Why Yu-Gi-Oh Cards Look Different in the Anime

[@ToughNut]

I always thought it was because they didn't wanna bother with animating so much tiny text, and like you said - it looks cleaner

[@wolfhurricane897]

And the fact the original cards had Japanese text on them which could be an editing nightmare.

[@ToughNut]

@@wolfhurricane897 yep exactly

[@ChaoticKey]

Same actually.

[@KaoruMzk]

4Kids would have just removed the text and left the effect box empty. That would have been easier than changing the entire card layout, but regulations forced them to put effort.

[@Acerama]

Honestly, same

[@budgetgambler4306]

I always thought it was cool how they memorized all the card effects without reading the text, like it was the tablets in the ancient egypt games

[@christopherb501]

Truly, the Vrains and Arc-V players must be the brainiest/nerdiest, as to memorize all of THAT.

[@swisschese1323]

Damn imagine playing mirror matches like in anime with those cards: Duelist A: "I activate Salamangreat Foxy's secondary effect to special summon it from the grave and destroy a Trap Card you control" Duelist B: "Oh shit it can do that??"

[@zerobits4763]

​@@christopherb501both Vrains and arc V used a more advanced technology, even in Arc V was shown that duelists had the option to click on their opponent card via their tablet and have a reading of their card effect (but few duelist read the cards just like irl)

[@Mr.Bubbles42]

My thought exactly. It made sense to my kid brain that part of being a master of the game was memorizing all of the cards affects.

[@swisschese1323]

@@zerobits4763 iirc Soulburner straight up ask the Appliencers user what his cards can do instead of reading them, so maybe that technology isn't available in Vrains and duelists just kinda have to remember their opponent cards.

[@evilmasterstudios]

It’s funny how they were changed to avoid “Product Placement” when the entire series is a Product Placement.

[@leviticuspagelus]

It's not product placement at all. The Manga and Anime came out before the TCG ever did. Plus Product Placement is more like putting a product front and center for no reason other than advertising. Even most of the 80s cartoons like Transformers, GI Joe and He- Man were made to sell the toys and were essentially advertisements made for kids.

[@sig1680]

​@@leviticuspagelus😂🤦‍♂️

[@fluffyninja3467]

No. No it wasn't lmao

[@muhammadrazziqbinmohdnazzr7065]

​@@fluffyninja3467im confused on how the whole show about playing cards made to sell those playing cards arent product placements?

[@unsuspectingvisitor]

Except season 0

[@123coincollector]

I wish the TCG would release an actual promo of these cards.

[@BoxWizard]

Give it time, thats the kind of thing Konami might actually do.

[@flamboyantwarlock7101]

@@BoxWizard They've had 25 years. It would've happened by now.

[@BoxWizard]

@@flamboyantwarlock7101 Never underestimate the power of nostalgia lol

[@jackryderproductions1030]

​@@BoxWizardand greed

[@djhowell5273]

​@@flamboyantwarlock710125 japan years. Yu gi oh didnt come here till after 2000

[@mrevilducky]

I always loved the real life cards used in Pyramid of Light

[@KingRogue]

And in Dark Side of Dimensions

[@blackmetal4546]

Somehow I never noticed the cards were different in the movie.

[@SalivationNation]

@@blackmetal4546like the text being backwards lol

[@johanmaserati3997]

Look the série in vost

[@emreekinci4258]

I remember that during Tea vs Mai duel, Tea was saying "if only I remembered what was this card's effect" suggesting that you have to memorise them from... somewhere. I thought that was why duel academy existed lol

[@ItApproaches]

There is lots of times this type of thing comes up. Pegasus's Toon World, nobody knew how the hell it worked. Winged Dragon Of Ra's chant and all of it's powers only Marik knew. (At the time, though Kaiba magically knew most of it lol) Jinzo in battle city when it screwed with Joey, he didn't know it's power, or Legendary Fissureman or Insect Queen lol. Time Wizard with Joey...he just used it and hoped for the best lol. Dark Magician Girl in the duel with Arkana, he didn't know what her ability was. Plenty of others, I actually like it that way, if you don't know what the card your opponent plays does, to bad for you, you have to find out the hard way, no walking over and looking at the card slowing the duel down lol. If the real cards all had the anime look, then it would force people to use their brains and improve their memorization skills. In every series of Yugioh they always are like WHAT!! What does that do! Then the opponent gets to describe it's power as they use it. More dramatic and keeps the flow going.

