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Pokémon is an anime television series that originally debuted in Japan on April 1, 1997. Throughout its run of over 1,300 episodes, specific episodes have been pulled from airing, banned from airing in certain countries, or never aired at all.
Many episodes that have been banned were stated to have been the cause of "moral panic" as a result of the content included in them. The globally banned episode "Dennō Senshi Porygon", which aired only once on Japan's TV Tokyo on December 16, 1997, features a series of rapidly alternating red and blue frames that provoked epileptic seizures in hundreds of children. Episodes including the Pokémon species Jynx and Passimian were pulled from air or never aired in the United States due to concerns about racial stereotyping and blackface in their respective episodes. Other episodes were removed from airing due to various real-world events.
Banned episodes
"Dennō Senshi Porygon" Incident
aired only once on TV Tokyo in Japan on December 16, 1997, at 6:30 pm JST. Although red and blue flashes are shown earlier in the episode, a technique called "paka paka" makes this scene especially intense, as it uses alternating rapidly flashing lights to convey a sense of tension.
thumb|A slowed-down version of the effect that caused epileptic seizures among the viewers of the episode.<!--Suggesting that this image be replaced with stopped frames for better printability-->
At this point, some viewers complained of blurry vision, headaches, dizziness, and nausea. Seizures, temporary blindness, convulsions, and lost consciousness were also reported. Later studies showed that 5–10% of viewers had mild symptoms that did not need hospital treatment. Approximately 12,000 children reported mild symptoms of illness following the incident, but they more closely resembled symptoms of mass hysteria. A study following 103 patients over three years found most viewers had no further seizures.
News of the incident spread quickly through Japan. On December 17, the day after the broadcast, TV Tokyo issued an apology to the Japanese people, suspended the program, and said it would investigate the cause of the seizures.
Episodes featuring Jynx
thumb|180x180px|Official artwork of Jynx's old design. Jynx's resemblance to negative racial stereotypes resulted in several episodes being removed from airing.
Jynx is a species of Pokémon that was considered by Western audiences to be a racial stereotype, resembling blackface performance, and received significant controversy. Jynx's usually black skin was later changed to purple, and several other features were altered in order to minimize comparisons to a racist stereotype. Despite changes, many episodes featuring Jynx were never re-aired for Western audiences. A holiday episode titled "Holiday Hi-Jynx" was removed from airing, and minor cameos in the episodes "Stage Fight!" and "The Mandarin Island Miss Match" resulted in the later two episodes being removed as well. Jynx's prominence in the episode "The Ice Cave!" also led to that episode's removal. Future episodes of the show would later remove Jynx from the episodes it had made cameos in, and it would subsequently make very few appearances in the anime, with very few episodes after "The Ice Cave!" making Jynx an important character.
Other episodes banned in the West
"Beauty and the Beach"
thumb|Scene from the episode "Beauty and the Beach" when James shows off his inflatable breasts, offending Misty.|left
is the 18th episode of the first season of the anime. In the episode, Ash and his friends Misty and Brock accidentally destroy a boat. This requires them to work at the boat owner's restaurant to obtain the money to pay him back. The man appears attracted to Misty while she works at the restaurant. After the villainous Team Rocket diverts customers to another establishment, Professor Oak informs the protagonists of a beauty pageant taking place, which Misty competes in to win the prize money. Jessie and James of Team Rocket also compete, with James wearing an outfit with inflatable breasts to participate. James taunts Misty using the breasts, stating that she is "ten years too young." also known as "The Legend of Dratini," was aired in Japan on November 25, 1997. The episode has Ash and his friends enter a location known as the Safari Zone to catch Pokémon. The area's warden, named Kaiser, points a gun at them, and other guns and bombs appear in various capacities throughout the episode. Due to the episode's frequent use of firearms and a desire to keep the series friendly for a family audience, the episode was never aired outside of Japan.
"Satoshi and Nagetukesaru! A Touchdown of Friendship!!"
"Satoshi and Nagetukesaru! A Touchdown of Friendship!!" is the 64th episode of the series Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon. The episode never received an official English translation.
"Team Rocket vs. Team Plasma!"
thumb|The destruction caused by the [[2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami was believed to be the reason why "Team Rocket vs Team Plasma" was never aired.]]
The anime series Pokémon the Series: Black & White planned to adapt the characters of Team Plasma from the games in the two-part episode "Team Rocket vs. Team Plasma!" The episodes would have featured Team Rocket dueling with Team Plasma and would have ended with a city being threatened by explosions hailing from the energy-conducting Meteonite item. The episodes were originally scheduled to be broadcast on March 17 and 24, 2011. The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami occurred directly before the episodes' broadcast. As a result, the episodes were never aired, instead being skipped in favor of the episode directly following the two-parter. the episodes were never actually aired.
Twelve years later, the unaired episodes' scripts were discovered. An unknown buyer had obtained the scripts sometime in 2013 and offered to sell them. Though the Pokémon community raised the amount the buyer offered, the buyer later released the scripts for free online. The release of the scripts confirmed content about the episode, revealing that Team Plasma would have lost control of the Meteonite's power, leading to vast destruction across a city. Due to this, it was speculated that the episodes were never aired due to similarities to the destruction caused by the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
Other episodes
"Battle of the Quaking Island! Dojoach vs. Namazun!!"
The episode "Battle of the Quaking Island! Dojoach vs. Namazun!!", which would have been released as part of Pokémon: Advanced Battle, was never aired due to the 2004 Chūetsu earthquake. The episode featured the Pokémon Whiscash, which is capable of causing earthquakes, and is widely believed to be the reason for the episode's removal. This had also lead to the banning of three moves in the anime, Earthquake, Magnitude, and Fissure.
Pokémon Journeys: The Series episodes
Several episodes from Pokémon Journeys: The Series were postponed from their original air dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic and were replaced with reruns. New episodes resumed airing on June 7 following the state of emergency being lifted in Japan.