Random: One Episode Of The Pokémon Anime Has Been 'Banned' From Airing In The West

I may be in the minority here, but this Politically Correct stuff is really starting to annoy me.

This reminds me of when people thought Pokémon was about demons. Although this being banned does make more sense. It sounds like a filler episode anyway.

It is really silly，I dare say the episode is not intended to be created with racism at all.
Do you think a human pretending to be a monkey is a racist?

Facepalm

Banned for being Naked as Passimian ??

While I agree it is daft, I can see why they were worried about it. Ultimately it's just one episode, hopefully everyone can just go "oh well" and move on without making a meal of it.

It only becomes racist when you ban the episode. I'm sure there was no racial connotation implied by the writers, but our hyper PC culture took it there.

This was already reported 2 days ago on other news sites. Try and keep up, old man.

Wait... isn't thinking that human pretending to be a monkey and have a black-face is racist? Because non-racist should not make such a logic leap. I mean, many monkeys have black faces, that does not mean that they, by their existence, are racist. It's people making a dumb connection of monkey - people of african decent because of the tone of skin who are racist.

the one who banned this is racist..
@Niabladerunner: what other news sites? you're so vague, lil kid

@AlbertXi you're not in the minority. This outrage culture is being defined by a very vocal minority. The rest of the population doesn't give a crap.

Why can they just put it on Pokemon TV then we do not have to deal with this like what they did with Korra at the end.Then they can put all the banned ones on there and do the locationation there selfes.they also should just put it on the the switch too

Wait... another one. Is wearing gorilla costume now considered racist? Just because gorilla is black and is an ape... Is it now racist? I think it's highly racist to consider that racist.

Unfortunate, but considering the social atmosphere in a lot of Western countries right now, it probably saved TPC, Nintendo, and whoever is actually localizing it from a ton of bad press.

I still think it was the wrong call, but I very much understand why they did it.

Hey, @Vlad the little kid! Here ya go!

https://gamefragger.com/nintendo/nintendo_3ds/pokemon_sun__moon_/racist-episode-of-anime-based-off-of-pokemon-ultra-sun-and-pokemon-ultra-moon-gets-banned-in-us-a10094
https://gamerant.com/pokemon-sun-moon-anime-episode-ban/
https://www.resetera.com/threads/first-episode-of-pokemon-banned-in-the-us-since-the-original-series.54344/
https://www.gonintendo.com/stories/313267-a-specific-pokemon-anime-episode-will-not-air-stateside-marking

I feel like people that get really offended in this thread are kind of the problem. They argue with weird reverse racism and anti-politically-correctness. And in the end it's not really hard to see why that episode is not dubbed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface

I mean it makes sense to consider these things.

But I think this news just gets the alt-right gang out of their holes. Someone is already saying discriminating stuff about gender and mental illness in this thread.

Why are you all so hateful?

This is a bit much, I think they should have just let it air.

It's crazy the censoring that is done in the west and how no child's mind would even go there but now that is what this episode will be remembered for. It's up to parent's to teach their kids about morals and how to think not the fcc.

@pdapanda It can be. Take, for example, Italian football fans who would imitate primates in order to enrage Mario Balotelli.

In the context of this episode, if it could be taken in isolation, it's probably fine. But the problem is that you can't ignore hundreds of years of racism. When you use blackface in any context today, at least in the West, you're sending a message to people of colour that their feelings don't matter.

I guess I'm going to take the opposition here and say it was wise for them to ban it over here in the states, especially with all the tensions going on here.

Is this meant to be racist? %100 percent not, I agree with that. The thing is, "blackface" was a caricature of people of African decent. A caricature the was meant to show them as stupid and goofy looking. It was meant to be offensive and oppressive. Over here "blackface" is a thing you just don't do. By banning the episode in the US they have avoid unwanted negative publicity. The "uproar" on this thread is timid to what it could have been.

The US has a long history of oppressing African Americans; oppression that can still be felt today. Again, I agree this episode isn't meant to be racism, but the connections are there and should be avoided.