[@justalyx7952]

@@ItApproaches kaiba didnt magically know any effects he ran simulations and figured some of it out.

[@martinduncan3765]

I remember that duel I just kind of assume they had to have all the cards memorized really just made up the effects on the spot

[@Trey5S5S]

​@@ItApproachesDude, people can't even agree on the effects now when we can read them. Having to memorize the effects would lead to all sorts of conflicts and ruling nightmares

[@ItApproaches]

@@Trey5S5S Are you familiar with the cartoon Metabots? If so, we just need a Mr. Referee! Also Duel disks would display the cards abilities if you needed it, like in Dungeon Dice Monsters, Duke didn't tell Yugi much of any of the rules, but Yugi still used the computer system to look up the dice effects and such.

[@DidIDoGoodMum]

I really thought they did that on purpose. Because there are so many instances where duellists don‘t know the effects of cards and I thought it‘s because you have to learn them instead of just read them on a card :D

[@flamboyantwarlock7101]

Same. But then Battle City kinda breaks that illusion when they start talking about the ancient egyptian text on Ra that you can't see.

[@DidIDoGoodMum]

@@flamboyantwarlock7101 well it‘s only Marik who really knows the effect. Kaiba literally spends hours on end studying the ancient Egyptian texts about Ra to figure out what he can and can‘t do. Marik even says that‘s one of his (edit 2: wording [not „benefits“]) advantages in the duel that he‘s the only one to know all of Ra‘s effects and even how to summon him and control him. Edit: plus Kaiba only hosts the Battle city tournament to see what the ancient Egyptian gods can do and get them for himself.

[@pepito69]

:D

[@la8ball]

Yeah. Like when Yugi got Stone Soldier to attack the moon or Yugi killed all those monsters under Castle of Illusions but destroying its gravity ring.

[@DidIDoGoodMum]

@@la8ball couldn‘t have done all that if everyone would have known the effects of the monsters 😂

[@fabiosiqueiradub]

I always thought the anime cards look so MUCH better! Also, the normal monsters didn't had effect so the text box wouldn't make difference. When I was a kid I imagined that the characters would receive a paper with all the effects of spell and traps cards and had to memorize them or learn with other duelists. That made sense to me when characters said things like "you don't know how to use this card"

[@doctorcardio1559]

thats a rly cool theory

[@tmc1637]

I always liked the mystery without text, like you had to be a real expert and do the research to know hidden abilities, etc. rather than just reading it. It also made more sense when they were shocked or surprised in the anime at hidden effects used by an opponent.

[@ItApproaches]

Sadly that wont work in our world in duels as people would just make shit up lol. My card lets me trade monsters with you!

[@iananderson4754]

​@@ItApproachesenemy controller would get several new cheat codes.

[@ItApproaches]

@@iananderson4754lol big head mode enabled!

[@iananderson4754]

@@ItApproaches "your cheat codes are a fine ass madness Kaiba"

[@HunterAnsorge-ok9jk]

@@ItApproaches no people’s brains just don’t work you are a great example

[@justinmadrid8712]

I remember when Jaden said “next time read your card” but the cards have no text.

[@ZerdsJames]

On the flip side, not having text at least gave joey an excuse for not knowing what his cards do. Imagine how stupid he must look in the japanese version when he says shit like "what?! I didnt know the card does that!" Like, bro, can you not read lol

[@TheWrathAbove]

​@@ZerdsJames To be fair, the average yugioh player be sounding like Joey pretty often ngl

[@Veela666]

In original raw / sub has text on the cards, so it was just translation.

[@angusbeefyeung]

Which episode was it?

[@bradlspencer]

i remember as a kid when Pyramid came out, being so excited that the cards looked like the TCG. not because i hated the 4kids version, but it was just added excitement

[@ChaoticKey]

Personally I really prefer it when they have them look like they do in real life like when they did it in the pyramid of light movie they look so clean always thought it was weird that they looked different in the anime.

[@gododoof]

I always liked the simplified English dub card backs, and wish I could find that design on a set of sleeves.

[@ConnorYT10]

Same! Can't believe no one's made sleeves like that.

[@stefankeeney8462]

Same ! I saw it once before online two years back and I’ve been looking ever since

[@CamboJam.]

