The mystery of the Pokemon episode caused nearly 700 people to be hospitalized after watching it, banned permanently screened worldwide

Thought just a normal episode

The "Porigon Computer Warrior" or "Dennō Senshi Porigon" was broadcast in Japan on December 16, 1997, at 18:30. The episode, broadcast on more than 37 local television channels, was the most watched program in that time frame, with about 4.6 million households sitting in front of the screen.

In the 20th minute of the episode, Pikachu stopped Rocket's vaccine rocket with the forte of "100,000 Volt", causing a huge explosion with lots of blue and red flashes.

The two animation techniques used, called "Paka paka" and "Flash", have exaggerated the intensity of the scene. The screen appears extremely bright strobe flashes, a frequency of 12 Hz takes place in about four seconds, which takes up the entire screen.

Right now, Japanese TV viewers suddenly feel blurred vision, headache, dizziness and nausea. Some even convulsed, suddenly blinded, vomiting blood and losing consciousness. A report by the Japan Fire Department said a total of 685 spectators, including 310 men and 375 women, mostly children, were taken to the hospital by ambulance; In particular, there is a 58-year-old man.

Although many victims recovered on their way to the hospital, more than 150 people were hospitalized. Two cases had to remain in the hospital for two weeks. Only a small portion of 685 victims were diagnosed with pre-epilepsy.

The incident shocked Japan

Scientists believe that it is the red flashes that cause seizures, in which similar visual stimuli can transform consciousness. Similarly, Dr. Fukuyama Yukio, an adolescent epilepsy expert, said that the rays and colors from the TV screen can stimulate a syndrome called "TV epilepsy".

Most of the previous victims had no problem observing the flashing scenes, and watching episodes on a large-screen TV in a small room space unintentionally aggravated the disease. Although only about 1 in 4,000 people are susceptible to this epilepsy, the number of victims of "Porygon Computer Warrior" is unprecedented in history.

News of the accident quickly spread throughout Japan and caused a shock. Thousands of parents took to the streets to protest on the night to express their dissatisfaction with the state's disregard for broadcast management, especially with a program aimed at children.

The next day, the operator of the production and broadcast of this episode, TV Tokyo, sent a public apology message to all Japanese people, suspending the program and pledging to open an investigation. about the cause of the seizure.

The National Police Agency has instructed the Atago Police Office to question the anime's producers about the content of the show and the process of making the episode. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare convenes an emergency meeting to discuss with experts and collect information from the hospital. More than 940 video retailers across Japan have removed the Pokémon anime from its store.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange immediately reacted, and Nintendo's stock plummeted 400 yen (nearly 5%) to 12,000 yen when news of the incident spread. After that, then-Nintendo president Yamauchi Hiroshi had to speak at a press conference the day after the episode was aired.

Yamauchi Hiroshi claimed the video game company was not responsible for the incident, as the original Pokémon game on Game Boy was released in black and white. Nintendo even denied the link between the game and the movie, due to concerns about affecting their business during Christmas that year.

Imprint left

The incident was later referred to by the Japanese press as "Pokémon Shock." The serious incident also brought animation studios around the world to pay attention.

Although some countries such as the US and UK have made warnings about not using flashing effects too strongly on television, but after "Pokemon Shock", TV production teams across the country The new world really adheres to the above rules.

From that day on, all Japanese animation and television shows are forced to display a text message indicating the warning at the beginning of each episode, as follows: " When watching cartoons, please turn on the room light. and don't sit too close to the screen ".

In order to prevent any similar incidents from happening, the producer decided to ban the possibility of replaying this episode in the future. With Nintendo's permanent revocation of the broadcast rights of "Computer Warrior Porigon", the episode itself has never been replayed in any country outside of Japan.