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Banned POKÉMON Episodes that Changed the Franchise

Pokémon devotees know “Electric Soldier Porygon” by name, but even non-fans remember that time an episode of the animated series sent 700 Japanese viewers to the hospital. But while that infamous, seizure-inducing episode might be the most notorious installment of the series, it’s not the only one that has banned from television. Over the years, including earlier in 2018, a few other Pokémon episodes have also been pulled in certain countries before they could ever be seen, or after proving problematic. In this week’s Animation Investigation host Hector Navaro explores the many reasons why television executives did not choose to air certain episodes, and how that has even led to a few changes in the franchise overall.

While some of these episodes proved taboo for reasons entirely out of the control of the show’s creators—like when real world natural disasters made otherwise perfectly acceptable episodes insensitive—some of these episodes had issues right from the start. When was it ever okay to point a gun at a ten-year-old child in a kid’s cartoon? And an overly sexually scene topped off by an old pervert making a pass at a child was always gross.

And we thought it was controversial to ask if Ash Ketchum was the worst Pokémon trainer ever. We’re pretty sure they never had to ban an episode because Ash lost a match.

Which of these episodes would you most want to see? We choose you to tell us in the comments section below which installment you’d like to take off the banned list.

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