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Electric Soldier Porygon! (038)

Gillachu

Banned
This was a great episode and it's disappointing it never aired in English. However, even in Japanese is an intense and interesting episode. Probably one of the more, personally, memorable episodes.

I think Meowth's Va once said that this episode was dubbed but simply didn't air. I didn't think this episode was that good though, so we didn't miss out on much...
 

Bananarama

The light is coming
I think Meowth's Va once said that this episode was dubbed but simply didn't air. I didn't think this episode was that good though, so we didn't miss out on much...

That's true. She said that they dubbed the episode, but decided not to air it. It's a shame though, I would've liked to watch the dub.
 
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Mrs. Oreo

Banned
I didn't think this episode was that good though, so we didn't miss out on much...

This might've been a filler, but it was really enjoyable and was the only episode to feature Porygon in a starring role. I feel bad that English speaking countries had to miss out on it is all. ^^;
 

JudySpell

Banned
This episode was actually really entertaining so I'm disappointed that the seizure incident caused this to be banned. I liked seeing cyber space. 8/10
 

TheJLeeTeam

JLeeTeam
Ignoring the whole seizure controversy with this episode, this was an interesting episode but not one of my favorites. I liked how it moved away from the normal setting in the natural world and in cyberspace. And I'm sure Nurse Joy installed the virus protection software and wasn't aware the gang were trapped in cyberspace so if she already installed it before hand they wouldn't need to go into cyberspace. And the virus protection was missiles that will emit flashing lights. I think this episode is kind of convoluted in a way but I have a hard time explaining it.

Now I think the main problem with the whole seizure scene is not Porygon or Pikachu. It was the vaccine missiles because they emit strobe lights when they explode. If they used normal explosions instead, this episode would've been safer, but I think they went for the strobe light explosions because it looked more digital.

It's a total shame this episode only aired once anywhere in the world, Porygon's evolutions will probably never show up in the anime, and that the official companies and sources never even acknowledge the episodes existence (Much like Nintendo never acknowledges the Cdi games). I'm just really glad that someone was able to video tape it when it aired because that was the only way it could be on the internet at all. If no one video taped the episode, it would be totally non-existent.
 

Darth Nightmaricus

Glitch Trainer
Actually, this episode is my favorite...the plot is very...different from any other episode. It's a shame it's banned, though.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
For a banned episode, this was one wacky filler. I normally dislike episodes like this, but I couldn't help but enjoy seeing Satoshi and his friends exploring cyberspace on Akihabara-hakase's Porygon. Porygon's ability to change its shape was fascinating, and the Rocket-dan handling the other Porygon made things fun.
 

Wednesdayz

Meowth fanatic
I wish this episode aired in the U.S., just not with the part that gave all those kids seizures. I know that parents wouldn't be happy about it, but it shouldn't be a problem if that part is taken out.
 

Wednesdayz

Meowth fanatic
I read somewhere that Maddie once said that 4Kids had dubbed this episode, but that they never aired it. I wonder if that was true. :x
 

teddybeardan

Active Member
I read somewhere that Maddie once said that 4Kids had dubbed this episode, but that they never aired it. I wonder if that was true. :x


Who knows? Maddie said 4Kids toned down the electric strobe effect, but it was still deemed dangerous because of the epileptic seizures that kids in Japan experienced watching it, hence it didn't air.

Besides, the poor woman's passed on now anyway, we'll never know.
 
Who knows? Maddie said 4Kids toned down the electric strobe effect, but it was still deemed dangerous because of the epileptic seizures that kids in Japan experienced watching it, hence it didn't air.

She didn't say that. That's a common misquote. She only said it was dubbed. Neither did anyone say the government in Japan banned it - that April 1998 clip from the Pikachu Forest episode said that the government was involved in the research of the cause of this situation - not that the government banned it - the companies banned it because they ordered that it was never to be touched again by anyone.

They showed an artwork over a green background in the Poké Rap in the United States. They also used a different voice for Porygon, something that wouldn't be necessary if it's the same name in Japanese and English and if 4Kids didn't have access to this episode, they wouldn't have Porygon's Japanese voice either.

I think 4Kids never received this episode to start off with, given the amounts of highly indicative evidence as such. It's been stated perfectly that with over hundreds of episodes with around 10 years of dub production since, they could have been misremembered and this single episode might not have been received or dubbed anyways. It could be possible that they were working with all the 1997 original TV and post 1997 masters, so by the time they finished dubbing the Porygon episode, they were to send in the post 1997 master to the network. Of course, Japan wasn't going to give it to them - and I wonder if they made a post-1997 master just for consistency even though they were not going to use it again - because it wasn't intended to be shown again anyways (and that 4Kids would only show toned down footage in the Poké Rap) - so then 4Kids said oh screw it and decided never to look back at it again. That's my idea what would've been the issue if the episode was dubbed.
 
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SinnohEevee

Well-Known Member
So, I have seen some of you have watched it. How were the seizures? :p
 
So, I have seen some of you have watched it. How were the seizures? :p

Nothing. All you can appear to get nowadays is just a slight headache.

There are many people who panic about "getting a seizure" or something like that but that's just being overly dramatic. If you're watching on VHS, the tapes tend to worsen over time and if you're watching on digital format, the rendering isn't that powerful to result in such an effect. It's not like I was even in Japan in 1997 so I don't know how the effect would display on a TV. Of course, it just affected 700 viewers at the time, so the companies could air an edited version, but then they didn't want it to be shown in the first place, yada yada, so it's best to keep the episode hidden from the public as possible. ...Of course, people still taped it and have published it to the internet, so it's not like anything you can ever get away with hiding.
 

04n70n10

Well-Known Member
Be cautious, but we have to take even in account one thing: there was (most probably) also mass hysteria.

And this case is interesting, there are even some study. A director of the Epilepsy Program said "it’s possible that a few of the children watching may have experienced photosensitive-induced seizures, but it’s hard to conceive that 700 did."
Indeed, considering the statistic, the point is: too high number of cases. For those interested: The Pokémon Panic of 1997
 
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Shayuin

Banned
Be cautious, but we have to take even in account one thing: there was (most probably) also mass hysteria.

And this case is interesting, there are even some study. A director of the Epilepsy Program said "it’s possible that a few of the children watching may have experienced photosensitive-induced seizures, but it’s hard to conceive that 700 did."
Indeed, considering the statistic, the point is: too high number of cases. For those interested: The Pokémon Panic of 1997

Seems like damage control if they're acting like some of the seizures didn't happen, which is victim shaming.
 
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