I was watching some Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives last night when I saw this. I literally sat up from my bed because I immediately recognized the 5Ds logo; looking at it closer, I think it may be the first volume of its manga adaptation! This absolutely blew my mind!
(For those who are curious, it’s from the season 23 episode, “Finger Lickin’ Food”. In it, Guy visits a restuarant in Minneapolis called George and the Dragon, which has a bookshelf filled with books for kids to read, including manga.)
One of the things I will never forgive 4kids for in the 5Ds dub is the scene where Yusei is getting his criminal mark.
(There were a lot of terrible changes made, most of them unnecessary, and I will always be salty about the 31 cut episodes, but this one truly takes the cake for me…)
Like, part of the point of that scene is that receiving and having that mark is completely dehumanizing. He was completely stripped of his rights and his privacy over something that shouldn’t have been a law in the first place.
I get it, target audience in the US is 10-year olds. So cut out the agonized screaming – fine.
But then leave it.
Don’t have Yusei give some smart-aleck, completely out of character comment about it.
Kids can still handle serious moments, and Yusei saying, “Is it supposed to tickle?” just completely and absolutely removes the severity of the situation he’s in. Let him stay silent. Let the scene still be serious.