29 Years Later, Pokémon’s Banned Electric Soldier Porygon Episode Is Still the Franchise’s Biggest Controversy

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The 1997 Pokémon episode, “Electric Soldier Porygon,” began like any other, following Ash, Misty, and Brock on their adventures. However, it quickly became infamous. Within 20 minutes, the episode was pulled from the air and banned, and it had a lasting impact on how television was made.

Episode 38 of Season 1 became well-known as the only Pokémon episode ever banned from international broadcast after it first aired. Because of the controversy, it was never translated into other languages, making it the only episode without an official English dub. Thankfully, it hasn’t been shown again in Japan, and there are no official dubbed versions available.

Pokémon’s “Electric Soldier Porygon” Episode Is Tied to a Devastating Real-Life Event

In this episode, Ash, Misty, and Brock discover a problem at the Pokémon Center: the machine that sends Pokémon through Poké Balls isn’t working, and Nurse Joy is stumped. To fix it, the group—along with Pikachu—are shrunk down and sent inside the machine. Everything seemed fine until then, but the introduction of the Pokémon Porygon would have serious consequences for viewers in Japan.

At the most exciting part of the episode, Team Rocket attacked Porygon and our heroes with a lot of missiles. To shield Porygon, Pikachu unleashed a powerful Thunderbolt, destroying the missiles in the air. Unfortunately, the resulting explosion created a rapidly flashing strobe effect of red and blue lights, which caused problems for viewers.

A flashing effect in a television episode caused over 600 people, primarily children, to experience seizure-like symptoms and require hospital treatment. Many others reported milder issues like headaches and confusion. While no one was seriously hurt, the incident caused concern for television networks throughout Japan. The episode was immediately taken off the air and wasn’t shown again until later in 1998, after steps were taken to address the problem.

The Fallout of Pokémon’s Porygon Incident Was Immediate

Shortly after the Pokémon episode aired, Japan’s NHK and FNN news channels began reporting on viewers experiencing seizures. The episode, titled “Electric Soldier Porygon,” was quickly removed from television schedules and has never been shown again, due to the hospitalizations and increased media coverage. Japanese authorities, including the National Police Agency, investigated the episode’s creators to understand how it was made.

Less than a day after the episode aired, the network and producers apologized to anyone who was upset by it. They then paused production on the show for four months to figure out what had caused the problem. During that time, they also worked to remove the episode from all future seasons, hoping to prevent others from having a similar negative experience.

The Pokémon anime episode caused problems for Nintendo’s stock, with shares dropping nearly 3.2% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi quickly stated the video games weren’t to blame, pointing out that the Game Boy versions were in black and white. Despite the issue, the episode was pulled from circulation and would never be shown or translated outside of Japan.

Pokémon’s Lost Porygon Episode Changed Television Standards Forever

The infamous “Electric Soldier Porygon” episode had a significant and lasting impact, changing television standards that are still used today. Following the incident, Japanese television networks and health officials, along with the UK’s Independent Television Commission, created new guidelines for all animated programs.

Regarding the red and blue flashing lights, the rules stated that red flashes couldn’t occur more than three times per second. For flashes of other colors, the limit was five times per second. The ‘Harding test’ is now used to protect people who are sensitive to flashing lights. Although the episode could have been edited to remove the problematic flashing, that wasn’t done.

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To protect young viewers, television channels began displaying messages during children’s programs, advising them to watch in a bright room and at a safe distance from the TV. This practice now applies to all television content worldwide. As for the Pokémon Porygon, it was removed from circulation, along with its evolved forms, Porygon2 and Porygon-Z.

Pokémon’s Porygon Episode Quickly Became a Parody Machine

The Pokémon Shock incident was a serious event, but it’s been referenced in comedy since then. In 1999, an episode of a show featured a Japanese program called “Battling Seizure Robots.” This was a clear nod to the Pokémon incident, and viewers who watched it—including a character named Bart—began to experience uncontrollable shaking, just like those who saw the original Pokémon episode two years earlier.

The popular show South Park playfully addressed the Pokémon shock incident in its *Pokemonthemed episode, “Chinpokomon.” Though the episode focused on political themes – a Japanese company using Chinpokomon toys to manipulate the children of South Park – it also included a video game. In the game, Cartman, Kyle, Stan, and Kenny played a simulation of the Pearl Harbor attack, which abruptly ended when flickering lights triggered a fatal seizure for Kenny.

It was insensitive to joke about the incident that sent over 600 people to the hospital, but the Pokémon Company made a particularly questionable reference. In 2020, their official X (formerly Twitter) account posted, “Porygon did nothing wrong.” The post aimed to clarify that the Pokémon Porygon wasn’t responsible for the flashing lights that caused the health issues, but it was quickly deleted. The topic was considered too sensitive and hasn’t been mentioned since.

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Pokémon Shock: Test Your Knowledge of TV’s Flashing Fiasco
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2026-03-31 06:14