"Any card—so long as it exists—has a power that is needed."

GX Finalized-Subs!71: Oh, 4Kids… (Food Edition)

Having just finished this episode up, wanted to briefly compare to the dub to see if anything was cut, and this exchange just… oof.  Up to this point, I already re-heard (it’s been a while since I’d seen this stretch of episodes dubbed) the odd angle they went with framing the setup to the duel being a “date with Alexis at the planetarium” (when originally they were literally just randomly approached as they minded their business lol) which replaced the “sneeze superstition” and hypothetical flirty girl scenario from Shou, Judai’s worrying about Asuka/Manjoume/all the weird White guys turning into worry about just Alexis and then lack of dating experience…, Tyranno made to forget that Syrus used Cyber Summon Blaster against him (since Kenzan naturally recognizes it), and Jaden just having Burstinatrix use her attack on Tetran when Judai made a point to say it’s to take out one of its shield (I just really like the way they went about the BES cards’s shields thing like a game lol)–along with errors like Bastion saying Lorenzo can’t [Normal-]Summon due to Boss Rush… no longer being on the field (Boss Rush kept him from doing it, which is why he wanted MST/Cyclone lol)–but this was… groan

So, after the bit about saving the best aces for last from Judai/Jaden (which was kept; don’t mind me keeping in the Italian accent a bit),

Lorenzo: “Hey, I don’t need yer advice! No offense, kid, but I’ve met cannolis that are tougha dan you!”

Jaden: “Cannolis?! That’s not cool–now, you got me hungry! Now, how about we end this and get some lunch! In fact, I’ve got just the card to do it–so, good thing it’s my turn now!”

Lorenzo: *shocked gasp*

it’s funny because food

It’s more of Ryusei’s character there showing, playing into Judai’s belief that no card is worth calling a runt which works well to demonstrate why his comparing shooter games to dueling doesn’t work, and given Ryusei’s revelation earlier that he’s just in the cult to become a pro, it’s a good insight from Judai that Ryusei’s being a duplicitous “runt.”  Which all gets replaced so we get the “let’s end this and lunch” line that hilariously doesn’t match Jaden’s face there, and Lorenzo also somehow being shocked that it’s Jaden’s turn, lol.

Judai’s thing is he’s more happy-go-lucky, but he also picks up on a lot and can offer some points of insight in moments like this (so much so that his using “profound” earlier catches everyone off guard, except Kenzan).  Jaden’s written to be happy-go-lucky too, but it’s played up more, and while some of those insightful moments are kept well enough (like his heroic “save the best for last” thing here), we get things like this which feel like a real change in character and adds to the feeling that the dub can be a totally different show.  Which on its own, sure, can be enjoyable–but coming in as someone who wants to see the original treated well because it’s so good, it just comes across as unneeded to me. (and he sounds like abridged!Goku here lol)