BBC News Report On The Banned Pokémon Episode Which Caused Seizures to Almost 700 Japanese Kids.

Now added english captions.
Taken from a VHS Tape.
From 17th December 1997 (The day after the incident)
I wonder if Chadtronic is going to watch this video and even react to it?
Probably not.
Oh well.
Thank you for watching.

[@prowlus]

Detective "Pakucho"

[@dendennuggets]

Hahaha

[@ardennes3016]

My man Pakucho giving kids seizures

[@hiromamoru9144]

BAKA! Leave poor Pikachu alone I like that little innocent guy

[@rewriter3981]

How else does he make kids have happy dances on the floor?

[@simpleandawesomeanime3220]

@@hiromamoru9144 Who's Pikachu? Do you mean *Pakucho* ?

[@tiago3387]

@@hiromamoru9144 Stfu fucking weeb nerd

[@MrcreeperDXD777]

@@hiromamoru9144 Pikachu is the true culprit, not Porygon

[@ShaulaXNinja]

Seeing a news report about Pokemon from 1997 before Pokemon became big in the west seems very interesting.

[@hamiltonspen5656]

Ah! I love Zeraora your pfp is amazing :D

[@faqihrahdika]

@@hamiltonspen5656 lol i thought its manectric

[@smasherjosh5000]

This was 2 years before Pokémon released in Europe

[@tungflava]

Paikucho 😂😂

[@SillyCreatureSally]

And now everyone pronounces it "pee-ka-choo"

[@AdiG1]

Paikucho is best pocket monsters

[@linkhatchet]

Exxotik no shit sherlock

[@ReyKaf]

😂😂😂

[@EvanOmNomz]

I had a seizure reading this

[@origindialga2220]

How dare you Haunter can transform into poison gas

[@rajatrana2020]

😆😆😆😆😆

[@Jinaria101]

Let me just remind all you new viewers that this was released a year before the show went international and was branded as Pokémon which is why they are addressing it as Pocket Monsters and also why they mispronounced Pikachu’s name

[@yogurt463]

Pinku 101 ty

[@dragonstorm86]

thanks for clearing it up. I started to wonder if they call it "Pocket Monsters over there and why I didn't know/remember that

[@Jinaria101]

SlypherSpoons For all we know the newsman may have misunderstood the Japanese guy when given the concept of the franchise for him to run a news story by I mean I know its hard to imagine never having Pokémon in the states because we’re so use to it now but that’s how it was in late 1997 we hadn’t the slightest idea on what the franchise was about

[@Jeff-qk7jj]

"Pakucho" is still pretty funny though.

[@KarimKarim-tv9li]

You are fun at parties

[@KarimKarim-tv9li]

My depression has been cured for 10 minutes due to this amazing news report. Thank you pakucho. I will remember to paint my toaster yellow when I use it tonight in your honour.

[@WakaWaka2468]

Wtf

[@SetsuwaRess]

Ok this is funny and all but I'm genuinely concerned, is this a joke or were you serious

[@triiodide7762]

@@SetsuwaRess it's a joke

[@themuiz9671]

@@SetsuwaRess in the video the reporter pronounced Pikachu as Pakucho lol 0:20

[@tylerp3327]

Are you still alive or…?

[@gokuchild0606]

Bro if *Pakucho* didn't hit those missles kids wouldn't have seizures.

[@khfan4life365]

I’m so sorry but the way the newsman pronounced Pikachu’s name had me in stitches.

[@jamesmitchell8922]

It was before the English took part.

[@JohnSmith-qn3ob]

You don't like Puh-kah-chew?

[@itsthegasman449]

Ah yes, the famous pokemon Pakucho

[@alphazero174]

You do realize this happened a year before Pokémon went International right?

[@robertdeffenbaugh9004]

@@alphazero174 Pikachu?

[@yee1704]

An honestly more interesting name

[@Ioganstone]

@@alphazero174 Oh, so you're just grandfathering them in? Slavery's ok?

[@Jeff-qk7jj]

"More children had fits when excerpts were replayed on the news" who's brilliant idea was that?

[@Ioganstone]

Fauci

[@davidmackenzie8441]

THANK YOU FOR DIGITIZING THIS CORRECTLY! Full field rate preserved and no pointless recompression.

[@stressball1324]

Out of 90,000 people, you are the only person so far to actually notice it is actually converted at the right frame rate, thanks. 👍

[@davidmackenzie8441]

@@stressball1324 I work in this industry and well-meaning attempts to "upconvert" interlaced footage (which almost always results in half of the vertical and half of the temporal resolution being destroyed) is something I deal with constantly.