@HipsterInkling I still find it weird. This depiction is not "blackface", because it's not used to portray black people, and therefore cannot be racist, because it's not about race anyway. But yeah, maybe I don't see racism here because I am from a completely different country.

so a bunch of baloney nonsense then, this better be on blu-rays lol

As a black person myself I am not offended by the image of ash that is shown above. Obviously I haven’t seen the episode so I cannot state if it does or doesn’t contain something offensive, but I do think it was wise to not release it in the USA. Blackface is a sensitive thing in America and when used to belittle people who look like me it does bother me. I think a lot of the issue stems from people in America trying to sweep the racial tensions under the rug rather than addressing them. People say slavery was years and years ago, get over it, but yet when it comes to other issues like 9/11 which while bad did not affect as many people they say never forget. Or people will say things like I don’t see race which is just pretending the issue doesn’t exist rather than actually trying to solve it. It makes us feel belittled. Especially since the civil rights movement wasn’t that long ago and on top of that America still faces other very pressing race issues that I won’t get into on this comment section. I just wish more people in this comment section would try to see things from others perspective rather than immediately stating it is ridiculous. There is usually a good reason why someone is offended by something and if they state they are then use that as an opportunity to ask why, get clarification, discuss the issue and both parties come out better educated for it.

Seriously? Talk about overreaction.
The other ones (with the seizure inducing flashing and gun-pointing) sound at least somewhat reasonable. But he's not wearing blackface, he's dressing up as a monkey.

I feel like people are just making a big deal about things for the sake of making a big deal. Maybe I'm missing something, but I really don't get how people would find this offensive at all?? He's simply trying to look like a Pokemon, nothing more, nothing less.

Every company is constantly scared of being in the firing line that political correctness is going way too far.

@notahuman The thing is this isn't blackface, just because someone puts on some dark makeup that is not what blackface is. If ashe wasn't attempting to look like a pokemon and was instead doing it to look like a human and then acted in stereotypical black fashions then yes it would be blackface otherwise it doesn't resemble blackface at all. If this episode has been not aired because of this it is purely because someone is making their own logic leap stating this is blackface when in reality it isn't at all.

@PuppyToucher Slave trade was abolished almost 150 years ago, civil rights movement was about 60 years ago while 9/11 happened less than 20 years ago... People born after 9/11 are only now becoming adults, people remembering the Civil Rights movement have raised grandchildren in a much fairer America, while no one from the slave trade era has been alive for a century or so. The "war on terror" is pretty fresh in collective consciousness as well and is directly affecting our life today (like the rise of ISIS and multiple wars in Middle-East producing refugees coming en masse to Europe after Iraq destabilization and war in Afghanistan).

I don't think those are comparable at all.

Must be the work of PC Principal haha 🤔😂

@AlbertXi 100% with you

@MADAO You know, you are right. I've changed my name. And just like this episode it wasn't meant to be offensive, so I'm sorry if it did offend you.

@PuppyToucher Wise words.

@SmaggTheSmug Slavery might have been abolished 150 years ago (which really isn't that long ago especially in a young country like the US), but its effects are still very visible and are very comparable. They both effect how people live to this day. 60 years ago my grandparents were adults. I don't know how many times I've heard my grandfather use the "n" word.

@dougphisig That's just called being compassionate towards other peoples feelings and not doing everything just because it's technically not illegal or super obvious blackface.

It's not cencorship if a company decides against releasing your favourite cartoon.

@NiaBladerunner lol this guy called you "Old Man"

Anyone who would still make the blanket argument that public words and imagery don’t matter in today’s America must be completely detached from reality.

Maybe it was egregiously lazy to just pull it instead of finding a way to present it in the right context. But come on, it’s blackface. The idea of political correctness isn’t to be the no-fun police, it’s the recognition that words and imagery can cause real harm, and to exercise appropriate care in using them. You don’t wave a loaded gun around in someone’s face, even if you’re sure you put the safety on.

I guess what I’m saying here is that the execution of this might deserve criticism, but please respect the intent.

Good job ruining the show for the kids now they are missing out on seeing their favorite Passimian Pokemon.

Not surprised at the number of white people who don't get it speaking up.

@Zuljaras I'm for real. And I'm not concerned with being called pathetic for it. Nor with those who call me such.

'Banned' is the wrong word. The people doing the Western release just said "er, no thanks" like they did for the episode where the guys got boobs. Its just a business decision.

F..k this P. C. Liberal S..t

Pretending to be a pokemon?....PRETENDING TO BE FICTION YOU RACIST F***'S!!!

