Banned episodes

Banned episodes are episodes of the anime which have been deemed unsuitable for airing or reairing in a specific country.

Banned episodes in America

Most of the banned episodes have occurred in America.

List of banned episodes

Note: the reasons given below may not have been corroborated officially.

Beauty and the Beach

This episode was initially banned when the episodes were first dubbed for airing in America. During 2000, the episode was finally dubbed and aired twice before disappearing once again. It was banned because James wore an inflatable body suit to give him large breasts in order to win a beauty contest. It also appears to be retconned out of continuity with the English dub, although Brutella is seen in the following episode.

EP035

This episode was banned due to the prevalent usage of handguns throughout the episode. The Safari Zone warden points a gun at Ash's head, and even shoots the gun at Team Rocket. The banning of this episode left a major plot hole, as this was the episode where Ash captured all 30 of his Tauros. As this is the Safari Zone episode, it also makes the Safari Zone unseen in the English anime, though it is mentioned in the two episodes that took place before it.

Holiday Hi-Jynx

This is the only episode of Pokémon to be banned in America after its initial airing. After the episode aired, a woman named Carole B. Weatherford wrote an article stating that Jynx, which was featured prominently in the episode, is a stereotype of African-Americans. Soon afterward, the episode was pulled from rotation and is not believed to have aired since 2000. Despite this, the episode is currently available on VHS, and is on the Indigo DVD boxset.

EP250

This episode was also banned due to the large focus on Jynx. Unlike the previous episode, this one has never aired in America. Due to the episode not having the redesigned Jynx with purple skin, it was banned and has never been seen outside of Japan.

Banned episodes in Japan

There have also been three confirmed episodes of Pokémon that have either aired once or never in Japan, nor the rest of the world.

List of banned episodes

EP038

Known as the "seizure episode," this episode has been banned worldwide after airing only once in Japan. One particular scene of this episode had a series of flashing lights, which caused a total of approximately 685 Japanese children, 375 girls and 310 boys to be sent to the hospital with symptoms of epilepsy. The show went on hiatus for months, and delayed the episodes Holiday Hi-Jynx and Snow Way Out!. The episode also forced the producers to go back through the previous episodes and dim the lighting on them so as not to cause an accident of this magnitude again.

It's New Year's Eve! Pocket Monsters

This episode was scheduled to be broadcast December 31, 1997, between Holiday Hi-Jynx and Snow Way Out. However, following the EP038 incident, the schedule was re-organised and this episode was never actually aired. No trailer for this episode has ever been seen, nor is any further information known apart from its Japanese title.

AG101 (unaired)

Not long before this episode was scheduled to air, a devastating earthquake struck Japan. Believing it would have been insensitive to air an episode about earthquakes mere weeks after the disaster, it was postponed. However, it never got around to airing and was soon forgotten.

Other banned episodes

Occasionally there will be an episode that is not banned in Japan or the United States, but is banned in another country.

Challenge of the Samurai

This episode has been banned in South Korea due to the episode featuring a samurai.

The Bicker the Better

This episode has been banned in several countries, including Italy, France and Aruba. It's been alleged that the "battle of the sexes" format of the episode has caused those countries to ban the episode.

Temporarily banned episodes

Some episodes were pulled off the air for a period of time for various reasons but were aired on a later date.

Temporarily banned episodes in America

Tentacool & Tentacruel

After the events of September 11th, this episode was taken out of rotation. In the months following the attack, Kids' WB! refused to air it due to the destruction of several buildings (particularly Tentacruel smashing a skyscraper) and the use of machine guns. When Cartoon Network started to air Pokémon, the episode was put back into rotation. It is also on the VHS "Seaside Pikachu" and the Indigo DVD boxset.

The Tower of Terror

This episode was temporarily banned after September 11th. The official reason has never been confirmed, but many believe that the episode's title may have had something to do with it. The episode is no longer banned and continues to air.

Temporarily banned episodes in Japan

BW023 and BW024

This two-part saga of Team Rocket facing off with Team Plasma was postponed due to the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan almost a week before BW023 was supposed to air. The destruction of Castelia City's buildings in one of the episodes is most likely the reason behind the temporary ban. Unlike any of the former, they will air at a later date because of their significance to the series.

BW026

This episode was originally scheduled to air in Japan on April 7, 2011, but it was postponed because of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. It later aired on June 23, 2011.

External links

• Information on Carole B. Weatherford and her article about Jynx