering has lots of refrences to religion, but are those cards censored? No, they aren't.
Then we get to guns...
Well, isnt Konami screwing up on this one. Honestly, will a kid really go out and shoot everything in sight just because he/she sees a gun on a card? NO! Guns are in all kinds of cartoons, Batman, Spiderman, heck, THERE ARE EVEN GUNS IN SOME CARTOON NETWORK KIDS SHOWS! But, for some reason, guns in Yu-Gi-Oh is bad...well, at least some guns. Perhaps Konami has something against foreign art.
For some reason, certain guns are worst than others. Buster Rancher has a picture of a guy with a 60 foot high gun and a name that represents he wants to shoot something. Also,Overdrive includes a mounted machine gun in the card art with grenades flying out in the back, and Barrel Behind the Door features a loaded shotgun ready to shoot someone. However, Don Zaloog and Tatical Espionage Expert had their artwork altered. The original picture of Don Zaloog looked like this....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/tyrantyoshi/Ph-29.jpg
However, in the English version of the card, the guns where replaced with swords. Then we go to Tatical Espionage Expert. I metioned him earlier, but this is a another good example of censorship. We can easily tell it is a gun under whatever the heck it is that is on top of it, so why alter the artwork? It is stupid. Like I metioned, guns are in all kinds of G rated things, so, why is this an exception?
Some other examples of card art alteration would be Ring of Destruction, in which the grenades on the ring where changed into fire. Once again, we ask, why. So, they don't want to refrence an explosive device...ok, then why do cards like Bombardment Beetle and Self Destruct Button stay un-altered? It just dosen't make sense. The original art was used in the GBA games...and did Konami get any complaints? No, they didn't. So why alter the art Konami, why?
The cards we most want to see uncensored are probably:
Ring of Destruction
Tatical Espionage Expert
Gemini Elf
Don Zaloog
We need to stop asking questions and start looking for answers.
This is how you can help.
https://www.konami.co.jp/inquiry/cgi-bin/in...PAGE_NAME=index (https://www.konami.co.jp/inquiry/cgi-bin/inquiry02.cgi?PAGE_NAME=index)
That is the idea section of Konami. Tell them we want uncensored cards. Tell them we would buy them if they where made accessible to us. You could also tell them that it would be cool if we could send in our censored cards for ones with original artwork. What we have to do is be nice, don't yell at them. Describe your veiws in a calm manner. Tell them that you WILL buy uncensored cards if they are made avaible.
Another way you can help.
Address : 1400 Bridge Parkway, Suite 101, Redwood City, CA 94065-1567 U.S.A.
Business Activity : Holding company in the U.S.
That is Konami's contact info. Send them a business letter! Make it official. Tell them you want to buy uncensored cards.
OK. I AM USING ALL CAPS BECAUSE THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE ARTICLE.
I am going to start a project. I am going to write a letter to Konami. I need you to help me. I need your signature. What your signature will mean is this.
1. If UDE makes uncensored cards, I will buy them.
2. The majority of the YGO playing Public wants this.
3. Offer some way, such as trading in censored art cards, for original art cards, to obtain uncensored cards.
It's a petition really. So I need your signature. Please, I'm counting on your support. If you want to sign it, the link is here http://www.petitiononline.com/a5678/petition.html
Operation Uncensored YGO Art has begun, and we need your help!
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Tell your friends about it, too.
This will work. How do you think we got uncut YGO DVDs? We did things like this.
The petition itself is not online, I am actually going to mail it to Konami. Read the article below and please sign!
To see all the cards that have been censored, click here http://upnetwork.net/kurai/mask.php?kuragari=edits
Hello peoples. As you know, everyone hates censorship, and censorship on the art on Yu-Gi-Oh cards is no exception.
The topic that inspired me to write this is here.
http://www.xerocreative.com/forums/index.p...howtopic=111849
As you can see, censorship really screws up a card. What is that? A lightblub? A lollipop? We will never know. One thing is for certain though, we don't want a stupid yellow thing on top of the gun.
Thus, I am going to take a trip down memory lane, and discuss the censorship of YGO cards. Please read the whole thing, as there is a section at the end that tells you, yes you, how you can help.
The bucthering of YGO is famous. From the disgusting English presentation of the anime, to the censorship of any PG rated card, censorship has really gotten on our nerves.
The originality of the censoring of YGO cards began with this little fella.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/tyrantyoshi/012.bmp
Trial of Hell was an early card. He was released in the Legend of Blue Eyes series of cards. Later, his name was changed to Trial of Nightmare.
The first question that arises...why? Why did they change the name of this card? Konami's argument would probably be....
"Hell is an offensive word that should not be used around children."
So, you probably don't want your 5 year old yelling Hell out all the time...but wait....if the parents don't want him to see the word, why are they buying the cards? This, my friend, is the major flaw of the system.
We all know its not a kids game. It has over 40 pages of card rulings, a extremely long manual, and takes the average person more than 2 months to get everthing about the game down. Even then, they're will be things they don't know, such as card rulings.
