I don’t understand why people think Japanese cards aren’t “the real deal” or forget that they are the originals. If you play the TCG, then I understand why English is the preference. But for collection purposes, it doesn’t make sense to me.
Although the issues are different here, I feel like these comments by cdarwin7 perfectly sum up the Eng v JPN debate:
It’s also why WotC getting so much credit for the PTCG is more than just a mere annoyance for me - it’s part of a larger, more problematic narrative. The Japanese had come up with the art and the gameplay mechanics - essentially the heart and soul of the PTCG - prior to WotC’s involvement, but somehow WotC gets credit for them? What, is it because anything good needs to have come from the West?
The message seems to be “no matter how terrible WotC is, the TCG’s only legitimate with a Western spin on it.” Proponents of this idea were comfortable with celebrating English as the “premium” option and relegating Japanese cards to “value” status for years; now that the tables have turned for modern cards, somehow Japanese cards are “in a bubble” and people who like them are “snobs.”
The whole thing stinks of a Western superiority complex.