It always helped my theory that they went to duelist academies to memorize effects and strats. That’s why they say card effects all the time…

[@CT_4000]

Also in the duel against devac in yugioh 5ds Episode title mark of the monkey Leo actually mentions the cards being readable by saying and I quote “READ THE CARD!”

[@cyborgryan]

I always liked the look of the cards in the anime. The pictures are bigger and it makes you appreciate the artwork more.

[@blairofair]

To be honest I actually kinda like how they look in the show, they just look more visually interesting with the artwork so big and it’s much easier to see their stats….. but it did feel so cool to actually see the real cards up on the big screen!

[@solobugg5087]

I'mma be honest, I prefer the original card look. It ties better to the actual real life card game, the artwork already conveys what the card is, while also retaining stuff like the NAME of the card. The Dark Side of Dimensions movie had the original card look as well and was a nice addition.

[@slifersge]

I remember when i saw the pyramid of Light Film for the first time, i was really impressed by the Real cards they played! But i also love the original anime versions❤

[@Lorens4444]

Yami: "Back in my days, we had to memorize the special abilities." XD

[@UnNamedNecessarry]

Well, even if they show it on screen Yu-Gi-Oh players can't read anyway .

[@MirageUchiha]

Oh wow. I never knew this, but always wondered why, and why the movies didn't show them like they did in the series. Thanks! 👍🏾

[@signorelephant]

I remember early days of yugioh, especially when i opened my first pack. I was disappointed by the fact that the cards didnt look identical to the anime (front and back), but was happy when I got a card from the anime that I knew immediately back then-Summoned Skull! Just lile Yugi's grandpa and his Blue Eyes, I have always treasured that memory and the card.

[@colinlibra7968]

I wonder if you could make a set of the anime cards to draft booster packs with friends to play like a cube in magic.

[@hhaeden]

man i loveeeee the look of the real cards animated it looked so clean

[@GOLDHAJIKVONGOLA]

i really like how the cards look in rush duel. looks like a perfect mix of these two styles

[@Darkkefka]

Fun fact. In the episode when Yugi duels Mako, when he plays Curse of Dragon, you can actually see the original art for a frame. LOL

[@va960]

🎶Blame the fellas at the fricking FCC~

[@AbystomaMexicanium]

The characters know what the card does by heart.

[@zdr7420]

I always loved how they looked in the anime, something about the big text and a very minimalist look just was so cool to me

[@net_spider]

Well, it does make some lick of sense if you take away the normal card game you see them play in the classroom that one time. No one seems to know all of the effects of the cards and people sometimes seem suprised by their own card effects. This only makes sense if the holographic interface they use going forward keeps track of all card effects and card interaction... and would also explain the weird playground rules they sometimes throw out there like "attack the moon!"

[@ezragrey5959]

I would love it if there was a way to make the cards in Master Duel look like that

[@hexginnkgo]

I was also fairly sure that in Japan they displayed the whole card with the text and translating that would have been too difficult, time consuming, and expensive as well as the fact that many of the cards didn't have english prints yet so they wouldn't have been one to one with what other territories got.

[@Scouten819]

i agree the edited cards just work so much better for the small amount of screen time each card gets

[@jamesnesran2348]

fascinating video. I like the anime look, since it shows off the bare essentials of the card. It implied to me the characters knew their cards so well they would not need to read the effects.

[@fjpz]

There's an episode where yugi says that cards have instructions. I always imagine that every card came with a little piece of paper explaining the effects and lore.

[@SomeRandomJackAss]

An interesting side effect of the redesign is that the cards are way easier to localize, since there's no text on them whatsoever.

[@GamingxKnight]

As an in universe explanation for myself, I always saw it as a way to show that the characters were so into the game, or the game was so popular, that they would learn about the cards from outside sources and study the game that in depth that they just knew the effects of their own cards.

[@danielfishburn7042]

There is one part in the anime where yugi explains how a card works and I swear to god it’s basically an ad for the card it could have ended with “go get yours today” lmao

[@rohantherevolution]

When I was a kid, I thought it was just an in-universe thing. 😂

[@DrakGamestein]

The look without 5 paragraphs of text.

[@Spriteomius]

The worst and funniest censorship was with the guns turned into pointer fingers😂

[@alphu5]

In the Overdress anime, they remove the card text from their cards.