@EmberTune Blackface was a horrible practice done but how do we ever get away from it and that way of thinking by banning this. If we're saying that a pokemon episode that we all can agree wasn't practicing blackface nor trying to display racism is dangerous then I think we're heading backwards and banning this shows that racism is obviously a big hurdle that still lurks in the back of people's mind if this is dangerous enough to ban.
@Fath It's not blackface, one is a cartoon character dressing up as a pokemon. Blackface was a horrible theatre act to make black people often times look dumb and was wholly racist. The first is only racist when people's mind gravitate to that and make that connection.

I completely agree that banning the episode actually ends up bringing more attention to it, and leads people to make societal connections that may not have occurred otherwise.

But this definitely falls more under the 'room of suits' style business decision to better play it safe than sorry. Pokemon in particular has had a looooong history of controversy follow behind it at the very start. From the racialized depiction of Jynx to the anti-christian promotion of evolution, and all the local news filler segments that followed.

While I see this leading a lot of pokéfans to discovering this on their own (the way I found the Porygon episode and James in a bikini) I'm certain that the way they chose to handle this will lead to exponentially less angry emails to networks from offended parents. They've been at this for a couple decades now, so I'm sure the localization team is thoroughly aware how to avoid angry backlash at all costs.

@notahuman "Some people are not comfortable with you posting here. You don't bother me, but don't you think that others' feelings would be spared if you deleted all your posts and left (even if you're not technically being rude or abusive)? It would be the compassionate thing for you to do.

It's not censorship if you're prevented from using your favourite website for no reason."

@tguk911 I don't think they are moving backwards. With the racial tensions being so high right now they are making a business decision to no alienate some of their fans, which is a smart decision in my book. Things can be offensive even if it is accidental. I don't see this as moving backwards, I see it as being aware of other people's feelings which is moving forward.

While I think the issue with the episode is a bit of a stretch (IMO the Jynx episodes banned back in the day make a lot more sense), it's inevitable in today's society that someone WILL call out TPC on this. Preventing this from airing will save some bad press (though the press itself is something I won't get into here) and probably some legal issues in the long run. From what I understand, this episode has no bearing on the series continuity, unlike that banned Porygon episode back in the day. I don't feel like the episode being banned is a huge deal and was overall a smart decision.

This is yet another instance that has shown me that our Western society (I'm mainly speaking for the USA from experience here) still needs to have some tough conversations that have not been inflamed by biased or incomplete reporting, social media, propaganda, and very vocal alt/extreme right or left groups that don't represent the ideals of the vast majority.

As a white Brit, it doesn't matter whether or not I find this offensive.

If black people are finding this offensive then they made the right decision to stop it being localised.

It's clearly not intended to be offensive as it's Ash in a 'lemur' costume but that's not the point.

I feel sorry for the poor Passimian now he is going to join Porygon as the reject Anime Pokémon

@EmberTune I agree things taken out of context even with best of intentions can be offensive but the idea is to be able to tell the difference between then thats when true progress is made. Saying anything that has any white character/person wearing black face paint should not be viewed doesn't seem like progress. How about we just teach our kids better and the ability to distinguish between racism and a character dressing up like a pokemon because I feel like thats an actual way to beat racism as an idea and not just hide behind anything that can be mistaken for it because that just seems like misinformed.

Most stupid thing I've read in weeks. Guess cosplaying as a Pokemon is discriminatory now.

The truly racist thing is seeing a monkey-like monster creature and linking that to an actual black person.

@Desrever Less angry emails? People complain about everything. Kind of amusing to read when a Simpsons site or something posted a collection of complaints about that and Family Guy but yet garbage like The Maury Show with no value in existing, literally a one-trick pony of "writing", stays on.

@Zuljaras

why bring transgender issues into this conversation at all? honestly disappointed you have 9 people who liked your comment. take it elsewhere.

I hate censorship, and it's one of the reasons why I've tried to learn Japanese, and haven't played some classic games yet. The only times I'm OK with it is when the purpose of it is to keep the same age rating as the Japanese original, and this is not one of those times. Please get your act together, American company guys.

@SmaggTheSmug @Yorumi The main issue is that the economic ramifications from slavery are still rippling through society today. The freed slaves didn't suddenly have land, homes, and savings. The civil rights movement didn't magically make everyone stop treating black people as second class citizens. Even though white people were subjected to slavery as well, no one has ever used "slave" as a derogatory term against me because of the way I look, or the 1/16th Irish in my herritage.