Kids WB are the one's responsible for giving it the kiddie image. They have destroyed the anime and turned it into the next Pokemon... Thus, Konami felt that the card game had to go along with the kiddie image. Perhaps this is the real reason behind their censorship?
Moving on....
Next, we take a look at the most famous censored card of all time: Gemini Elf.
Here are the English and Japenes versions side by side (note: to avoid advertising, I removed the name of the website where I got these)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/tyrantyoshi/elfs.jpg
As you can see, some extra clothing was added to the elves. The question again...why Konami, why? Want to avoid possible [Censored] appeal?
If thats the case....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/tyrantyoshi/ama.jpg
Why are those cards like that? They are even more underdressed than the elves! Is it because Konami didn't want to be criticized again? Perhaps they actually made the right desicion?
[Censored] appeal is all over the place. Most young girls' idols dress in skanky clad clothing all the time. But the artwork on the card is just that, art. Kids are allowed to look at nude stuff in art musems, but this is bad? Once again, Konami needs to get the facts straight and realize what they are doing isn't helping but rather hurting the game.
Then we get to the thrid case...religious imagery.
Konami's repsonse-"We don't want to offend religiuos groups, so, card artowrk is altered to prevent that."
Really, what dosen't offend religious groups today? They are always complaining about something! Konami dosen't want the symbol of black magic in the background (that star behind Dark Magician and Exodia in the Japenese version), yet, cards like Call of The Haunted and Saint Joan feature things like crosses. It's based on MYTHOLOGY. I sincerley doubt any of us will be consumed by the forces of darkness because we play a card game where some characters are demons and wizards.
Changing fiend to demon dosen't do a thing. They mean the same thing. Plus, Magic The Gathering has lots of refrences to religion, but are those cards censored? No, they aren't.
Then we get to guns...
Well, isnt Konami screwing up on this one. Honestly, will a kid really go out and shoot everything in sight just because he/she sees a gun on a card? NO! Guns are in all kinds of cartoons, Batman, Spiderman, heck, THERE ARE EVEN GUNS IN SOME CARTOON NETWORK KIDS SHOWS! But, for some reason, guns in Yu-Gi-Oh is bad...well, at least some guns. Perhaps Konami has something against foreign art.
For some reason, certain guns are worst than others. Buster Rancher has a picture of a guy with a 60 foot high gun and a name that represents he wants to shoot something. Also,Overdrive includes a mounted machine gun in the card art with grenades flying out in the back, and Barrel Behind the Door features a loaded shotgun ready to shoot someone. However, Don Zaloog and Tatical Espionage Expert had their artwork altered. The original picture of Don Zaloog looked like this....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/tyrantyoshi/Ph-29.jpg
However, in the English version of the card, the guns where replaced with swords. Then we go to Tatical Espionage Expert. I metioned him earlier, but this is a another good example of censorship. We can easily tell it is a gun under whatever the heck it is that is on top of it, so why alter the artwork? It is stupid. Like I metioned, guns are in all kinds of G rated things, so, why is this an exception?
Some other examples of card art alteration would be Ring of Destruction, in which the grenades on the ring where changed into fire. Once again, we ask, why. So, they don't want to refrence an explosive device...ok, then why do cards like Bombardment Beetle and Self Destruct Button stay un-altered? It just dosen't make sense. The original art was used in the GBA games...and did Konami get any complaints? No, they didn't. So why alter the art Konami, why?
The cards we most want to see uncensored are probably:
Ring of Destruction
Tatical Espionage Expert
Gemini Elf
Don Zaloog
We need to stop asking questions and start looking for answers.
This is how you can help.
https://www.konami.co.jp/inquiry/cgi-bin/in...PAGE_NAME=index (https://www.konami.co.jp/inquiry/cgi-bin/inquiry02.cgi?PAGE_NAME=index)
That is the idea section of Konami. Tell them we want uncensored cards. Tell them we would buy them if they where made accessible to us. You could also tell them that it would be cool if we could send in our censored cards for ones with original artwork. What we have to do is be nice, don't yell at them. Describe your veiws in a calm manner. Tell them that you WILL buy uncensored cards if they are made avaible.
Another way you can help.
Address : 1400 Bridge Parkway, Suite 101, Redwood City, CA 94065-1567 U.S.A.
Business Activity : Holding company in the U.S.
That is Konami's contact info. Send them a business letter! Make it official. Tell them you want to buy uncensored cards.
OK. I AM USING ALL CAPS BECAUSE THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE ARTICLE.
I am going to start a project. I am going to write a letter to Konami. I need you to help me. I need your signature. What your signature will mean is this.
1. If UDE makes uncensored cards, I will buy them.
2. The majority of the YGO playing Public wants this.
3. Offer some way, such as trading in censored art cards, for original art cards, to obtain uncensored cards.
It's a petition really. So I need your signature. Please, I'm counting on your support. If you want to sign it, the link is here http://www.petitiononline.com/a5678/petition.html
Operation Uncensored YGO Art has begun, and we need your help!
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Tell your friends about it, too.
This will work. How do you think we got uncut YGO DVDs? We did things like this.