Every Banned Pokemon Episode EXPLAINED 

HAPPY JPR FRIDAY (youtube please dont d*monetize this, im beggin you)

I feel that the anime should've made a new Porygon episode several years later without the strobe effects to show they have adapted their animation style to be safer with the new technology available. They need to show that they learned from their mistake, not bury the problem under the rug. It's not like the internet is going forget about the incident anyway.

Man I'm sure Lorelei would have been a lot of kids childhood crushes if the episodes weren't banned.

All these years later I still find it hilariously ironic that the canonically important Legend of Dratini was nowhere in Western existence while the next episode, canonically irrelevant The Kangaskhan Kid, *also* featured Jenny pointing a gun at Ash while additionally having a man with a Hitler mustache nearly kill a toddler by holding him outside a helicopter and dropping him. Not only that, Mr. Hitler Stache calmly tells Jenny the story and says/does nothing despite being a police officer and that apparently is perfectly OK

The banned black and white team rocket and team plasma episode is the most unfortunate. It is such a vital episode for plot points + character development and they just decided to erase its existence rather than just delay the tv airing or upload the episodes online. The writing of black and white anime was so underwhelming because the writers were busy patching up the later episodes to erase mentioning of these events. If such an important episode was scrapped in any other popular anime such as shounen, anime+manga fans would be highly disappointed. Pokemon company ignoring these special episodes is such a bad decision.

The banning of the Mandarin Island Miss Match is incredibly unfortunate because the narrator’s narration in the next episode directly references it. Also The Legend of Dratini’s ban makes the Safari Zone arc rather odd because that was its meatiest part.

Tauros has always been one of my favorite mons. It drove me crazy as a kid trying to figure out when and how Ash caught all thirty of his.

Another fun fact about Tentacool and Tentacruel: it got banned initially for 9/11 and was then unbanned, but it got banned again after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, then unbanned later on

5:19 Pikachu’s Goodbye wasn’t even supposed to be in the rotation at all. It was made during the 4 month break to try and make people forgive Pikachu for the accident HE caused and to reintroduce the Pokemon anime. Looking at the intended schedule, it was supposed to be Holiday Hy-Jynx, New Year’s Recap, Snow Way Out, and Battling Eevee Bros. No “Pikachu’s Goodbye” to be seen.

Man, Earthquake is such an iconic Ground-type move and now it’s banned permanently from the series. 😔

I remember when Porygon-Z was introduced and I said “there’s no way it won’t be in the anime, what’s the point of making a new one if they aren’t going to show it!” Boy was I wrong. I want to see 2 and Z so bad. The Jynx episodes bother me because 4Kids knew how to edit and photoshop things…just change the color. So glad I have the old S1 and S2 DVDs with these episodes. The Rocket vs. Plasma episodes were a huge loss because BW was very good during those first 25 episodes. Once these episodes were banned, BW literally lost the plot and became very so so for the rest of its run. I wish they would release a “banned episode” DVD set. That would be awesome.

Porygon did nothing wrong :(

I looked into that narrator getting arrested in Japan. She had that episode, a TV ad, all of her music, and her clothing line all pulled from stores/taken off the air, and wasn't in any TV dramas for 8 years. You may think she tried to kill somebody or something, but no, she was doing meth with her husband. That is all. Japan really treats crime differently.

I´m pretty sure the episode where pikachu "leaves" was precisely made to remember people why they love pokemon and how much they don't want to see pikachu leave.

Lorelei's dub name being changed to fit 2 syllables is pretty funny to me because 4kids could've just chose to call her "Lore-lai" instead of giving her a whole new name. Although it's still missing a syllable, its still close enough to her actual name.

It's kind of a shame legend of dratini was banned, because on top of creating plotholes, it's actually a pretty decent episode too.

Interesting thing to note: Maddie Blaustein (Meowth) once confirmed that Electric Soldier Porygon was dubbed and edited to prevent more seizures. But because of the international ban, they couldn’t release it. There’s also apparently a dubbed version of the Dratini episode too.

"A swimsuit pageant also involving Misty, who is 10 years old." Texas Child Pageants: "That's right! She's too old for that!"

sadly we will never see the 2 B/W anime episodes. Would love to see, how Team Rocket would interact with Team Plasma.

