On December 16th,1997, the anime Pocket Monsters (Or as we know it, Pokemon) aired it's 38th episode. In it, Ash and friends go inside the world of computers to stop Team Rocket's newest scheme. They did so using the episode's title character, Porygon (でんのうせんしポリゴン Computer Warrior Porygon, commonly Electric Soldier Porygon). That's all well and good, except for the ending. As when trying to escape from the world, they're targeted by missiles. Pikachu shocks said missiles, leading into what may very well be the most infamous scene in all of anime:
For 4 and a half seconds, the red and blue colors flashed 100 times. This caused anywhere from 135 to 700 people to experience dizziness, headaches nausea, nosebleed and even memory loss. That includes adults that watched it a news report on it.
(Smarter folks than me go into the specifics here: https://www.csicop.org/si/show/pokemon_panic_of_1997
and here: http://dogasu.bulbagarden.net/comparisons/kanto/ep038.html )
A news Report (Not the one above) on it is here.
From after that, it was a massive ordeal. Staff thought they might be fined or arrested, scripts were put on hold, and the series was essentially erased for four months. Rental VHS's were pulled, and anything that mentioned pokemon for the rest of that year was pulled. It of course came back (I mean, it's on episode 1000), but changes had taken place. First off was the fact that certain episodes were rearranged, leading into odd discrepancies across the board. Remember when ash met santa, but had a charmander? That was one of them.
(Fun fact: We never had this banned in Canada)
Another change was that no instance of Porygon, any of it's evolutions, or the move conversion were to be seen in the TV series from then on.
(Only appearance ever was in Movie 15.)
Another change was that all programing had to adhere to new rules and regulations. Slowed dimmed lights, less quick cuts, and warnings before shows. Not just Pokemon, not just anime, but even films like Harry Potter.
So Era, since this was probably the earliest time you ever heard of Pokemon, (Unless you were a real OG and imported the games back in '96) what are your memories from this time period? Did your folks ban you from seeing the show, like mine did?
For 4 and a half seconds, the red and blue colors flashed 100 times. This caused anywhere from 135 to 700 people to experience dizziness, headaches nausea, nosebleed and even memory loss. That includes adults that watched it a news report on it.
(Smarter folks than me go into the specifics here: https://www.csicop.org/si/show/pokemon_panic_of_1997
and here: http://dogasu.bulbagarden.net/comparisons/kanto/ep038.html )
A news Report (Not the one above) on it is here.
From after that, it was a massive ordeal. Staff thought they might be fined or arrested, scripts were put on hold, and the series was essentially erased for four months. Rental VHS's were pulled, and anything that mentioned pokemon for the rest of that year was pulled. It of course came back (I mean, it's on episode 1000), but changes had taken place. First off was the fact that certain episodes were rearranged, leading into odd discrepancies across the board. Remember when ash met santa, but had a charmander? That was one of them.
Another change was that no instance of Porygon, any of it's evolutions, or the move conversion were to be seen in the TV series from then on.
Another change was that all programing had to adhere to new rules and regulations. Slowed dimmed lights, less quick cuts, and warnings before shows. Not just Pokemon, not just anime, but even films like Harry Potter.
So Era, since this was probably the earliest time you ever heard of Pokemon, (Unless you were a real OG and imported the games back in '96) what are your memories from this time period? Did your folks ban you from seeing the show, like mine did?