[@professional.commentator]

As a kid, I thought it was because they were trying to make sure it looked like a kid's show. This was before I even knew it was actually an anime meant for teens and not little kids. Blew my mind when I first saw the unedited cards in subbed Yu-Gi-Oh.

[@StrategicLemon]

During the playmaker vs blue angel duel if you look closely she actually highlights one of his cards and it shows it effects despite the cards not having texts.

[@UnkownUser_95]

Kid me just had a nostalgic trip. I miss 2009

[@RMadrid57]

The way they appear on TV is nice, clean and simple

[@vxicepickxv]

I would love to see normal monster and some spell / trap staples being done in that style. I mean like maybe half a dozen simple spells or traps. I think blue eyes, dark Magician, and Elemental Hero Neos would be really popular as a "classic TV alternative version" as long as they're simple cards that everyone would recognize.

[@vincentfinzel141]

The anime style of cards makes me feel more attached to the cards because it shows that I spent the time and learned the cards entire effect to the point I only need to see the image to know what it does

[@True_Camo]

I started rewatching the anime recently and was caught off guard when I saw this. Tbh I do like that they did this in the anime because it makes it way simpler to read the cards on screen and makes the game simpler to understand for kids.

[@ArcNine9Angel]

I'd say it also adds tot he mystery of what cards do what. Not only is it easier for writers to make up stuff for a scene, but also it means that the players had to know the abilities of cards inherently, and they often don't know everything so it feels more genuine to their skill to understand and plan, and also when they're surprised by something new.

[@theganjavape1618]

I like the cleaner design of the no text cards but I would also like to see someone mid duel calling shenanigans on a monsters effect and demanding to read it 😂

[@GG-_-ikki]

I used to think the attribute icon was what contained the information of the cards so that’s why they knew what the effects where

[@rogaldorn5486]

I think thats one of the rare cases where the changes made more sens, becaus there are a few moments in the show where it is implied that you have to know the effects or figure them out by playing

[@edwuano7]

it would be really cool if they officially released these. imagine having full art deck. players are usually so familiar with their cards they dont need the descriptions. but of course your opponent may not know

[@PlungerCam_eraman]

Monsters look way smoother in anime than irl

[@redphoenix1086]

Imagine the effects are on the back, and they just reading that

[@MelodyYoung]

I think for the long running shows it makes more sense anyways to cut back on the details of the cards to make them easier to anime and work with where the movies have higher budgets and can afford to add that extra level of detail into every cardgame. So honestly the way it exists is kinda perfect really.

[@tomisntblue]

As a kid i always assumed that because there was no text on card, that you jad to reference a massive rule book to know how each individual card worked and that was why people never knew what their opponet's cards did; people only bothered researching their own cards.

[@jamielishbrook2384]

I honestly just assumed there was a glossary or something in the anime universe that told every monsters effect and all the duelists just kinda memorized the effects of the cards in their deck.

[@squarks5509]

I like it a lot actually, you get to see more of whats visually important, and you give characters a reason to infodump everything and break down the strategies at play. Yknow, when it felt like actually following the rules.

[@yoboymoi]

Yugioh but you have to remember the card effects and every time you miss remember or forget a card effect you take a shot

[@gamerboyva7755]

I am amazed they managed to bring down the advertisement elements of a show that is the equivalent of a gigantic commercial

[@blugetsbusy4508]

That’s why i love watching the sub. They use the actual cards

[@Metalhed1300p]

I just assumed it was like world building that you have to know or maybe even feel "THE HEART OF THE CARDS" to understand the effects.

[@minecraftWithDanielD]

What I’d love to know, is why ZeXal had like 3 different “sleeves” (I know canonically they don’t use card sleeves but it’s the easiest way to describe it). First they had the traditional anime sleeve, then they had something closer to the irl game, and then they got that blade design that had continued (until Sevens I think)

[@juon91]

As if every cartoon in 80s-90s was not the advertisement

[@veronstross2913]

Pyramid of light. I liked how the cards looked as they do irl.

[@TrebwalkerYT]

Also in the original jp version they have text boxes with the actual effects sometimes displayed

[@Olimar92]

"Product Placement" in a show that is literally built on the card game.