[@Spindash54]

@@davidmackenzie8441 And then you have the “4K 60FPS HD” videos that are stretched widescreen with AI smearing every frame. 😖

[@h8GW]

@stressball1324 Was the focus on proper frame rate out of any concern about triggering epilepsy?

[@davidmackenzie8441]

​@@h8GWNot especially. This show will have been shot on film and the flashing effects were likely done that way too. So the effective max frame rate of those parts is 24fps (unless video effects have been mixed in later). The benefit of it being digitized and processed correctly is that all the video camera footage retains the original look of the news broadcast.

[@lil_goose478]

Showed the episode to my grandma she liked it so much she fell on the ground dancing

[@lorenzoplayzrare7915]

LOL

[@diehard710]

r/cursedcomments

[@gokuchild0606]

@@diehard710 Not actually, you will find a lot of these jokes on videos about this episode

[@animo9050]

Hold up

[@triiodide7762]

Original

[@VahanNisanian]

The constant flashing effects that used to be frequent in Nintendo games (i.e. Link losing a life in "Adventure of Link") had to be toned down in future releases, too.

[@theminecraftgamers4556]

Like on the switch

[@pingdang7094]

Plus in Pokemon Red/Blue/Green when using Thundershock or Thunderbolt.

[@Neoネオ]

@@theminecraftgamers4556 hi my old account

[@GardevoirBoy]

The animator who made the constant flashing effects in Electric Soldier Porygon deserves the blame.

[@Jeff-qk7jj]

@@GardevoirBoy In their defence, how could they know what was going to happen?

[@thedrewster0408]

It’s so interesting to see what Pokemon used to be before it went international a year after the incident.

[@agentswipe6662]

they even sing the pocket monster song: 🎶POKEMON🎶 😂

[@thacow7603]

*POKÉMON!!!!!!!*

[@Ioganstone]

Not to be rude, but the English version has true soulful patriotic kids tearing up with real emotion and heart.

[@Anonymous-oh4xw]

They were singing Mezase Pokémon Master.

[@Anonymous-oh4xw]

@@Ioganstone I think the english Pokémon theme and Mezase Pokémon Master have their own charms, but everyone can have their opinions.

[@mindyabiznessthatsalljustm8134]

@@Anonymous-oh4xw They were singing the "POKEMON NO NAMAE~~!" ("the names of the Pokémon!") part from the song "Pokémon Ieru Ka Na?" ("Can you say the Pokémon?"), which is basically the Japanese "Poké-Rap".

[@nicotyuunoaho]

この動画に映る子供たちは既に30代...

[@AIOctober]

It feels genuinely strange that this above everything else is how the UK and a bunch of the rest of the world first knew about this franchise. Fantastic upload, though! Quality is especially excellent.

[@magulive]

Wow, I didn't know why Porygon is not appeared this episodes again.

[@HyperSonicXtreme]

He once appeared as background pokemon in the beginning of Pokémon movies.

[@rewriter3981]

PAKUCHO is the real villain

[@mattwolf7698]

It has in the background in very few episodes.

[@peepsg]

@@HyperSonicXtreme he also appeared just for “WHO THAT POKEMON?”

[@abby4590lohan]

Please bring it back out love to see if

[@craigdavidson5613]

This was my first experience with the pop culture phenomena known as Pokemon. I saw a slightly edited version of this news report on Ten News here in Australia. Yet who would have thought that I would be playing good games like this in the not too distant future. Also, "Pakucho"?! How times and experiences have changed.

[@BobbinRobbin777]

yeah lmfao

[@BagzAndPresident]

Does typing terms like “pop culture “ and “phenomenon “ make you feel intelligent, nerd?

[@elderchandelure8593]

The best of all, Pakucho!

[@Mirach84]

If they think pakucho is bad, wait until they see its evolution, ryuchau!

[@nathanchang7713]

Little do they know those ‘Paikucho’ would make highly desirable cards worthed over a million dollars 2 decades later

[@CucasNerdyCorner]

That was the funniest pronunciation of Pikachu 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@RossMoney24]

This is kinda a neat find. Thanks for the upload.

[@Jamesfan143]

the anime was released March 1999 & the game was released in the UK October 1999, so this was Pokemon's first appearance on British Television before hand, also to add that this was the only time footage from the banned episode was shown outside of Japan.

