~I know about 4kids and the Shadow Realm thing but what really did happen to them in the orignal version of YGO besides the SR?
They pretty much just… died. There were a few situations where souls were extracted to fuel the power of the current "bad-guy".
They also use SR to deter the possibility of physical harm. If the chance of death/maiming is present, they'll just say it'll send them to the SR rather then saying it'll cripple/kill the person.
Well, the problem with shadom relms and next demensions is this. It seems to be a fate worse than death. It conjures to the mind an eternity trapped in nothingness. No sound, no sight, no smell and no touch. Forever trapped unable to move or die, for all eternity. Is that what they consider a sanitized way of avoiding the death word?
The problem with that is those guys coming back from the SR really aren't that shaken up over it, so there's not too much misery coming from it. It's almost portrayed closer to a "stasis" rather then an invisible cage.