The Real Reason A Pokemon Episode Was Banned This Year

It's been a long time since an episode of Pokemon was banned from the United States. The last time it happened was due to racial issues and how Jynx was designed, though newer iterations have since made the Pokemon purple instead of black-skinned. Unfortunately, racial issues are a big reason as to why a new Sun and Moon episode won't be airing stateside.

According to ComicBook.com, we will not see episode 64 due to the fact that Ash makes himself look like a Passimian, one of the newer Pokemon from Sun and Moon. This inadvertently makes it look like Ash is wearing blackface, something actors used to do so that they could look black. It's obvious as to why that's bad hence the banned nature of this episode.

Though a kid-friendly anime, Pokemon has had quite the reputation when it comes to banned episodes. Aside from the aforementioned issues with Jynx's original design, there was also an episode that caused 600 or so children in Japan to suffer from epilepsy due to a lot of flashing lights.

Currently, this is the first episode of Pokemon Sun and Moon to be banned from the states so here is hoping that it is also the last. Pokemon Sun and Moon can be watched on Disney XD, Netflix, and the official Pokemon website.

Via Bulbapedia

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