So why exactly wasn’t “the kiss” shown?

[AshxSatoshi]

We all know what I’m talking about. Looking back as it; it always seemed weird they decided to censor the specific event when it’s debatable that’s the most taboo thing the anime has done

 

[Deleted member 384931]

I guess they were scared of the reactions?

 

[mehmeh1]

They didn't show a kiss between two consenting adults on their literal wedding. I think that's more concerning

 

[Deleted member 384931]

They didn't show a kiss between two consenting adults on their literal wedding. I think that's more concerning

True

 

[U.N. Owen]

I would say cultural censorship to make it available for everyone on Earth, but that’s speculation.

 

[shoz999]

We all know what I’m talking about. Looking back as it; it always seemed weird they decided to censor the specific event when it’s debatable that’s the most taboo thing the anime has done

It's to make the scene more memorable. You have to look at how it's directed such as look at the camera work where the audience's focus is the legs facing each other and closing on each other as if Serena is leaning in for a kiss and then later you see Ash's friends shocking reactions. It made an all-the-more memorable scene in not just the anime but outside of it too. If they had done it the way fans probably want it, have the camera focus on their heads, then although it may be a big deal to those die-hard anime Pokemon fans, it would've been just another kiss scene to your in-general anime fan.

 

[AznKei]

I think it's related to the time when video game/media female characters are wearing less revealing clothes than before, like the Mortal Kombat female characters are wearing pants instead of leotards, less sex appeal for the viewers to see which includes kissing.

 

[Leonhart]

I never put any thought into why the kiss wasn't shown, and frankly I hardly have an opinion about the kiss in general. I don't think that the kiss being shown entirely would've changed much other than satisfy fans who liked Serena's crush on Satoshi, but looking back I probably would've felt a little uncomfortable seeing Serena plant a kiss on Satoshi.

 

[Spider-Phoenix]

Because it was a children's show and at least on Japan, there's the mindset that romance plots (or even showing explicit romance at all) will make the kids lost interest in the show (basically, the "boys're gross girls' got cooties").

Doing a "don't show but you know what's happening" was a good compromise in my opinion.

 

[BabaVanga]

If it was OS they'd probably show the kiss, but XY was all hype so I guess it's for the extra drama.
At least Bianca/Latios delivered.

 

[Deleted member 384931]

I think its still interesting they did it, I never expected it tbh

 

[SerGoldenhandtheJust]

If it was OS they'd probably show the kiss, but XY was all hype so I guess it's for the extra drama.
At least Bianca/Latios delivered.

Bianca/latios kissed on the cheek though

 

[Dzentelmen]

It's been like that for many years for all the anime for children. Digimon had one kiss on the cheek with a random girl instead of any of the ships, Detective Conan took like 600 episodes to show any kiss and as of today the MC only got a cheek kiss. Same with Megaman where the MC got a cheek kiss from a recurring character and the main girl did nothing for like 4 seasons. There's probably a lot more similar cases.

 

[EmeraldArcanine]

Something something about how mouth-to-mouth kisses are too intimate to show in Japan or something along those lines iirc so cultural censorship pretty much. Which is why Serena and Ash's kiss along with Kukui and Burnet's was censored while the Ash/Latios cheek kiss wasn't.

 

[Epicocity]

I mean, Yajima said it was a stretch for them to even get away with what they did to begin with in his interview, so it pretty much tells you right then and there that it had to do with age group and censorship. Not really any other meaning. Don't even know why it's still a question now, three years after the interview...

 

[Leonhart]

I mean, Yajima said it was a stretch for them to even get away with what they did to begin with in his interview, so it pretty much tells you right then and there that it had to do with age group and censorship. Not really any other meaning. Don't even know why it's still a question now, three years after the interview...

Not everyone keeps up with Japanese interviews: even I didn't know that he had said anything despite me actually living there. Although I do question why they even wrote that romance subplot throughout XY in the first place if they were worried that censorship might hinder it.

 

[Epicocity]

Not everyone keeps up with Japanese interviews: even I didn't know that he had said anything despite me actually living there. Although I do question why they even wrote that romance subplot throughout XY in the first place if they were worried that censorship might hinder it.

I only say it because said interview was pretty well-discussed here around the time it came out, and I know the topic creator was around when that interview came out, so it seems strange that they missed it.

Though I wouldn't say the censorship hindered it in any way. We know what happened by what we weren't shown, so it worked just as well as if it had.

 

[Kuzehiko]

Bianca/latios kissed on the cheek though

We didn't get to see on which part did Serena kiss Ash tho. It could have either been on the lips or the cheek as well.

 

[Shadao]

Not everyone keeps up with Japanese interviews: even I didn't know that he had said anything despite me actually living there. Although I do question why they even wrote that romance subplot throughout XY in the first place if they were worried that censorship might hinder it.

Romance is nothing new in Pokémon. There are plenty of romances prior to Serena. It's just that like most kid shows, there are limits of what you can show for a romantic relationship. After all, you will never see how Kukui and Burnet got a child in development by the end of SM.

In the case of Serena's romance with Ash, it's a case of being daring. Of how far you can push the envelope why still satisfying censors. The only thing that the show runners had to worry about it is the kiss since unlike Serena blushing or holding hands with Ash or even hugging Ash, it's a very explicit act of love. Especially if it's the first kiss, the sacred first kiss.

This is a Japanese cultural trope. Whether they're a boy or a girl, a Japanese teen's first "adult" kiss on the lips is a momentous occasion. It is something to be built up to and shared with a very special person — something that is remembered for the rest of one's life. A spoiled or stolen first kiss is an occasion for profound angst and even anger. Consequently, in any anime plotline involving teen romance, the first kiss is an important milestone in the development of both self and relationship.

This is mostly because, unlike most Western countries, where kissing is between moderately special and outright mundane, kissing is seen as an extraordinarily intimate act in Japan, almost comparable in intimacy to sex in the West. It is not done in public (anime characters who do kiss in public are either shameless, extremely daring, Eaglelanders, or censored from the audience's view), and parents do not kiss where their children can see them. In effect, the first kiss is the harbinger of a teenager's entry into sexual maturity.

Keep in mind, they can show Brock's hopeless flirting as a gag in the open and they can show folks teasing Misty for having a "boyfriend" that is Ash. Because those romantic implications are not serious and when it comes to Serena's romantic subplot, it's often played for laughs with several of her friends making fun of her inability to tell her feelings to Ash (or Ash being dense). It's pretty much a "will-they-or-won't-they situation" that could have gone the other way.

I mean, many folks expected a confession or a hug for the resolution of Serena's romantic arc. The kiss was what really broke expectations and what sealed the deal.

We didn't get to see on which part did Serena kiss Ash tho. It could have either been on the lips or the cheek as well.

Plausible denalibity but you don't have kiss be done off-screen if it's for the cheek. Everyone knows what a Kissing Discretion Shot is meant to be.

 

[Epicocity]

Plausible denalibity but you don't have kiss be done off-screen if it's for the cheek. Everyone knows what a Kissing Discretion Shot is meant to be.

Not to mention we've seen kisses on the cheek in the series before, so why would it need to be censored now? It's a tad asinine to say it could've been on the cheek...especially when you combine it with the reactions of Clemont, Pikachu and Bonnie which are a tad extreme for a simple peck on the cheek.