[@tadc345fan]

Me too (except Europe, Middle East, Africa, Oceania and Asia has been banned between 1997 to 1998)

[@reiza97]

French news also had a report of this. visit INA FR and search "17 decembre 1997" and skip to 24:00

[@ferghalicious1480]

The fact that all the KZbin clips of this episode are now listed as ‘For Kids’. 🤦‍♂️

[@galluprichard]

Yea

[@FelopeLoope]

I wish COPPA never existed. Idgaf about children in youtube. They can watch KZbin Kids for all I care.

[@light_bar_]

​@@FelopeLoopeYT kids wouldn't exist without COPPA dumbass

[@nerdicwarrior]

Fascinating that this news report was three years before PokéMon became a world wide craze.

[@dougxvale]

3 years? I thought Pokémon exploded in 1998-99 if I remember correctly

[@dylanmcfarland8356]

If the episode did enter reruns do you think they’d reanimate the explosion with replacement “smoke”?

[@hornedcrusader9485]

I'm honestly surprised that this was the first time Pokémon was introduced internationally before Pokemania occurred.

[@jamespwcreative]

Amazing to think that this may actually be the first time Pokemon was ever mentioned by the British media

[@lucasliu1788]

Technically pikachu caused the flashing lights

[@mahmudaaktar1529]

He gave 700 kids seizures and blamed porygon

[@jonathancreasman535]

You mean Pakucho?

[@sn63vue41]

And everyone blamed porygon

[@jrave5353]

#JusticeForPorygon

[@wright5328]

it was pakucho as the dude said

[@frostgamez9368]

I was always disappointed they never toned the flashing down or put Porygon in another episode so we got to see it properly and it had a proper place in the series as if I remember right Porygon never showed up again

[@Zak6009]

Yep, and no Porygon2 or Porygon-Z ever debuted.

[@frostgamez9368]

Bit silly really considering how long ago that original episode was, they could have added those two in the series

[@danberry20]

Pakocho 🤣 Wasn't expecting this video to make me laugh so hard.

[@icantthinkofanything798]

Since this is a known problem, I don't see why Disney did the rapid flashing white/black screens for The Incredibles 2. These seizures are far more common in children. I remember going to the theater and they had postings everywhere about how the movie should not be watched if prone to epilepsy, but many of these children were not epileptic, and it was a one time thing. I know they took certain precautions, but you can't control how people watch things over streaming services or on DVD/blu-ray. It would've been far far safer to change the way the hypnosis worked and not put that scene in the film at all

[@YAMOMMA12345]

god that part in the incredibles hurt my god damn eyes for hours

[@DekerO03]

Pokémon is an abbreviation of Pocket Monsters, it's funny how people haven't been curious about the name of 'Pokémon'. or even try to conceive it as an error on the News for naming it like that when it's the original name.

[@TheRealWoopSlap]

Its crazy how the Pokémon IP almost died because of this

[@reloadpsi]

At this point in time, the only way most people knew Pokemon existed was gaming magazines and this news report.

[@brianhebert6152]

Who's that Pocket Monster? (...) It's Pakucho!

[@dr.deadpool5959]

Imagine just having an epilepsy episode and then the hospital staff decide to play the news showing the episode again, a 2nd epilepsy episode right there in the hospital

[@xGatorchomp28x]

Well they slowed the clip way down for the news, so it shouldn't be a problem

[@xGatorchomp28x]

Oh ok maybe you are referring to another news report

[@eitanish]

WoW! So the finally appearing live footages of this mysterious event added more pieces to the puzzle.. !Ty.. now if only somebody had a copy of that rumored report that allegedly had caused more seizures /:

[@over9000713]

I watched the specific scene just now on YT and it even made me feel nauseated until I looked away.. saw stripes and pokadots/woven shapes in the flash. Absolutely crazy that was even allowed initially

[@jamesrocket5616]

A news about Pokemon in 1997 is like a news about COVID-19 on December 2019 to January 2020.

[@nilsperry8124]

The way he pronounced Pikachu, though...

[@Vlad-mx8cl]

Even without epilepsy, it's hard on the eyes to watch…

[@baileysfilmworkshop1092]

I’m curious about what Pokemon computer game he is referring to. A Pokemon computer game in 1997?

[@UltimaSpark50]

Not sure if trolling or actually that stupid

[@prowlus]

The first ever exposure of one of the biggest franchises ever in the world

[@FinalGamerJames]

Funny thing is, this WAS before photosensitive epilepsies became commonplace on all videogames so I guess the British Epilepsy Association won in the end :)

[@NicanTlacaWarrior1]

I had seizures as a kid and I wanted to see this scene for myself... obviously I outgrew my epilepsy and it didn't effect me at all... but I am sure if I were still a kid, it would affect me and back to the hospital I would go.