Love how Holiday Hijynx is the most cursed episode of Pokémon ever. First it gets incredibly delayed in both Japan and NA because it was supposed to air after the Porygon episode. Then once it finally airs, it quickly afterwards gets completely banned because it features Jynx’s original design. All of this happening to Pokémon’s first Christmas special episode is just wild

That solves a Mandela Effect I thought I was suffering from. I KNEW I'd seen an episode where Lorelei showed up and was renamed Prima for whatever reason, but I couldn't find proof online that it aired here. Especially when Pokemon Puzzle League came out for N64 and they brought back her dub actress, but the voice clips had her say her name was Lorelei again.

Those two Orange Islands episodes getting banned because of Jynx is so lazy, because 1) Jynx had very limited screentime in both of those episodes, so editing out the scenes with it or editing her skin color would've been easy, and 2) we have entire episodes with Jynx's skin recolored, so not doing it for a few minutes of footage is just dumb and lazy.

Beauty and the Beach: Dumb but I guess understandable. Tentacool & Tentacruel and The Tower of Terror: Again dumb but understandable. I say dumb because Pokemon is not the first kids show to feature buildings being destroyed or peoples souls leaving their bodies. At least these were temporary removals but still. Electric Soldier Porygon: If they'd just slowed down the flashing lights (which I've read is what the planned ENG dub was going to do) then I don't see a reason it can't be rebroadcasted. Either way though banning the Porygon line from having prominent roles is dumb. Jinx EPs: Using the updated design solves the problem easily. Legend of Dratini: Again not the first kids show to feature live guns so I don't see a major issue. EQ EPs: Dumb reasons to permaban them and the moves. They could easily just temp pull them & rebroadcast them later. Even though my understanding is that Japan doesn't really do reruns they could still put them back in rotation if they ever broadcasted Advanced again. Pikachu & Pichu short: I know in Japan VAs are treated like celebrities & they don't like replacing VAs if they can help it but in this case a simple narrator change would easily solve it. BW: Delaying them? Understandable. Cancelling & banning them outright? Dumb. Undersea Place: Dumb but I guess understandable, and at least this was put back in rotation. Passimian EP: Dumb overreaction reason to ban it. While I understand the blackface issue in this case it's entirely a non-issue & only people who want to be offended would make it one. I actually watched this episode myself despite normally being a dub watcher & at no point did I see something that warranted a ban. Overall: While some I could understand a majority were just overreactions/overcorrections to stuff that for the most part were just unfortunate timings & could easily be fixed by delaying a bit (natural disasters, VA) or by using updated designs (Jinx)/broadcasting sensibilities (slower flashing lights, beauty pageant) with a disclaimer/warning of some kind.

I remember first seeing the skrelp episode in Kalos Quest. I was so confused. I didn't know why it was placed there at the time. So for me the only thing that mattered about that episode was that one of Clemont's inventions did not explode?! ⁉️

The original Jynx can still be seen in a couple of episodes. Princess vs Princess has it as one of the Pokemon Dolls, and the announcer portrays one. Also the Who's That Pokemon for It's Mr. Mimie Time is Jynx

The Lorelei being named Prima to match the lip flaps doesn't make sense as multiple characters have dub names which have less syllables than their Japanese ones and 4kids would usually add extra dialogue when a character is saying their name if this was the case, plus there is also the fact that Lorelei is called "Kanna-sama" by Kasumi ( Misty) and "Kanna-san" by everyone else, which is more than 2 syllables. This was most likely just a case of 4kids not knowing Kanna (her Japanese name) was Lorelei from the Kanto series Pokémon games, in fact Prima is never mentioned as being a member of the Elite 4 in the dub of that episode.

Electric Soldier Porygon made me love Porygon and its evolutions and my hatred for Ash's Pikachu Porygon did nothing wrong. The yellow rat is the only one to blame

Some of the banned episodes were pretty stupid, but other caused by natural disasters are understandable. Like Pokemon Generation 5 B/W anime main plot suffered pretty heavily from that tsunami.

I love how they banned Legend of Safari for using guns, yet Here Comes the Squirtle Squad uses guns yet no one complained about that.

Banning the Passimian was one of the biggest clown moves in modern anime import. You have to actively be on search for controversy to see any blackface in Ash's disguise.

Ironically enough, A Sunken Place to Call Home made its debut in South Korea. Also, it seems like the Legend of Dratini may've aired in East Asia (not just Japan, but also Taiwan & South Korea as well as Hong Kong) similar to how Ice Cave did, given that both have titles in both Korean & Chinese topolects

I once as a kid had the vhs for spell of the unknown which has the pichu brothers short on it included. But sadly it’s been lost to time. One of the two holes in my original vhs collection

I wish they'd release the entire pokemon anime on dvd with every single episode on it even banned ones. It would be so fun to sit down and watch literally everything in order, plus theres also the history fact of it, these episodes were made and some are just lost to time?