That being said, if a black person harassed you because you were white, using slavery as a basis, then you are absolutely correct. That is super racist! And them assuming you had ancestors that owned slaves based on your skin color is absolutely an act of prejudice. Racism is awful and goes both ways for sure. I've definitely been harassed for my skin color as a white guy, but occurrences of racism are not the same as institutionalized racism.

Banned for a stupid reason... but it's probably a poopy filler episode like most episodes of the anime anyways.

@HipsterInkling and @notahuman you both get it. thank you.

the united states in particular has histories of black face and it is an image / symbol that still makes people uncomfortable. a company avoiding this is not censorship, that is their choice to steer clear of it in a region where it might give the wrong idea - not yours.

if you think a pokemon episode airing is more important than avoiding something that has hints of historical racism (intentional or not) you should check yourself.

@KingMike The main difference with pokemon is that they have merch bursting out of every hole, and a true fan does not merely own one piece of intellectual property. One upset parent leads to a loss in videogame sales, plushies, figurines, posters, and pokecoins in Go. And children's shows fall under much heavier scrutiny because of the "won't somebody think of the children!?" mentality.

@HipsterInkling lol wtf are you talking about? There is plenty of decades old racism in every country including europe and asia. The slave trade started with Europeans for goodness sake.

As a black man I appreciate the sensitivity to racial tensions but that's clearly Ash dressed as a Pokemon. Now things like Jynx...that's another story.

@Yorumi This I don't disagree with. I haven't watch Blackish so I can't comment on that, but I have been watching Dear White People. DWP has a lot of stereotypes of white people, though it also stereo types people of color as well; and it is doing so to prove a point and makes you think about things and have conversations about it. Again, I haven't watched Blackish so I can't comment on it.

Stereotyping other races as negative is racist. Racism isn't a white person thing, it is a human thing. It is wrong. The thing is black people haven't been oppressing white people for hundreds of years and then suddenly acting like everything is okay and it isn't still happening. That is where the difference in outcry is happening.

I'm just saying the show hold out on that episode for awareness reasons isn't moving backwards. Your example is moving backwards, I agree with that, and it needs to be dealt with and everyone must be held to the same standards. By talking about this I think we are trying to progress this, but unfortunately there are sheep on both sides of this that seem like they want to derail things (trolls). I appreciate you and @tguk911 being civil and intelligent with this conversation. I enjoy banter.

@tguk911 I totally agree. We have to talk about these things and speak with our kids to tell the difference, but that is the key thing. As a country we aren't there yet and people refuse to have open minds, even people my own age are still so close minded.

I still think a white person shouldn't where black face paint. Mainly because it was used to be an intentional poor caricature of black people. That can't be undone.

Not surprising. if you look at the last US DVD boxset releases of season 1 and 2 all episodes featuring "Black Jynx" are not on the sets, which includes the episode where Ash and pals met Elite 4 member Lorelei (Which really, is no biggie. What with her name change and she seemed "high" most the time.). Heck, in Japan Holiday Hi-Jynx got edited one year to colour all the black Jynxs into purples ones, which funny enough did not stop another channel showing the unedited version the very same Xmas.

Its interesting they let this pass in Japan if there was going to be an issue in the West, especially these days the anime is created for world wide audiences in mind (The change from using Japanese text to a made up texts in scenes where there's writing for example.). Still, its not as bad as the edit heavy days of season 5-8 when 4Kids were in-charge, though its a shame the Pokemon Company have to replace all the Japanese music (Which is understandable. Ever since Shinji Miyazaki got a lifetime achievement award for his work on the series, his music has become far more costly to license outside of Japan then ever. True the same show but meh, music legal stuff is weird sometimes.). Still again, not as bad as 4Kids using the same music from movies 1-3 over and over again to the point it got "extremely" repetitive.

@EmberTune I agree that we are not there yet as a society but I don't think we're doing ourselves any favors by censoring everything and don't think we'll actually start to change the way of thinking until then but I do believe we both want for the same thing in the end despite the difference in opinion so to each his own and let's just hope for a better tomorrow.

@AlbertXi Well, the Pokemon anime has always done this. Multiple episodes have been banned from air in the U.S. for violence or inappropriate themes, many back in the first season.

Does anyone still watch Pokemon anymore? Or buy the cards?

I'm not touching this one. NOPE.

@SmaggTheSmug And the effects of slavery aren’t being felt to this day? Either your genuinely ignorant of that fact or you just don’t care

I hate the world we live in.

