Pokémon is one of the longest animation franchises in history, spanning movies, games, television and far beyond. It is perhaps unsurprising, then, that the now 27-year-old Pokémon Company has some regrets in its catalogue.
These original TV series episodes have been permanently pulled out of rotation on most syndications, after at least one airing. Their content has been deemed, by fans and the studio, to feature offensive content that cannot be edited out — including discrimimatory, violent, or inappropiately sexual content, as well as one infamous episode that hospitalized hundreds of viewers.
It should be noted that this list does not include episodes that never made it to air, or episodes that have since been restored to rotation. For example, Episode 23, “The Tower of Terror,” was banned for a while after the September 11th attacks back in 2001, but is now available.
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What is the Pokémon Horizons English dub release date?
Gotta catch some more of ’em all.
Tom MeisfjordNov 30, 2023 2:33 pm
Image via The Pokemon Company/Netflix
Whether you’re champing at the bit for some quality time with Liko, Roy, Sprigatito, and Fuecoco, or you’re a confused, aging Millennial who fell off the Pokémon train back in the 2000s and thinks that all of those names sound made up, we’ve got huge news for you: Pokémon is on its way back to Netflix. Some more. Again.
This time, it’s showing up in the form of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, an all-new, soon-to-be-English-dubbed adventure starring – let me check my notes here – 1,021 Pokémon?! That can’t be right. In my day, we were happy with 151. How have they not run out of stuff to base Pokémon on yet? Are they just making them out of garbage now? What? They did that, too? Wow. I guess capitalism really does foster innovation.
Pokémon Horizons: The Series promises fans a globetrotting adventure across new regions, with the threat of the mysterious Explorers ever-present and a whole heaping lot of new… New Pokémon. Really? New ones? Man. And nobody’s worried that this is excessive? Whatever. There’s a Pikachu in a captain’s hat. It’ll be swell.
Related: The Best Pokémon Games Of All Time – Ranked on Attack of the Fanboy
Every banned Pokémon episode
Episode 18, “Beauty and the Beach”
This episode drew immediate controversy after it prominently featured James, from Team Rocket, disguised as a woman in a bikini. While this may have seemed controversial enough on its own, especially in the year 2000, its adult humor pushed it over the edge, with the majority agreeing that the children’s anime went way too far. The constant jokes about James’ fake breasts throughout the episode, especially in comparison to Misty — a character canonically aged around 10 — meant that the episode was irreparable, and was taken off air for good.
Episode 35, “The Legend of Miniryu”
“The Legend of Miniryu” never made it to most international syndication, due to the episode’s frequent depiction of firearms throughout. While many countries that banned the episode, such as the United States, allow gun ownership, the depiction of guns in children’s media is usually deemed unaccaptable, and would automatically grant a PG-13 rating, at the very least. One scene in which a character aims a gun directly at Ash Ketchum’s head was a bridge too far for most countries, and was considered too frightening and violent for the average viewer.
Episode 38, “Dennō Senshi Porygon”
The most controversial in Pokémon history, this episode never made it outside of Japanese syndication. The reason? Over 600 children were hospitalized after being seriously affected by the blue and red strobe effect used throughout the episode. The intense strobing, both incredibly bright and fast in its animation, led to hundreds of reports of seizures and loss of consciousness, even in viewers with no history of convulsions. Countless viewers who reported milder symptoms suffered from nausea, headaches, and general disorientation – although not severe enough to require hospitalization.
The fallout from this incident resulted in the series undergoing a hiatus, under which the production and its animators were investigated by police, which prompted a government inquiry. On a more positive note, information collected by the investigation helped prevent similar incidents being triggered by animation, and gave experts a better understanding of the way media can induce seizures and other health issues in viewers. However, the incident looms over the series, with the Porygon Pokémon never featuring in the series again, as well as being immortalized in western culture, after being parodied on an episode of The Simpsons.
Episode 65, “Holiday Hi-Jynx”, Episode 92, “Stage Fight”, Episode 101, “The Mandarin Island Miss Match”, and Episode 252, “The Ice Cave”
These episodes were all banned for the same reason – heavily featuring Pokémon’s most controversial character, Jynx, shown above in its new design. Jynx’s old design featured the character with jet-black skin and exaggerated human lips, resulting in the character being criticised by both viewers and scholars for perpetuating stereotypical depictions of Black people that have existed for centuries, used most prominently during the Jim Crow era of the United States.
In addition, the Pokémon’s appearance, its dress and demeanor in particular, were criticised for sexualising a kids’ show character, as well as invoking bigoted tropes surrounding Black women in media. As Pokémon are meant to incorporate features of real animals, Jynx appearing to wear a dress and have large human breasts has been met with poor reception by fans, with the character consistently being ranked as one of the worst of the thousands of Pokémon (or “pocket monsters” in English) in canon.
Episode 1005 “Satoshi and Nagetukesaru! A Touchdown of Friendship!!”
After seemingly avoiding hundreds of episodes without major controversy, this 2018 Pokémon episode drew up more criticism for the series’ depiction of race. One scene in which Ash attempts to get close contact with Passimians by donning black face paint, shown throughout the episode, looked rather strikingly like blackface. Throughout history, performers have used blackface to portray offensive caricatures of Black people, and The Pokémon Company understandably took on board concerns about encouraging young viewers to replicate the episode, and decided to pull the plug for good.