I thought I was crazy when watching the BW anime when I would notice that something was wrong when I noticed plots were randomly dropped or that I missed something.

Thank you so much for all videos you made. You are one of my absolutely best youtubers ever. :) Jsi borec. Mám moc rád tvoji tvorbu. Zdraví Nogy.

The probably could have changed the flash rate of the explosion of Electric Solder Porygon so it wouldn't cause health problems. I do have those Jynks Christmas episode from season one on DVD, probably from before the episode being pulled everywhere. I also have that Orange Islands episode with Lorelie in it on DVD. If those episodes have been erased everywhere then the DVDs could be worth a lot of money one day.

Goodness should we get JPR to cover the anime more?

The Lorelei episode was banned? I didnt know about this. Jynx only appeared there for like 15 seconds.

It would have worked if they can just replace Noriko Sakai with a different actor. You can still hear the instrumental song where she sang that credits song in the future episodes.

I can understand banning most of these but for the original team plasma arc we were supposed to get, there should have been no excuses for axing this These two episodes were meant to be a crucial component in Black and White and from what the scripts had to say, things looked promising. Shame they couldn't have just put a warning before the episodes aired or just dialed back on the violence This decision to rewrite everything overall just made black and white worse in the long run outside of the tournament arcs and even Operation Tempest TheyCOULD even give team plasma an actually amazing arc in the end which rubs more salt in the bag, not wound

I was so mad when that Passimian episode got banned because I really wanted Ash to catch that Pokemon I love him.. can't believe they banned an episode in the year 2020....

I remember that Tower of Terror episode extremely vividly from my childhood- I was watching all of the episodes as they aired, so it must have played on WB pretty early on. Not a long temp ban lol

I get the strobing lights thing, but compared to what they show on every news channel on a daily basis, I'd say these are pretty tame.😄

It's kinda nice to go back in history and see where the anime F'd up. Because gosh dang, there's tons that can go wrong with animated episodes based on a popular franchise like Pokemon.

Crazy. I remember some of the first seasons episodes being banned, but not all, at least on Brazil. I remember seeing the tentacruel and the hunter episode.

Steven is an awesome guy! I love the food hall in high point I definitely recommend visiting.

Keep it up on your work and this video and channel I ❤️ this video and channel Thanks you for your video and channel I ❤️ Pokemon all franchise

Porygon did nothing wrong. The official Pokémon twitter account said that too.

1:18 Thank you Arcanine.

I honestly thought that Ash retroactively caught all the Tauros, and it never needed an explanation. This new information is groundbreaking.

Michigan must not have got the memo about the Tauros episode. I saw it as a child. I didn't find out it was banned until I bought the Indigo League on DVD, and couldn't find the episode. I was confused, and very disappointed.

Funny thing is, I saw the Lorelei episode, not on tv or dvd or anything like that, I don't remember what was used to watch the episode, but I do remember it, and I did actually enjoy it, despite the error with Jynx using Ice Beam, but it showed Ice Punch.

Great video!

perfect video to watch while eating Wendy’s spicy nuggets

I could've sworn I saw an episode with Lorelei in it when I was a kid....

And to this day Porygon is STILL banned! Also Fun Fact: while Tentacool, and Tentacruel was temporarily banned due to 9/11 it STILL had the giant Tentacruel destroying a building in the intro intact!

Also worth noting that Jynx has received edits in the rereleases of games it appears in, including Pokémon Snap and TCG for Game Boy.

I do think its funny legend of dratini was banned bc of guns being pointed at people, but multiple people point rifles in ash's face in the squirtle squad epsiode when he goes to the store to get pikachu a potion. I also think the sun and moon episode ban is silly because while ash has a black face, its not blackface the way that jynx is. He doesnt have big overdrawn lips or googly eyes or anything like that

Pity these are really good episodes should really be available for digital release or on streaming when a person has the option to watch them or pass the episode.

I always wondered where Ash got those Tauros! I really did think I had a messed-up memory when they were mentioned.

I love looking back at banned episodes. The two Team Rocket episodes from Black & White were the ones I wanted to see the most. When they cut to Team Rocket having their old clothes and back to their old antics without explaining, I stopped watching the show altogether. I understand sensitivity for the Tsunami victims but I believe in a fluid storyline. Easily could've just delayed it but it killed the entire season for me instead.