@Yorumi May I ask this country you live in that doesn’t have institutionalized racism? And please don’t say the United States. And furthermore, it doesn’t need to be overt actions that constitute institutionalized racism. Though one can argue the things happening to a number of groups aren’t really that subtle. It’s just the masses don’t really care enough to call it out

@AlbertXi Being politically correct is for the best to a certain level, but when it gets to the Fascist level of Censoring Cartoons because someone may possibly be offended by taking something out of context, it's time to recalculate.

@Yorumi Absolutely no one is telling you or any other individual identified as white, today, that you yourself were responsible for slavery. That’s always been and continues to be a ludicrous argument. What is pointed out is that you do benefit from privileges in being white in America and that you acknowledge those privileges . And before anyone even brings it up, I am not talking about monetary advantages. It goes deeper than that.

@Yorumi Institutional Racism does not mean it is enshrined in law, it means it has been, in most cases accidentally though sometimes intentionally, built in to the function of large scale organizations that effect the population as a whole.

Treating people differently based on race, even if purely out of habit and not malice, is still racism.

Face painted black with monkey like creatures in the background. Sorry...that's too close to racism for my liking. Of all the billions of insane ways to go for a Pokemon episode, why go here?

As far as being banned...it depends on who banned it. If it was nintendo, good call. Us government....not so sure about that. You have a right to expression even if its idiotic....you'll just pay the price for it in bad pr.

@Yorumi Privilege being an "attempt to institutionalize the idea that you can judge people by their skin" is pretty far from the mark. Privilege covers everything from stable family life, economic status, availability to education, and yes, skin color as well. But more than anything it's your economic status. If you grow up in a lower class income family, the odds of you gaining a six figure income as an adult is exponentially lower than those who were born into wealth. Even the specific term "white privilege" doesn't mean white people should be ashamed of what they earned, but rather to be cognizant that when you're not white, you're more likely to be subjected to various forms of prejudice that make it more difficult.

And as far as institutionalized racism goes, its nothing nearly as mysterious as some overarching conspiracy theory, and boils down more to more mundane judicial crap. Rampant gerrymandering, housing and development discrimination, access to medical care, and education. And of course the rate at which black men are arrested under false pretenses, and fired on compared to the rate it happens to white men. And you are correct that these are the acts of prejudice individuals, and not representative of an entire police force as a whole. But when the most reprocussions that they face for unprovoked murder is "one month paid leave, then back on the beat" it becomes more institutionalized.

Ahh so blocked because of being overly sensitive, very nice. But it's not the one episode, it's the most recent.

The first was in the beginning season with porygon. They had a nice flashing effect that caused a few people to end up flailing on the ground with seizures. Instead of correcting it, they scratched it.

@Yorumi Very regretably, what I mentioned about officers being placed on paid administrated leave and not facing a sentence can indeed be backed up by facts. This has happened several times in the past few years in cases that have received high media attention. One of the more heartbreaking incedents recent memory was Philando Castile.

I keep seeing you use phrases like "it's not my fault", "how am I to be blamed", and "it's their fault". I'm not sure what exactly you are being accused to be at fault of, or let alone who "they" are when you say "their at fault". Surely you don't mean black people as a whole when you say that? In your last few messages, you're taking a very adversarial "us vs them" stance which, is kinda racist man. It is entirely possible to be empathetic to the issues that non-white communities face, and not be ashamed of being a white person yourself. It's not one or the other.

This conversation has taken an unexpectedly dark turn for a topic about an episode of pokemon, so I think I'm going to take a step back and hang for a bit. Sorry for getting too heated or personal here.

This is pure bs. We live in a society, if you think about racism you go do that but don't ruin a kids show just because of their skin color. The Japanese surely didn't mean it like this.

Banning it is much easier than explaining to children that different cultures view things differently. Pokemon is just saving a lot of effort that ultimately would not work because talking about race in America is like trying to teach algebra to a rock.

@Zuljaras Nice to see you at least admit your transphobia. Curious that that's where you immediately went.

@Yorumi I literally had to reread my post to try to make sense of why you choose to reply to me. I don’t believe a single word I typed attacked anyone or even hinted that I don’t consider an alternative perspective, I actively do, which is also part of the reason why I concluded by saying both parties would come away better educated after having a discussion.

