Pokémon's 30th Anniversary: ​​The Franchise's Biggest Controversies

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Throughout the franchise's 30-year history, Pokémon has been about more than just fun, catching creatures, and cute critters; the series has also been marked by legal issues, tragedies, and censorship. Let's take a look at a few of these cases.

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번역자Meline Hoch

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개정자Romeu

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"Gotta Catch 'Em All" is a phrase that became famous among the youth of the 1990s and has stayed with them to this day! Anyone who watched the anime when Pokémon premiered on TV likely witnessed the franchise's evolution firsthand, getting to know the original little monsters and watching them grow from 151 to over a thousand!

It’s been 30 years of successlink outside website, featuring trading card games, spin-offs, feature films, and much more. And of course, throughout this successful journey, Pokémon has also faced issues that nearly ended the franchise before it achieved stardom.

For those unfamiliar with the history—or for anyone wanting to revisit the various controversies that have dogged Pikachu and his friends over the years—we’re looking back at some of the major scandals, ranging from legal battles and censorship to much more. And if there’s one we missed, let us know in the comments.

Cut episodes

Pokémon always underwent adaptations before reaching Brazil. First came the original broadcast in Japan, then its arrival in the United States, and finally its release to the rest of the world. Along the way, a lot of material was altered, cut, or simply ignored. Viewers often felt like something was missing.

One of the most classic examples is the "Legend of Dratini" episode—the one where Ash catches 30 Tauros. For a long time, this made no sense to those who had been following the trainer from Pallet since the beginning. One day he had no Tauros, and the next, he had several. When and how were they caught? The answer: an entire episode had been cut from the anime.

The reason: firearms were involved. At one point, an old man points a shotgun at Ash, Team Rocket points guns at the old man, and other similar scenes were deemed inappropriate. See an example below:

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One moment when the Pokémon anime broke out of the "otaku bubble" was the Porygon episode. "Electric Soldier Porygon" featured a sequence with intense, rapidly flashing lights, which ended up causing epileptic seizures in numerous children in Japan. Some were hospitalized, and the incident sparked a massive public outrage.

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From then on, warnings began to appear before episodes, recommending that viewers watch in well-lit rooms. The episode was never aired in any other country and came to be considered a "lost episode", though today it can actually be found online.

Another instance of a "lost episode" involved the beach beauty contest, in which James appears wearing a bikini with exaggerated breasts. Although he frequently dresses as a woman throughout the anime—usually as a disguise—the decision to give him breasts larger than Jessie's caused the episode to be pulled from the broadcast schedule.

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Another episode that was pulled from broadcast is "Jynx's Christmas", in which the heroes helped Santa Claus recover toys stolen by Team Rocket.

The Pokémon Jynx was considered problematic due to its appearance—featuring black skin and full red lips—which evoked "blackface" (where a white person paints their face to portray a Black person in a negative stereotypical manner). This association with racist stereotypes led to a complete redesign of Jynx—changing its skin color to purple—in both the anime and the games.

Episode 64 of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, which introduced the Pokémon Passimian, was also removed from the broadcast schedule due to "blackface" concerns. In the episode, Ash painted his face to disguise himself as a Pokémon; however, US television networks deemed the episode problematic, and it was excluded from the lineup for many years.

Design Changes

Pokémon also underwent changes in the manga format. For instance, this occurred in Toshihiro Ono's work, Electric Tales of Pikachu. The artist has a distinctive style that emphasizes cute Pokémon and pretty girls. When this material was published outside Japan, it underwent alterations by Viz Media, the company responsible for its international release.

In some instances, entire pages were modified or removed, altering outfits, poses, or the context of the stories. Often, the changes were more subtle, yet still quite noticeable when comparing the edited version to the original.

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There’s also the case of the character Olivia from Pokémon Sun and Moon, one of the Alolan Kahunas (the equivalent of the Elite Four). In the original version, her appearance is typical for someone living in a tropical region, featuring lighter, more revealing clothing. However, in the anime adaptation, changes were made: her skin tone was lightened, her outfit was modified, and certain physical features were toned down.

As previously mentioned, Jynx was also altered; her black skin was changed to purple to avoid associations with blackface and racial stereotypes.