[@master11213]

I think it adds a layer of mystery for the opponents deck since you'd have to memorized your cards abilities before playing the gamr

[@lawrenceriverside6659]

In the pegasus arc they were straight up making card effects up because cards were just a picture and some numbers, they made their own rules it was madness

[@OLC62]

I never thought about this growing up. I always thought it was because people actually had to study the cards and know the effect they are capable of. Aslo it made sense to me why there would be whole schools devoted to the card game.

[@TheLastDose]

I think it was never weird that a duelist knew exactly what a card in the show did because most of the time the duelist was a spitting image of the engine they played

[@charleslobster3592]

Both hit home for me. I had the cards and watched the shows so seeing either one makes me happy

[@clasherslasher3462]

Maybe that’s how we all became og yu-gi-oh player watching the show a lot with no text so when the real duels came we already knew what was up lol

[@wolfiedabrony1802]

I genuinely wondered that too as a kid. As a kid i always did wondered how each character knew what each card did even when it wasn't theirs!

[@TheFerezCHannel]

The effect surprises make more sense if the cards are blank

[@diegomedina9637]

I kinda like the idea of them literally making card effects out of nowhere because the cards in the anime don't have any text printed on them.

[@CustomChallenge]

Well it fit the season 1 logic of "My card does this because I said so"

[@memeaccount636]

In the Japanese version, I believe they had a version with the effect

[@michaelliggett1622]

Yeh because the FCC is a American agency

[@frankiemorga2873]

I think the slick clean look really served well for the purpose of the multitude of, "Now I activate X's OTHER effect," type of situations the anime presented cos OF COURSE you're gonna know what your card does. And then when we get to Zexal where they can pull up the card on their Duel Pad, it makes some sense that they now have a database for cards and their effects.

[@justsomeguy2825]

I was a fan of the anime before i got into the he card game. I was actually suprised to learn that each card had the effect printed on it. I legitimately throught you had to memorize each effect.

[@Rammkard]

Really I thought it was because the source material(the manga) came out long before the cards al.ost like the tcg was an after thought

[@pietadon]

I do like the idea of cards with colour codes that would prompt someone to refer to an encyclopedia of actions and effects. I mean we do that now with all of the special summons in Yu-Gi-Oh and stuff like flag bearers in MTG.

[@valentinheredia5558]

It looks cooler like that! I always loved how they looked,,so simple and badass and I thought that the trainers just memorized each cards effect from a school book since that whole world is soooo into dueling.

[@patrellcross8157]

Someone really needs to make a real life duel Gaiser from Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal. That way we can use anime accurate cards, and the dual Gaiser will let us see their effects.

[@prometheus8010]

Later on duel gamers would display their effects but at least before then you'd either remember or the duel stage computer could tell you.

[@zachfranksam]

I wondered about it when I was younger but then had a headcannon while watching that all the characters just had to have all the effects of cards memorized 🤷‍♂️

[@GinkgoPete]

They restrict advertisements in childrens shows but allow them to be interrupted by 50 ads.

[@SnowCompanion]

I like both. Huge artwork for the show is nice. Then the movies felt really special when they used the real life cards

[@WickedBot]

That's why they always repeat the effects of cards like in GX, they dont know so they have to learn what does it do

[@austingarrett3334]

Dude, I wish I could get full sets that look like that. They look so much nicer than the real ones.

[@tylerwest4756]

Always wanted the cards to look like the ones from the tv show

[@gintokisan5171]

I think it's also because cards are written in Japanese.

[@Zetact_]

That's certainly part of it. Because they need to replace the card art anyway, for a worldwide release it's a practical decision to make an edit that has no text at all so it can be more easily dubbed over into non-English languages with fewer necessary edits. At least, this is one of the reasons I've always heard.

[@Puckett.]

It’s funny cause sometimes they would put “text” on the card cause it was crucial to the plot. Like with Winged Dragon of Ra they put Egyptian hieroglyphics on the card and only certain characters were capable of reading eat even if they knew nothing about the language.

[@hyperbeast0150]

Thank for explaining this to me! I always though the dubbers didnt want to add their text since it would be too much work. Never saw this reason coming.

[@masongrae5010]

My little kid brain always just rationalized it as there is probably a data base with all the cards and their effects somewhere with the rules

[@doinskidz]

There was an episode in I believe Yu-Gi-Oh GX where I think Syrus was calling out Jaden for not knowing an effect and he explicitly says the words "it says right here on the card"

[@chanceneck8072]

That part about the movie blew my mind, I did not know that. 😅