Anyone who is blaming you for the actions of your ancestors is uninformed. You are you own person. The only point I was trying, and clearly failed, to articulate was that America in general does not want to tackle these kinds of topics. I am glad that we are getting a chance to discuss this because you will hopefully see where I am coming from just like I am trying to see where you are coming from.

On an additional note, just because none of the people alive today were part of the initial cause of America’s race relations issues does not mean that we can just wash our hands of the problem. We as citizens have a duty to try to better our country and part of that is trying to establish the notion of “life, liberty and the pursue of happiness” for everyone. We as a society have made advancements but injustices still take place to this day. I am not pinpointing a single event, I could bring up countless examples of injustices that happened hundreds of years ago or even just yesterday but that misses the point. I want people to engage in discourse, I would love for others to continually seek to understand why someone holds the beliefs they do, and if they can find no common ground then amicable agree to disagree. In no way am I saying a single group is responsible for the problems that exist today, what I am arguing is that we need to be willing to address that there are real issues that do exist and work to solve them.

@Yorumi in response to comment 86 here is an example from I source I consider credible which is npr.

https://www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history-of-how-the-u-s-government-segregated-america

I know the United States has a history of using monkeys as a racist chariacture to depict non-white people, but this is a stretch.

@Yorumi in response to comment 91 this opinion article basically sums up why black people live in homes without two parents. Mass incarceration disproportionately targeted black people (more times then not it was a black man), and yes it was the democrat Bill Clinton who was one of the worst offenders

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/15/bill-clinton-crime-bill-hillary-black-lives-thomas-frank

As a black guy in todays world, this is a stretch to call racist.... u would be reaching SO hard to make that point. But with the way the world works now, I can understand why they would just choose to b cautious with this episode 🤷🏾‍♂️

@pdapanda its more about blackface then being a monkey

@Yorumi I have to disagree with u on this. There is a such thing as racism holding back certain people. I myself have seen It firsthand and gone through it on several occasions. I live in Alabama and im a black male. I have young daughters, and one day I have to explain to them that there are people in this world that will judge them just by the color of their skin. Can u imagine how difficult that is?

Sorry group, I’m not trying to change the mood for anyone, I love u all 😁

..... and Pokemon is awesome lol

Well that's Disney for you

@frogopus That's true, Japan is kinda infamous for being behind on black stereotypes. This instance does perplex me though.

@Yorumi I can give u an instance where I was judged specifically for my color. I used to ride a bike to work early in the mornings. I was stopped by the police, because I didn’t have a a light. I bought a light the exact same day. The next day that same officer told me that it’s required for me to wear a helmet. I looked up the law, and in my state it’s not required. The following week, I was trailing a older white male I was probably half a mile behind him, I saw the police bypass him, told me to stop.... asked me what was I doing out in that neighborhood, I asked her “why was I stopped?” She said, because of break ins in the neighborhood. I then asked why wasn’t the older gentleman in front of me not stopped and questioned, her response was “that was none of my concern!” I was then questioned more, and told that I should worry about myself. That was an obvious show of racial profiling

@Yorumi and I agree, if u are in a bad situation, raised in poverty, it’s up the the individual to change that. But for some people it’s a whole lot harder for some. I wasn’t in poverty, but I definitely had less than a lot of others. And now that I have kids I made a way to make their lives a lot better than mines. I do think that in order for things to change, a person has to make an effort to change their situations.

@Yorumi and u are right to a certain degree. While I have made a semi- success out of the life I have, there are things u wouldn’t understand unless u are a young black male. There are a lot of stereotypes still prevalent to people that look like me. I’ve had car doors locked on me when I pass a car at a traffic light, I’ve been spoken to like I have a lesser degree of intelligence, when the person speaking to me doesn’t even know me. Even with simple things like gaming (ha! I tied it into this thing we all love!), idk why but I get the craziest looks because I don’t like sports and I’d rather play video games, like I’m SUPPOSED to love sports because I’m black and tall. I get followed around in stores because it’s an assumption that I want to steal the whole store or something! It’s just crazy the sorts of things I encounter or have encountered in the past. Lol we are so far off from talking about Pokémon anymore. 🤣

Blackface is a style of entertainment based on racist black stereotypes as a way of ridiculing people from Africa . It’s about power – taking a race’s colour and using it for ridicule or entertainment.

We can do without one filler episode.

Probably a marketing stunt because few people watch this show anymore.

This episode has been tossed in the memory hole on the order of the Ministry of Truth. The preparations for hate week are on going.

