December 16, 1997 saw the broadcast of the 38th episode of the legendary Pokémon anime in Japan, and the last time it was ever broadcast at all, thanks to a scene that changed broadcast TV in the country for a long time.
The computer warrior porygon is one of the weird designs in the original roster of Pokemon. It is not controversial because of a moment of violence or an adult nature. Ash and his friends are tasked with infiltrating a digital world with the help of a prototype Porygon, where the villainous Team Rocket are using a computer virus to disrupt the technological transport system between Pokémon Centers. Typically, Pokémon.
Things get weird when Ash and company have to work with Team Rocket to escape the virtual system after an anti-viruses program is deployed to fix it while they are still inside. The anti-viruses software tries to blast our heroes and villains alike with missiles, leading to Pikachu letting out a devastating Thunderbolt attack to destroy them.
It was dubbed "Pokémon Shock" Over 700 instances of a variety of ailments, including nausea, dizziness, headaches, and photosensitivity-triggered seizures, were reported to audiences across Japan. The production of the show was investigated by the Japanese National Police Agency and Nintendo staged a press conference to deny that it was to blame as the games were created for the black and white screen. When Pokemon returned to broadcasting new episodes in the spring of 1998, it was heralded with changes to previous episodes to make them less bright, and a special program explaining that all Japanese TV shows would feature warnings in their opening minutes. Nowadays, it is only on TV shows for children, rather than the broad swathe of programs it was originally intended for. In spite of the fact that the episode was never aired in other countries, The Simpsons and South Park made fun of it.
The Pokémon official account deleted a message in 2020 stating that "Porygon did nothing wrong" in reference to the episode of "Denn Senashi Porygon." It wasn't broadcast again in Japan, and it wasn't broadcast anywhere else in the world as a result. Even though it was series mascot Pikachu that caused the effect in the first place, not even Porygon was spared punishment. Is it possible that a beastie can't catch a break after 25 years?
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