[@flxozo1451]

“Victims were shocked into some kind of trance” nah that’s what happeneds when you start to like the show

[@ZuluRomeo]

Man, I loved that Pot Noodle advert with Phil Hartman.

[@colin-kuan]

They weren't seizing, they were playing dance dance revolution!

[@seang92]

Great video and thanks for the info!

[@ismailkhan_v3820]

Been a Pokemon fan for YEARS and only just found out now that Pokemon is an abbreviation of pocket monsters....

[@Taneuma_563]

Pokemon seems to have more to a ring to it than "Pocket Monsters". Just imagine if they released Tamagotchi with the title literally just being "Got an egg" lol On the other hand, I can sorta see why they didn't go with "Pocket Monsters" internationally, because Nintendo most likely would get sued because "Pocket Monsters" sounds a lot like the toy line "Monster in My Pocket". It actually turns out that the company who owns "Monster in My Pocket" attempted to sue Nintendo in 2000, due to the name sounding very similar to the franchise. Since both were entirely different, Nintendo was ruled in 2001 to be not infringing the "Monster in My Pocket" IP.

[@JohnnyBurnes]

I miss Phil Hartman. :,(

[@transportationproductions1794]

I've seen the flashing part of the episode not too long ago! Fortunately, I survived!

[@Chicken_Nugget1]

How was it?

[@transportationproductions1794]

@@Chicken_Nugget1 Well, the colors are beautiful, but dad told me if I watched that many times, I might get a seizure! By the way, my dad told me a fact that it's not just that Porygon episode that gives people seizures, rock concerts do, too. Believe me. My dad is so smart.

[@camilag4939]

Porygon did nothing wrong #JusticeForPorygon

[@MarcoJ88]

Cucus

[@ArianesDrawingPH]

0:20 Pakucho? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 That's now my favorite Pokemon Hey! I'm came here from Twitter!

[@imrustyokay]

1:27 Hey, Phil Hartman!

[@retrocysper3709]

RIP he got swallowed by a lightning cube.

[@Krongle]

Well Hey, This was before 1999-2000 So of course they accidentally said Paikucho Doing that in 2022 will flip someone’s piss-ometer

[@SuperFlashDriver]

Wow, this goes to show that the United Kingdom pretty much solved the problem nearly 2 decades before Japan did. Even American parents had concerns about it since 1990 about what children were watching on tv, whether it was to get them to buy merchandise or seeing flashing lights on TV....The same country (The UK) whom also had a "Video Nasties" list of Banned Horror films in the 1980s....That's interesting..How did Japan not adopt the same things that the UK did back in the 1980s and 1990s?? Now that's something I would like to know how the UK found this solution decades before video games became a mainstay in pop culture.

[@Hi-cm1cj]

Whenever Charlie promotes videos like these in his content, he's honestly giving shout outs at this point.

[@vitorassissantos4302]

"One child of 200 in this age group of 5 to 20..."

[@Leel3ones89]

Watched this episode. And honestly I feel kinda cheated that we never got it out west. Feel like this was why polygon was always so mysterious to me.... because we never get the episode that introduced it.

[@cysper479]

0:31 Guys this Pokemon Episode was the reason why Brian Pillman became more crazy😂lol

[@Siccmade666]

new ecw was shit

[@retrocysper3709]

@@Siccmade666 uhm yeah very much. Even in its relaunch in 2006.

[@GEDAMONT559]

I guarantee you if we have social media back then that incident would've been all over the place It would have been all over KZbin All over Twitter and Facebook

[@SegaNintendoGuy64]

I was unaware BBC News talked about this Pokemon banned episode.

[@superboy3229]

I was kid, I didn't see that news.. My dad told me he remembering that news but he don't even know about Pokemon in 1997...before come to USA in September 1998.

[@dantepizzaslayer]

Ah yes my fav pocket monster, *_Lemmy Kilmister_*

[@clonerecon234stcorpsclonet8]

Guys my friend in school watched the episode at school recess and he was on session 3 he had to get up and go out of the classroom without a pass because he had no time and I thought he went to the toilet in green building and vomit 🤢 🤮

[@EstaviusMarx]

How did he watch it at recess? Is this now or at the time?

[@mattwolf7698]

@@EstaviusMarx It was probably today on a smartphone, the episode is floating around the internet.

[@matnic_6623]

Damn, this was a year before it released in America! Crazy how no one knew what it was lol

[@robertdeffenbaugh9004]

They don’t usually use that flashing for the show so that’s why.