@Zuljaras So you're not only a bigot, you're proud to be one.

NintendoLife moderators: the bigot is getting more likes than the guy calling him out. Is that really the site you wish to run?

@Zuljaras What the fuzz would make you think I'd accept your "apology"? Or believe any of your lies?

Also, I never accused you of criminality. That you believe I did indicates either delusion or a semblance of a conscience that knows you're filled with hate for people simply for being themselves.

While I think not showing this episode is probably a smart move (I don't think it's necessarily offensive, but I'm sure they just want to avoid any bad publicity or parental complaints based on misunderstanding. It's important to remember that the cultural connotations of a non-black person painting their skin black are extremely loaded, especially in America) them not showing it does not mean it's banned in the US.

Also most of the comments here sound like spoiled children who haven't faced a moment of adversity in their lives. Just pirate the episode if you want to. This isn't some vast conspiracy trying to take your games/anime away you nerds.

@Hrimfaksi a non-black person painting their face black reads as an inherently racist act in most of the world, particularly in America, regardless of context.

@Zuljaras I don't accept certain behavior either. Which is why this isn't the end of the story, bigot.

I don't like the trend of people online trying to shut other peoples opinion down, by hinting that moderators should not allow certain opinions. If we ever get to the point where moderators are somehow responsible for the opinions of posters, we are in deep shiz. It does not matter whether your opinion on the matter discussed is right or wrong, if you are trying to shut people down by name calling, calling for bans, or other non-arguments, you are the dangerous one. You are the one digging at the roots of what supports our fragile society. Freedom of expression is mostly important as an attitude, as one of the few principles we should all rally around and support, no matter how much we disagree on other matters. Some moderation is of course in order, but it is order for actual opinions and views to get through, not in order to hide some opinions. The only things that should be moderated, is things that do not consist of expression of opinions, but amount to threats or other tactics to hide others opinions, like personal attacks, name calling, or are really of topic etc.

@UmbreonsPapa Not as much as some people would lead you to believe. Granted, it is not part of my country's history, but it's ridiculous to compare something from 150 years ago to something from less than 20 years ago and complain about it.
My country and people have been Europe's punching bag for the last 200 years. We need to remember it, but whining about it won't change history or improve our lives and political standing.

@Mortenb One solution is shutting down any vaguely political discussion, regardless of opinions expressed.

Omg this new generation of people need to grow up and stop being babies.ash dresses up as a pokemon and because it's black paint its a race thing.lol come on grow up.

@Mortenb At least have the courage to tag me, apologist, before you claim I'm the danger, not people who propagate hate. Because that's what it is, not "an opinion".

@PanurgeJr Ok. Do you really not see a difference between wanting discourse to take place, and defending one sides opinion? How can any sharing of perspectives take place when such distinctions are not made?

@SmaggTheSmug I guess. Not that this discussion is really political, except I guess many people tie their opinion on this matter to their political identity. Also, I don’t think that is all that interesting. It’s just putting a rug over the problem. It’s good if differing opinions are displayed as many places as possible. It reflects what is going on. It allows us to call each other out and correct each other. Once we try to simply stop different opinions being known, we shut our eyes to reality

@Mortenb You sound like Trump saying there were very fine people on each side at Charlottesville. I don't have to treat transphobia like an opinion worthy of discussing seriously, because that's not what it is. It's hate, and deserves to be called such, not treated with civility in the name of reasonable discussion. Do you really not see the difference?

@Mortenb Yeah, but we don't necessarily need to do that on a website dedicated to Nintendo games.
Video games are a form of escapism, including taking a break from politics.

@HipsterInkling

You are very wrong here. Blackface was very prominent in Japan, and is still used even today. Rats&Stars, formally known as The Chanels, are a popular music group that consists of an entirely blackface group in Japan. They have even performed with Momoiro Clover Z, an idol group, all in blackface.

@PanurgeJr Hahaha, that comment made My day. But yeah, you do have to be civil with everyone. Thats the whole point. Unless we take every honestly expressed opinion seriously, nothing gets better. What exactly has been hateful in here?

Makes sense sadly.

The actual offense is turning Ash into a phenomenal failure in order to get him there to begin with. I share you this link:
https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/general_discussion/the_big_problem_with_the_pokemon_anime_-_an_essay_and_a_rant_warning_long

Anyone who still watches the anime at this point is supporting corruption.