Localization
In April 2001, 4Kids Entertainment obtained the merchandising and television rights to the series from Nihon Ad Systems.[6] In its adaptation, character names, settings, and other aspects were changed. The show's visuals and sound effects were replaced, and a new music score was used. In addition to explaining these changes, 4Kids' senior vice president of digital media, Mark Kirk, also explained during an interview with Anime News Network that U.S. television broadcast laws under the FCC dictated that the "Duel Monster" cards in the anime were not allowed to look exactly like the real cards that are sold; otherwise, the show would legally be considered an infomercial rather than an animated television series, and thus the cost to air it during daytime hours would become exponentially higher.[7]
An album containing some tracks from the English dub music entitled ''Yu-Gi-Oh! Music to Duel By'' was released on October 29, 2002, on DreamWorks Records on Audio CD and Compact Cassette.[8]
An uncut version, featuring an all-new English dub track and the original Japanese audio, began release in October 2004, in association with Funimation Entertainment. Only three volumes, comprising the first nine episodes, were ever released. 4Kids would later release the uncut Japanese episodes on YouTube in March 2009,[9] but were forced to stop due in August of that same year, due to rights issues.[10]
On March 24, 2011, TV Tokyo and Nihon Ad Systems, owner of the anime series, filed a joint lawsuit against 4Kids, accusing the company of underpayments concerning the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchises and allegedly conspiring with Funimation, and have allegedly terminated their licensing deal with them.[11] This led to 4Kids filing for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy code.[12][13] Although 4Kids had managed to settle the case in March 2012,[14] they ended up selling their rights to the franchise, among other assets, to Konami. Konami currently distributes the series and its spin-offs, in addition to producing English dubs through its renamed subsidiary, 4K Media Inc.[15][16]
Streaming
In July 2009, 4Kids announced plans to release the original, Japanese version of the anime series with subtitles on their YouTube channel. However, In August 2009, these episodes were removed due to legal issues with ADK (NAS' parent company and owner of the anime) and Shunsuke Kazama, the Japanese voice of Yugi.[18][19] On July 11, 2015, the Japanese version of the series began streaming on Crunchyroll.[20][21] The news came over a week after an earlier announcement that streaming of subtitled episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX would begin on August 1, 2015.[22]