[@YAMOMMA12345]

@@robertdeffenbaugh9004 no it wasnt released yet in america, thats why they said that

[@timurtheking743]

I just now watched the episode that made japanese kids epilepsy seizures, and nothing happened to me. My eyes are powerful !

[@FinkipGirl]

I’m just here for the Pakucho jokes.

[@pewo64]

naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah the reporter called Pikachu "Pakucho"

[@DuwangKaizer]

Two years before Pokemon came to the UK...

[@Sillyelly123]

THIS IS WHY GLITTER FORCE HAD DARL SHOTS IN SOME SCENES

[@Mutty99]

Ah, my favourite pokémon: *PAIKUCHO*

[@patrickwilson1459]

My father absolutely does not believe a word of this incident ever happening. I may believe it but I absolutely do not understand it. Just cartoon lights causing seizures to even those who don't have anything like epilepsy suffering seizures and vomiting, big whoop!

[@patrickwilson1459]

That I can understand. IT Chapter II had a warning for people who might have photosensitive epilepsy. But it didn’t mention seizures thank God, since I had been waiting months for the exciting conclusion. I did however wear two pairs of sunglasses during this scene of black and blue lights. The movie was great.

[@hitmanx2]

I just found a photo of the poliwhirl from a pokemon event

[@satamsonic4026]

So this is the reason why Computer Soilder Porygon was reported on the news.

[@linkkling]

dude really just said ‘pocket monster computer game’

[@davidm2364]

What's wrong with that? That's the name of the game.

[@mattwolf7698]

It wasn't called Pokemon yet

[@bellabliss1860]

"pocket monsters" lmao that's how you know it's an authentic news report from 1997

[@user-dp6cw9po5k]

I Think We need to Thank the BBC for introducing Pokemon to the UK!

[@scottriddell3514]

A few years before Pokémon went worldwide plus it was the year i was born

[@JoshKidsNY]

They didn't use the word in short "Pokémon" in the 1997 BBC report because the U.S. dub of that name instead of Pocket Monsters as the show debuted a few months earlier in Japan was not released until the fall of the following year 1998.

[@whatamalike]

"More children had fits when excerpts where replayed on the news" Well that was a bit fuckin daft wasnt it?

[@montersaaa1784]

Apparently they remove shots that might cause epilepsy. Even though there is a minute long compilation of all the flashing lights that caused it.

[@likeablekiwi6265]

I mean when they have an electric pikachu mascot you shouldve already known that there would be quite a lot of flashes in it

[@kowaidedewaganii]

you mean pakucho?

[@Ioganstone]

Only if you stick your finger in a socket. That would be like pak would seriously injure someone at the least.

[@nobod2567]

Well that was a literal shock!

[@1leon000]

"Paikucho, Pocket Monsters"

[@StudyingManually]

*The Pokémon Shock from 1997* 🚀

[@Zoomer30]

Time for the Seizure Procedure! Gohan: Krillin don't look at it! Krillin: 🤪🤪 Krillin Owned!

[@marcosvargas97]

Easy solution: Edit the flashing light, reduce its brightness to be safe and then send it internationally for make the dubs. Why they didn't do that like the episodes before it?

[@mopnem]

Dude, like every single anime on tv has to lower brightness for scenes now because of this. The only reason I’m even here is because I was streaming an anime & all the good action scenes were dimmed & I needed to know why

[@user-iu8mh6or6u]

@@mopnem hk

[@ChosenMii]

Note that this report was way before Pokémania

[@ersantayfour9301]

pakucho hahaha

[@VierlanMyota]

Its actually kinda a cute name heh OwO

[@hiromamoru9144]

@@VierlanMyota NO! It sounds too weird

[@VierlanMyota]

@@hiromamoru9144 Thats how I say the stuff too (Because I'm half Asian and half black)

[@beepboopbobop]

This was a year before it was released worldwide, so it would be normal for them to mispronounce the name.

[@jaswanth7508]

My man Pakucho🤸🤸🤸

[@tadc345fan]

The episode was banned in Japan, Britain, Spain and United States due to the flashing lights (blue and red) causing the viewers became ill.

[@ayki00]

All Of The Lights Music Video:

[@joshcreatorgalaxy8599]

Will Porygon The Normal Type Pokemon will be back in the next pokemon episode or season or show or in the movie????????

[@plushblueep]

I think they banned Porygon.

[@joshcreatorgalaxy8599]

But even it's two Evolutions from the game????😢😢😢

[@hikari27506]

@@plushblueep I BLAME PIKACHU

[@alphaareus]

“Pakucho” Hmmm

[@dropatear5379]

This is the worst I’ve wheats someone butcher Pikachu’s name Pa-ku-Cho