For the first time in 16 years, Pokemon will skip its U.S. airing of a new episode.
Disney XD, the cartoon network that airs the Pokemon cartoons, will skip an upcoming episode of the Sun and Moon show, according to the companys programming schedule. The episode was set to air Monday.
The network will jump to the next episode in the season.
As Polygon reported, Disney XDs decision to skip makes sense since it features the shows main character dressing in what appears to be blackface.
In Episode 64, which is called Touchdown of Friends! in Japanese, Ash develops sympathy for a tribe of Pokemon called Passimian, which are similar to lemurs. He tries to protect the race of Pokemon by acting like them.
However, Ashs desire to help, which happens a lot in the series, goes a little too far.
Whats most troubling is where Ashs Passimian passion leads him: He ends up wearing a costume that resembles the Pokmon, which includes painting his entire face black, Polygon reported.
The Pokemon Company hasnt directly stated the reason the show wont be aired in the U.S.
It's possible it's just not going to be airing in the normal order it would be seen in, or it could be planned for another time, according to Shack News. Most likely, however, the case is that everyone wants to avoid any kind of controversy that could come along with airing Ash's actions. It's easy to understand why.
The episode is "not only one of the few episodes to never leave Asia, but also part of a small group of Pokemon cartoons that have been banned from re-airing, according to Polygon.
The last episode that Pokemon did not air in the U.S. included the Pokemon character Jynx, who originally had a black-colored face and reminded many of African-American caricatures. The character has since been updated to have a purple face instead.
In fact, plenty of episodes in the Pokemon anime never made it out of Asia because of Jynxs previous design, according to Mashable.
Disney XD, the cartoon network that airs the Pokemon cartoons, will skip an upcoming episode of the Sun and Moon show, according to the companys programming schedule. The episode was set to air Monday.
The network will jump to the next episode in the season.
As Polygon reported, Disney XDs decision to skip makes sense since it features the shows main character dressing in what appears to be blackface.
In Episode 64, which is called Touchdown of Friends! in Japanese, Ash develops sympathy for a tribe of Pokemon called Passimian, which are similar to lemurs. He tries to protect the race of Pokemon by acting like them.
However, Ashs desire to help, which happens a lot in the series, goes a little too far.
Whats most troubling is where Ashs Passimian passion leads him: He ends up wearing a costume that resembles the Pokmon, which includes painting his entire face black, Polygon reported.
The Pokemon Company hasnt directly stated the reason the show wont be aired in the U.S.
It's possible it's just not going to be airing in the normal order it would be seen in, or it could be planned for another time, according to Shack News. Most likely, however, the case is that everyone wants to avoid any kind of controversy that could come along with airing Ash's actions. It's easy to understand why.
The episode is "not only one of the few episodes to never leave Asia, but also part of a small group of Pokemon cartoons that have been banned from re-airing, according to Polygon.
The last episode that Pokemon did not air in the U.S. included the Pokemon character Jynx, who originally had a black-colored face and reminded many of African-American caricatures. The character has since been updated to have a purple face instead.
In fact, plenty of episodes in the Pokemon anime never made it out of Asia because of Jynxs previous design, according to Mashable.
