More than most other anime, Pokémon anime has maintained a reputation as being for young children, reluctant to push boundaries and play it safe instead. That’s not always the case, though – the Pokémon anime, especially in its predecessors, actually has some surprisingly adult themes in the Japanese original.
When Pokémon was brought to the US, the anime was localized by 4Kids Entertainment, a company known for censorship and content alteration outside of Japan. Since Pokémon is primarily aimed at young children, what was considered okay to bring into Japan is suddenly no longer suitable for American parents. To make the show more like a Western cartoon, some elements were cut out – but what might be surprising is how much content was cut or omitted and how long this lasted.
Pokémon’s Dub Cut Multiple Guns & Alcohol References
Content from the Pokémon anime can be censored for a variety of reasons—violence, use of weapons (especially guns), alcohol, and pornography. The first episode of Pokémon featured Misty slapping Ash, which was cut from the dub. The most famous example of gun censorship in anime is the episode Safari Zone, which shows Team Rocket and the Safari Zone manager making extensive use of actual guns; the episode was cut completely leaving a big hole in the plot, as Ash captures 30 of his Tauros in this episode. James’ bottle cap collection, seen in several episodes, was initially explicitly referred to as beer bottle caps, suggesting that Jessie and James drink beer while offscreen. Even as late as Sun & Moon, Professor Burnett’s champagne glass at her wedding was edited to have her drink orange juice during the dub, even changing the shape of the glass.
The most edited Pokémon episode that hasn’t been completely ignored is “Beauty and the Beach,” the 18th volume of the series. The episode was initially skipped but eventually returned, billed as a “lost episode” 2 years later. The “lost episode” version has content cut by a few minutes, involving Team Rocket’s James wearing a bikini with large fake breasts to wear see-through to win a beauty contest. The episode also featured some nasty comments towards Misty, with an old man saying he was “looking forward to seeing her again in eight years”, which was cut from the dub.
While Pokémon dwindle over time, the first seasons of Pokémon The anime has more questionable content than most fans might guess from just watching the dub.