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More so than most other anime, thePokemonanime has maintained a reputation as being for young kids, reluctant to push boundaries and instead playing it safe.
That wasn’t always the case, though–the Pokemon anime, especially in its earlier seasons, actually featured some surprisingly adult themes in the original Japanese.
When Pokemon was brought to the US, the anime was localized by 4Kids Entertainment, a company known for censoring and altering content out of Japan.
Since Pokemon was being aimed heavily at younger kids, things that were considered okay to include in Japan were suddenly no longer okay with American parents.
To make the show more on the level of Western cartoons, certain elements were cut out–but what may surprise is just how much content was cut or skipped, and how long this went on for.
Pokemon’s Dub Cut Numerous References to Guns & Alcohol
Content could be censored from the Pokemon anime for a variety of reasons–violence, weapon use (especially guns), alcohol references, and sexual content.
The veryfirst episode of Pokemon featured a scene of Misty slapping Ash, which was cut out of the dubbed version.
The most famous example of guns being censored in the anime is the Safari Zone episode, which featured extensive use of realistic guns by Team Rocket and the Safari Zone warden; the episode being cut entirely left an enormous plot hole, as Ash catches his 30 Tauros in this episode.
James' bottle cap collection, seen in many episodes, was originally referred to as explicitly beer bottle caps, suggesting Jessie and James drink beer when offscreen.
Even as late asSun & Moon, Professor Burnett’s champagne glass at her wedding was edited so that she was drinking orange juice in the dub, even changing the shape of the glass.
Related:Pokemon: Jessie and James Tragic Backstories Explained
WhilePokemontoned itself down over time, the early seasons of thePokemonanime feature a lot more questionable content than most fans would’ve guessed from only watching the dub.