One of the most well-known examples of design changes involves the "Westernization" that occurred over the years, where Japanese cultural elements were removed and replaced with typically Western ones. A prime example is Brock claiming to enjoy "jelly-filled donuts" while holding a traditional onigiri—the famous Japanese rice ball. Episode 118 of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire also featured a design change, erasing an onigiri and replacing the traditional rice ball with a generic sandwich.

Religion

Given that the culture differs significantly from the West, it’s common for anime to portray spirits or even supernatural entities as characters or supporting figures. Hearing an anime refer to "demons" is quite common; this is because the concept is viewed differently in Japan than in Christian religions.

Consequently, when Ghost-type Pokémon—or a Pokémon like Giratina, the "Lord of the Distortion World"—are involved, conflicts often arise with religious groups that deem the anime unsuitable for children, associating it with magic and the occult.

Phil Arms, an American Protestant pastor, was one of Pokémon's most prominent critics, claiming that the anime promoted the occult and evolution as a substitute for divine creation, and asserting that the creatures possessed "spiritual powers". In Brazil, public religious figures also voiced similar criticisms, linking anime to the occult.

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On the other hand, not all religious institutions were opposed to the pocket monsters. With the launch of Pokémon GO, some churches in Brazil realized they were key locations—such as PokéStops and Gyms—within the game and began using this to attract people.

Signs inviting players to come inside, look around, view the artwork, or simply enjoy a moment of reflection were a common sight and encouraged visits. Naturally, they always asked for respect regarding the setting and religious services, but these locations encouraged the public to discover and appreciate the space rather than turning away a potential player in search of Pokémon.

Legal Issues

Nintendo is well-known for filing lawsuits against other games or companies whenever something resembles its intellectual property or brands—as seen in the cases against Palworld and even a Costa Rican supermarket named Super Mario. However, Nintendo also faces legal action from other companies and individuals.

One of the most famous instances involves the animal rights organization PETA. The group criticized Pokémon, claiming the game encouraged animal cruelty; to drive this point home, they created their own parody versions of the games, depicting Pokémon as injured and exploited.

The campaign aimed to criticize the treatment of Pokémon and the potential influence this could have on real-world behavior, but the way it was executed backfired, causing the public to side with Nintendo rather than PETA. The organization also declared its headquarters a "safe sanctuary" for Pokémon GO creatures, stating that they couldn’t be captured there.

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Another curious story involves the psychic Uri Geller, who rose to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s for claiming to possess psychic powers and for bending spoons. A fixture on television programs, he was frequently seen bending metal or performing other feats using his paranormal abilities.

At one point, he decided to sue Nintendo, claiming that the Pokémon Kadabra was based on him. The resemblance—ranging from the Pokémon holding a spoon to the character's original Japanese name, "Yungerer"—was central to the dispute. This led to years passing without any new Kadabra cards being released for the trading card game. The situation was only resolved much later, when Geller himself had a change of heart and dropped the lawsuit.

More recently, the game Pokémon GO presented a different kind of issue. The game brought the Pokémon universe into the real world, giving rise to unexpected situations.

There were instances of people crossing the street without paying attention, playing while driving, and even cases of trespassing that ended in tragedy. In some situations, criminals used the game itself to lure victims. Furthermore, certain locations began attracting large crowds, raising concerns. The company had to intervene with warnings and adjustments to try to bring the situation under control. It was a moment that made it clear the impact of Pokémon was no longer confined to the screen.

Another incident that went viral on social media in 2016 involved Pokémon GO and the Holocaust Museum in the US. People were visiting to play and catch Pokémon—since the site had become a PokéStop—forcing the museum to ask Niantic to remove the in-game points of interest from the premises. However, what drew the most attention in this case was the alleged appearance of Koffing and Weezing at the site. These Poison-type Pokémon, which attack using smoke, sparked public outrage by appearing there.

Yet, this was never confirmed. While there was indeed a PokéStop at the museum and the organization did request that the developer remove the virtual points, it was never confirmed that those Poison-type Pokémon actually appeared there. Therefore, the most controversial aspect of the story was never officially verified.

Conclusion

Pokémon has always maintained an image of being lighthearted, simple, and accessible. But a closer look reveals a franchise history filled with adjustments, conflicts, and decisions that weren't always quite so simple.

And perhaps that’s precisely why it has endured for so long. This ability to adapt—even when it meant navigating controversies along the way—has been part of what kept Pokémon relevant for so many years.

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