Banned episodes of Pokémon
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There are over 400 episodes of the Pokémon anime. However, for various reasons, some have been banned, or taken out of the rotation of episodes in reruns in some countries by some TV stations.
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[edit] Beauty and the Beach
"Beauty and the Beach" (アオプルコのきゅうじつ Aopuruko no Kyūjitsu?, lit. "Aopulco Holiday") is banned in all countries that receive the series from 4Kids Entertainment. It is the 18th episode of the original Japanese series. On June 24, 2000, a newly produced English-language version of the episode aired on Kids' WB! as "Beauty and the Beach." Promoted as a "lost episode" special presentation, it has only received one rerun and has not yet been shown elsewhere or released on DVD or VHS.
In this episode, the female characters all enter a beauty contest. Team Rocket also enters, with James donning an inflatable suit with exaggerated breasts. As one scene of the episode was about James showing off his artificial cleavage for humorous effect, this scene was removed from the English-language version when it finally aired.
[edit] Miniryu no Densetsu
"Miniryu no Densetsu" (ミニリュウのでんせつ Miniryū no Densetsu?, lit. "The Legend of Miniryu") was the second episode to be banned by 4Kids Entertainment; this was the 35th episode of the original Japanese series. At several points in this episode, guns are pointed at people threateningly, and warning shots are fired. Due to the sensitivity of the American public to guns in children's shows (particularly the image of a child being threatened with a gun),[1] though animated shows that ran on the same network, such as the Men in Black television series, used guns regularly (though none were pointed at children and clearly unrealistic in nature). In this episode, Meowth dresses up like Adolf Hitler or perhaps another famous Nazi while interrogating a hostage. This episode was never aired for American circulation. It is unclear why the scenes weren't removed or reanimated.
The removal of this episode leads to continuity problems, as Ash captured 30 Tauros in this episode. The Tauros appear in later episodes, even being used in Pokémon Tournaments by Ash; only one episode very briefly mentions where they came from. A running gag is that Professor Oak also gets trampled by them in later episodes.
[edit] Dennō Senshi Porygon
"Dennō Senshi Porygon" (でんのうせんしポリゴン Dennō Senshi Porigon?, lit. "Digital Fighter Porygon," although most commonly translated as "Electric Soldier Porygon") was aired in Japan on December 16, 1997, around 18:30 Japanese time (09:30 UTC), and became infamous for causing a number of epileptic seizures in young viewers. It is now banned worldwide, including in Japan.
About 20 minutes into the episode "Dennō Senshi Porygon", there was a scene in which Pikachu stops some rockets with his lightning attack, resulting in a huge explosion that flashed red and blue lights. Although there were similar parts in the episode with red and blue flashes, this scene was extremely intense, with blinks at a rate of about 12 Hz for approximately 4 seconds in almost full screen, and then for 2 seconds outright fullscreen. At this point, viewers started to complain of blurred vision, headaches, dizziness and nausea, actual cases of the motif of harmful sensation. A few people even had blindness, convulsions and lost consciousness. Japan's Fire Defense Agency reported that a total of 685 children (310 boys, 375 girls) were taken to hospitals by ambulances. Many children recovered during the ambulance trip, although more than 150 of them were admitted to hospitals. Only two people stayed in the hospital for over 2 weeks.
Scientists believe that the lights triggered photosensitive seizures in which visual stimuli such as flashing lights can cause altered consciousness. Although scientists know that approximately 1 in 4000 people (0.5 - 0.8% of children between 5-13 years old) are susceptible to these types of seizures, the number of people affected by this Pokémon episode was unprecedented. The effect may have been amplified by many of the children sitting up close to the TV.
There was a reference to this in an episode of the Simpsons, entitled 30 Minutes Over Tokyo. The family is seen watching TV ("Battling Seizure Robots"). Bart asks, "Isn't this that cartoon that causes seizures?" and the entire family is seen having a seizure about 3 seconds later.
Another reference to this is a scene in South Park episode 310 Chinpokomon where Kenny develops a seizure after playing the Chinpokomon Video Game.
For the US release of the first season of Pokémon's English dub, animation framerates were reduced to try to prevent any similar occurrences.
[edit] Kōri no Dōkutsu!
"Kōri no Dōkutsu!" (こおりのどうくつ!? lit. "The Ice Cave!"), which would have been part of Pokémon: Master Quest, was skipped over by 4Kids Entertainment and hence never shown outside of Asia. It was the first widespread ban of a Pokémon episode in four years. This episode, much like Holiday Hi-Jynx (although that episode was only removed from rotation in one country) was also banned because of the appearance of "controversial" character Jynx. When the episode was first skipped over, it was also believed by some fans that it may have been because the main plot of Brock catching a cold may have been in bad taste at the height of the SARS epidemic. However, the episode has never aired. Popular belief also states that the episode, while not banned, may be shown later, as is the case with another episode which had gone through the same procedure.
[edit] Yureru Shima no Tatakai! Dojoach VS Namazun!!
In "Yureru Shima no Tatakai! Dojoach VS Namazun!!" (ゆれる島の戦い!ドジョッチＶＳナマズン!! Yureru Shima no Tatakai! Dojotchi Tai Namazun!!?, lit. "Battle of the Quaking Island! Dojoach VS Namazun!!") Ash Ketchum finished the Mossdeep City Gym, and his next goal is the final Gym at Sootopolis City. Ash and friends journey toward Jojo Island on the way and are caught in an earthquake caused by Whiscash. Then they met a Pokémon trainer named Chōta and they started the Whiscash extermination there.
The episode was originally set to air in Japan on November 4, 2004, but was skipped due to the episode's similarities to the 2004 Chuetsu Earthquake on October 23, 2004. The episode was later postponed, and then discontinued. While most of the other episodes were either not dubbed for English-language release or taken out of English-language syndication rotations, this episode of Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation was the first episode to be banned inside Japan prior to its first scheduled airing.
The episode was supposed to be aired between AG100, "Solid as a Solrock", and AG101, "Vanity Affair".
[edit] References
- ^ Pokémon: The Legend of Dratini - TV.com. TV.com. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
