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The story
Voice actress Megumi Ogata revealed her complicated feelings on X (formerly Twitter) on September 16th regarding certain media coverage of “Yu-Gi-Oh!”. After a special animation released on the 14th to commemorate creator Kazuki Takahashi’s original art exhibition was introduced as the “original” Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, Ogata posted: “I thought I was supposed to be the ‘original’… I wonder how many people even remember that. I guess that’s not how people see it now. It’s lonely.” The post sparked a wave of reactions on 5ch’s Geinou/Sports News+ board — some sympathized, saying “anyone would react the same way if their own career got erased,” while others were harsher, saying things like “just do your best on the new recording” or “it would’ve been classier not to bring it up,” leaving opinions split.
September 17, 2026, 10:15 AM
Voice actress Megumi Ogata posted on X on the 16th, sharing her personal thoughts on coverage related to the manga “Yu-Gi-Oh!”, which was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump (Shueisha) from 1996 to 2004.
Regarding the series, a special animation began streaming on the 14th to commemorate “Kazuki Takahashi Original Art Exhibition: YU-GI-OH! ART WORKS,” the creator’s first original art exhibition, set to run from December 12th at CREATIVE MUSEUM TOKYO in Tokyo. After this animation was referred to by some outlets as the “original” Yu-Gi-Oh!, Ogata expressed her complicated feelings, posting: “I thought I was supposed to be the ‘original’… I wonder how many people even remember that. I guess that’s not how people see it now. It’s lonely.”
Source: news.livedoor.com / Original article here
What people said
Wasn't that Kosei Tomita as Bakabon's Papa?
Also, if we're counting Eijirō Higashino as the original Mito Kōmon, I guess Brother Theater counts too then.
Though the 'kotatsu writer' (slang for lazy journalists who churn out articles without leaving home) who slapped on a dumb phrase like 'Internet shocked' honestly might not have even known.
When you think about it that way, it's sad.
She lost the job over adult circumstances (industry politics), after all.
And it was the lead role, too.
All I know is that the Johnny's (talent agency) guy was good and got a lot of praise.
I don't even know about the Toei version.
The recast is a shame, but… I guess it can't be helped.
The people calling her 'difficult' would totally lose it if the same thing happened to them.
Goku, Luffy, Naruto — all women.
And countries that obsess over the voice actor's real-life gender, age, or skin color, regardless of whether it actually fits the character, aren't exactly great either.
Like when a boy actor's voice breaks after casting and you end up with a raspy old-man voice coming out of a character who still looks like a kid, or people saying 'don't cast a white actor for a Black character.'
In the '90s there were a lot of female voice actors for those roles.
From around the 2000s, boy characters of an age where their voice would actually break started properly getting male voice actors.
Well, 'amateur' or not, that was still the height of Johnny's (talent agency) influence.
Early Yugi was basically Sharaku from The Three-Eyed One (Mitsume ga Tooru).
It started out as putting petty crooks in their place through games, but somewhere along the way it just became a card game.
If it ever gets remade, the whole cast will be recast.
She was actually doing Kurama again recently in a shampoo ad.
But if there's ever another remake, I'd want a male voice actor for the role.
But I don't think it sounds like a high schooler's voice.
Are you dissing Za-san? lol (a voice actress's nickname)
Background and Key Points of This Topic
There are two animated adaptations of “Yu-Gi-Oh!”: the 1998 Toei Animation version, in which Ogata voiced the protagonist, and the Tokyo TV version that aired from 2000 onward starring Shunsuke Kazama, known for the line “It’s my turn!” Because the latter achieved overwhelming name recognition both in Japan and abroad, many fans and media outlets tend to picture the Kazama version when they think of the “original,” and the first animated adaptation that Ogata starred in has rarely been discussed. This post is thought to stem from that gap in perception. On the thread, opinions were split between defenders saying it’s “a natural reaction from someone whose own achievements were ignored” and critics saying “it would have been classier not to mention it” or “reeks of an old-timer’s grumbling,” bringing to the surface differing values around how a career should be acknowledged and how voice actors should be shown respect.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread ‘Voice actress Megumi Ogata explains the real meaning behind her post on certain “Yu-Gi-Oh!” coverage: “I thought I was the original… I guess that’s not how people see it now. It’s lonely.”‘
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