I think Bulldoze is ok because the name doesn't reference the natural disaster like Earthquake, Magnitude or Fissure does

Hooray, JPR is officially an anipoke tuber🎉

this is the first of these types of videos I've seen that adds a parental guidance warning at the beginning. thank you for that, since youtube kids is really bad about that.

The fact I have the original VHS Jynx episode makes me feel like I have something cool even though video players don't really exist in the current world

Most awesome vid!!!!

As a passimian fan, I am disappointed it was skipped.

5:16 - Pikachu was the mascot of the franchise. He could’ve gotten away with murder if he wanted to.

I saw Lorelei in the WB kids US version. I'll never forget those 'F cups' in a children's cartoon. It aired, trust me.

Knowing that the earthquake mover was banned from the show makes me wonder ir Torterra could hace had a better time of it had that move

One thing you got wrong is that Pikachu wasn't the one that caused the incident framing Porygon... Team Rocket did... It was THEIR rocket that caused the light show... Pikachu's thunder never once before or after ever had that kinda effect... And doesn't it make sense for criminals to try and frame innocents for their crimes.. The real reason Pikachu gets blame is cause people think it's more interesting... Please stop spreading misinformation... Justice for Pikachu and Porygon!!!!!!!!!!!!

5:00 INAZUMA ELEVEN MENTIONED

Wait wtf!!!! You have 221k subs now!!!! I remember when you had 108k subs.

I have the original DVD for the Orange Island, including the one episode! I think that episode awakened my manhood as a kid. 😂 Also used to own the VHS tape that included that banned tentacruel episode.

James with gun in the robo kangaskhan

2:11 And little did we know they just teased tentacool’s paldain form💀💀

shame Lorelei's episode can't be watched legally anymore, a lot of unfortunate people will miss her out really one of the peak pokemon moments

Before mentioning Jynx, I legitimately thought the episode with Lorelei was banned because she was "too sexy" for american kids tv at the time.

My favorite thing about the thumbnail is that you can kind of guess all the reasons each of the episodes were banned, except for the Ghetsis one, which implies that it was banned simply because Ghetsis is in it. Which honestly is a perfectly fine reason to ban it. Screw Ghetsis.

I would think there’s been enough time to allow Porygon and it’s evolutions back into animation for either major or minor roles to try to separate them from that incident. Not the banned episode, just showing the Pokémon more in the anime to slightly remove the connection.

I remember a bit about Tentacool and Tentacruel episode, i was a kid and it happened to be released on TV. I remember that episode having terrified me and causing me to hate Tentacruel, even to this day i still have images of destruction printed into my mind... the imagery was deeply unsettling for kids so i understand why it was banned in some countries. Do I still hate Tentacruel today? Hell yeah, I do...

Porygon actually cameoed in the intro of a different movie before Kyurem.

Nah, who let Ash cook with that Passimian face paint

Despite Tentacool and Tentacruel being banned, they kept that shot of Tentacruel knocking down a skyscraper in the theme song.

On the bright side, Lorelai is hot!

Justice for the Porygon Line! Make that overrated mouse face its crimes in the court.

That thumbnail. I know damn well you knew what you were doing 😂

All of them are best, I remember some episodes were showing on kids WB as lost episodes😅

Electric Solder Porygon did air in China and Taiwan apparently also in Vietnamese right after the episode had aired in Japan according to Bulbapedia

omg love the little inazuma eleven cameo, always has been and still is my favourite

I think it's funny that all of my favorite episodes from the original series are the banned episodes. I'm also surprised they didn't ban the Squirtle squad episode as it has kidnapping and guns in it. And also the Hypno episode with the missing kids...

Funnily enough, since I have older DVDs of seasons 1 and 2, most of the banned episodes from that era that got dubbed I can still watch... though they are completely out of order to a very confusing degree.

Teeeeechnically, Porygon did reappear, but as a part of Samson's Oak pun in the first episode of Sun and Moon

Actually, porygon did have a brief cameo in Pokèmon spell of the Unknown.

I’m upset about the Porygon one because I love it and it’s evolution line

I definitely had the lavender town and Santa episodes on VHS when I was a kid, that's kind of funny

No, I saw Lorelei in the anime. Played the games some time after seeing her in the anime, and I thought it was cool seeing her in the game. I had a bit of a thing for her, but she also shared a name with my former aunt, absolute karen, which made her much less interesting.

Banned but still possible to find if you look hard

I’m glad I’m not crazy because i really didn’t remember ash catching all those tauros

I do admit I was thinking about asking them to make an event that would finally see the episodes banned by the Earthquakes air.