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Revision as of 10:01, 9 July 2005 by Muchi (talk | contribs) (→Beauty and the Beach)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)There are over 400 episodes of the Pokémon animé. However, for various reasons, some have been banned from airing in America.
Beauty and the Beach
This episode premiered in America on June 24, 2000, but was banned shortly after.
It is about a beauty contest that the female characters enter. As Team Rocket are keen to win, James also enters. The resultant use of clevage led to Kids WB showing a highly-cut version of the episode. As James' clevage took up a lot of the episode, it was severely shorter. It was then decided to scrap the episode altogether, never being aired again.
The Tower of Terror
This episode premiered in America on October 7, 1998, and ran normally three years. However, following the September 11th attacks, it was banned due to the nature of the title. More recently it has begun airing again, though rarely.
Key Pokémon
The Legend of Dratini
This episode was banned due to the excessive threatening and firing of a gun.
The banning of this episode ade things confusing, as Ash captured 30 Tauros, which as far as the dub goes, just magically appeared!
Key Pokémon
Electric Soldier Porygon
This episode was aired in Japan on December 16, 1997 and became infamous for causing a number of epileptic seizures in child viewers.
About 20 minutes into the episode, there was a scene of a rocket explosion that flashed red and blue lights at a rate of about 12 times per second. This explosion scene was mixed with about five seconds of flashing lights from the eyes of Pikachu. At this point, viewers started to complain of blurred vision, headaches, dizziness and nausea. A few people even had seizures, 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. Although many children recovered during the ambulance trip, more than 150 of them were admitted to hospitals. Only two people stayed in the hospital for over 2 weeks.
Scientists believe that the flashing 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 4-14 years old) are susceptible to these types of seizures, the number of people affected by this Pokémon episode was unprecedented.
A Pokémon website, Pokémon Press Battle, made the following observation: "...photo induced epileptic attacks can be caused by exhaustion, stress, and sitting too close to the television. All of the above are facts in most Japanese schoolchildren's lives, who live under constant academic and social pressure in small homes. Experts have speculated that the children were intensely focused and involved with the show, literally 'glued to the set' when the scene went off like a bomb in their faces."
An article in the Skeptical Enquirer, a publication devoted to debunking claims of the paranormal and junk science, made an interesting explanation for the phenomenon, however. It notes that in the first hours after the program aired, only 600-700 children sought medical attention and that most of the other reports of illness came days after the original incident, when clips from the show had been re-broadcast on the news and children had had time to hear about it from friends and classmates. Most of the less severe symptoms reported (headaches, vomiting and blurry vision) had a lot more in common with the psychological phenomenon of mass hysteria than they do with epileptic seizures, and the magazine points out that mass hysteria usually breaks out in schools or public institutions in which people are under a great deal of stress.
Italian scientists have since detailed an abnormal brain response to flashing lights in people who suffer from photosensitive seizures. For both normal volunteers and photosensitive volunteers, they examined the brain's electrical response to changing light patterns. The researchers found that in normal volunteers, as the flickering lights increased in contrast, the response of the brain increased. At high contrast levels, the brain's response levelled out. The brain response in photosensitive people also increased with higher contrasts, but it did not level out at the highest contrast. This was especially apparent when the lights flashed at rates between 4 and 10 times per second. The scientists believe that in the brains of photosensitive people, there is a defective or absent mechanism that controls the reaction to visual information. This may have caused the seizures associated with Electric Soldier Porygon
Soon after the incident, Japanese television broadcasters and medical officials got together to find ways to make sure this never happened again. They established the following guidelines for future animated programs:
- Flashing images, especially those with red, should not flicker faster than three times per second. If the image does not have red, it still should not flicker faster than five times per second.
- Flashing images should be displayed for a total duration of less than two seconds.
- Stripes, whorls and concentric circles should not take up a large part of a TV screen.
The episode is now banned world-wide. Possibly as a result of this incident, Porygon, along with its evolutionary form Porygon2, have never been seen in the animé since.
Key Pokémon
Holiday Hi-Jynx
This episode was banned due to the controversy over Jynx.
It is not, however, banned in the UK. The episode often airs on Toonami UK, though out of order.
Key Pokémon
- Jynx (Rougela)
The Ice Cave
This is the most controversial of the banned episodes. While the rest of the dub bans were in the Kanto saga, this ban was made 4 seasons after the last one. Many possible reasons have been given for the ban, including the episode's links to the SARS epidemic at the time. However, the most believed reason is the large role of Jynx, who the dubbers apparently still were not willing to allow to have a large role.
Key Pokémon
- Jynx (Rougela)
Shaking Island Battle! Barboach vs. Whiscash
- English: (Shaking Island Battle! Barboach vs. Whiscash)
- Romaji: (Yureru Shima no Tatakai! Dojotchi vs Namazun!!)
- Japanese: (ゆれる島の戦い!ドジョッチＶＳナマズン!!) Japanese
This episode of Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation was the first episode to be banned inside Japan prior to its first scheduled airing. It was originally set to air on November 4th, 2004 skipped due to the content of the episode and its similarities to the Niigata prefecture earthquakes in October 23, 2004. The episode was later postponed, and then discontinued.
The episode was supposed to be aired between AG100 - (トクサネジム!ソルロックとルナトーン! Mossdeep Gym! Solrock and Lunatone!) and AG101 (海の男!四天王ゲンジ登場!! Seaman! The Elite Four Drake Enters!!).
Key Pokémon
Outline
Satoshi has finished at the Mossdeep City Gym, and so he decides that his next goal is the final Gym at Sootopolis City.
Ash and friends journey toward Jojo Island, where they are caught in an earthquake caused by a Whiscash. They meet a Pokémon Trainer named Chouta who tells them about a battle between the Barboach and Whiscash. Ash has to try to make it stop.
Tentacool and Tentacruel
This episode premiered in America on October 1, 1998, and ran normally three years. However, following the September 11th attacks, it was banned due to having towers being destroyed. Even though banned on Kids WB, this episode was aired on Cartoon Network.
Key Pokémon
External Links
- Neuroscience for Kids (About "Electric Soldier Porygon")
- The mass hysteria surrounding "Electric Soldier Porygon"
- An article about Pokémon controversy, (includes the seizure scene)
- Pictures from the Preview of "Shaking Island Battle! Barboach vs. Whiscash!"
- Japanese Web Newtype (using the 'web archive')