Pokémon episodes removed from rotation

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There are hundreds of episodes of the Pokémon anime; however, for various reasons, some have been taken out of the rotation of reruns in some countries.

[edit] Worldwide Removals

[edit] Dennō Senshi Porygon

One frame of the scene that caused the seizures.

"Dennō Senshi Porygon", literally "Computer Soldier Porygon", although most commonly translated as "Electric Soldier Porygon", aired in Japan on December 16, 1997 at 6:30 PM Japan Standard Time.^[1] 20 minutes into the episode, there is a scene in which Pikachu stops some vaccine missiles with its Thunderbolt attack, resulting in a huge explosion that flashes red and blue lights.^[2] Although there were similar parts in the episode with red and blue flashes, an anime technique called "paka paka" made this scene extremely intense,^[3] for these flashes were extremely bright strobe lights, with blinks at a rate of about 12 Hz for approximately 4 seconds in almost fullscreen, and then for 2 seconds outright fullscreen.^[4]

At this point, viewers started to complain of blurred vision, headaches, dizziness and nausea.^[2][5] A few people even had seizures, blindness, convulsions, and lost consciousness,.^[2] Japan's Fire Defense Agency reported that a total of 685 viewers, 310 boys and 375 girls, were taken to hospitals by ambulances.^[2][6][6] Although many victims recovered during the ambulance trip, more than 150 of them were admitted to hospitals.^[6][2] Two people remained hospitalized for over 2 weeks.^[6] Some other people had seizures when parts of the scene were rebroadcast during news reports on the seizures.^[5] Only a small fraction of the 685 children treated were diagnosed with photosensitive epilepsy.^[7]

Later studies showed that 5-10% of the viewers had mild symptoms that did not need hospital treatment.^[4] 12,000 children reported mild symptoms of illness, however their symptoms more closely resembled mass hysteria than a grand mal seizure.^[2][8] A study following 103 patients over three years after the event found that most of them had no further seizures.^[9] Scientists believe that the flashing lights triggered photosensitive seizures in which visual stimuli such as flashing lights can cause altered consciousness. Although approximately 1 in 4,000 people are susceptible to these types of seizures, the number of people affected by this Pokémon episode was unprecedented.^[6]

The news of the incident spread quickly through Japan. The following day the television station that had aired the episode, TV Tokyo, issued an apology to the Japanese people, suspended the program, and said it would investigate the cause of the seizures.^[2] Officers from Atago Police Station, acting on orders from the National Police Agency, questioned the program's producers about the cartoon's contents and production process.^[3] The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare held an emergency meeting, discussing the case with experts and gathering information from hospitals. Video retailers across the country pulled the series from their rental shelves.^[2]

After the airing of "Dennō Senshi Porygon", the Pokémon anime went into a four month hiatus until it returned in April 1998.^[10][11] After the hiatus, the time slot changed from Tuesday to Thursday.^[12] The opening theme was also redone, and black screens showing various Pokémon in spotlights were broken up into four images per screen. Before the seizure incident, the opening was originally one Pokémon image per screen.^[12] Before the beginning of the reairing, "Anime: Pocket Monster Problem Inspection Report" (アニメ ポケットモンスター問題検証報告, Anime Poketto Monsutā Mondai Kenshō Hōkoku^?) was shown. Broadcast in Japan on April 16, 1998, a woman named Miyuki Yadama went over the circumstances of the program format and the on-screen advisories at the beginning of animated programs.^[12]

[edit] Yureru Shima no Tatakai! Dojoach VS Namazun!!

Whiscash appearing in the episode.

In "Yureru Shima no Tatakai! Dojoach VS Namazun!!", most commonly translated as "Battle of the Quaking Island! Barboach VS Whiscash!!", Ash Ketchum has just 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. They then met a Pokémon trainer named Chōta and they start 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 Chūetsu 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 intended to be aired between AG100, "Solid as a Solrock", and AG101, "Vanity Affair".

[edit] Episodes completely removed by 4Kids Entertainment

These three episodes were never made part of the season packs produced by the American dubbers of the series.^[13] As a result, these episodes were never made available in any country airing the American dub, or a redub of this dub.^[13]

[edit] Beauty and the Beach

Misty, Jessie, and James in a screen capture from the unedited version of the episode when James shows off his inflatable breasts

"Beauty and the Beach" 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.

In this episode, the female characters all enter a beauty contest. Team Rocket also enters, with James donning a suit with inflatable breasts. One scene of the episode involved James showing off his artificial cleavage for humorous effect, taunting Misty by saying, "Maybe when you're older, you'll have a chest like this!". In one scene, he puffs up his breasts to over twice their original size. Eventually it aired in 2000. Any scenes with James in the bikini were removed.

[edit] Miniryu no Densetsu

A gun is pointed at Ash's face.

"Miniryu no Densetsu", or "The Legend of Dratini", was the second episode to be banned by 4Kids Entertainment. This was the 35th episode of the original Japanese series. It was banned because guns are repeatedly pointed at people threateningly at several points in this episode, and warning shots are fired.

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, with only one episode that briefly alludes to where they came from. Brock also caught a Tauros, but it was caught with one of Ash's Safari Balls, making it technically one of Ash's 30 Tauros.

The banning of that episode also led to Tokyopop's business as well as Dreamworks making a movie about Ancient Egypt and ADV Films and Funimation licensing Sgt. Frog in America instead of Bandai Entertainment.

[edit] Kōri no Dōkutsu!

Brock with a fever, as seen in the episode.

"Kōri no Dōkutsu!", otherwise known as "The Ice Cave!", would have been part of Pokémon: Master Quest, but was skipped over by 4Kids Entertainment and therefore 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 (Episode 65) (although that episode was only removed from rotation in one country) was also banned because of the appearance of controversial Pokémon Jynx. Some people believed that Jynx was a racial stereotype to African-Americans because of its big pink lips and pure black skin. Jynx was later re-edited and given purple skin instead in later episodes. The episode was also banned because of the disease influenza going around (the symptoms were SARS-like). In this episode Team Rocket doused Ash and his friends with cold water inside an icy cave, causing Brock to come down with symptoms similar to influenza. Though according to Carole Boston Weatherford, the SARS part is a myth, and the episode was skipped due to the controversial version of Jynx.

[edit] Episodes banned in the United States after September 11, 2001

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[edit] "Tentacool and Tentacruel"

The first episode to be banned after the September 11, 2001 attacks, mainly because the censors noted similarities between the attacks and the Tentacruel destroying the city. The character Nastina also used large-bore assault weapons during the fight scenes in the episode. However, Tentacruel striking a building was not removed from the opening theme, and the episode is still readily available on the home video and DVD markets.

[edit] "The Tower of Terror"

This episode was the second to have a 9/11-related banning, this time due to name rather than actual content.

[edit] "A Scare in the Air"

This was the third episode to be banned after 9/11, as well as the second to be banned on the basis of name. In response, 4Kids Entertainment temporarily renamed the episode "Spirits in the Sky" to get around the ban. The episode's original title has since been restored.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• CNN archive news article about Seizure episode
• CNN archive news article (2) about Seizure episode
• Neuroscience for Kids (About "Dennō Senshi Porygon")
• An article about Pokémon controversy, (includes the seizure scene)
• Japanese article about the seizure episode
• Psypoke :: The Pokemon Anime - Censorship A site that tells about certain things that were edited or banned outright
• Pictures from the Preview of "Shaking Island Battle! Barboach vs. Whiscash!"
• Japanese Web Newtype (using the 'web archive')
• Information about the Shaking Island Battle! Barboach vs. Whiscash! episode