A ‘Pokémon’ Episode Has Been Accused Of Blackface & Banned From Airing In The US
Image via Delpixel / Shutterstock.com
An episode of the Pokémon Sun and Moon series will not be airing in the US.
The 64th episode titled ‘Touchdown of Friendship’ will not be screened as main character ‘Ash Ketchum’ has been accused of blackface. This episode was released in Japan, but Disney XD—the network that airs it—said that it will not run the episode in the US and will be moving forward to air the next one instead.
The episode shows ‘Ash’ getting acquainted with a group of ‘Passimians’, which is a new breed of ‘Pokémon’. ‘Ash’ feels the need to protect them, so he gets closer to these creatures to learn more about them. He mimics the way they move and look, where the latter involves painting his face black.
This is not the first time a Pokémon episode has been banned in the US. Back in 2002, an episode which featured the character ‘Jynx’, shown below, was deemed offensive as it appears to be humiliating African-American caricature. Though ‘Jynx’ has since been tweaked and given a purple face, the original episode still carries the initial ‘Jynx’ aesthetic, so US banned it from airing it altogether.
So it looks like TPCi is skipping the Passimian episode…and I can uh….understand why pic.twitter.com/RnwPai1FaN
— JPRPokeTrainer98 (@JPRPT98) July 4, 2018
Has anyone else noticed that Jynx wears blackface and is also the only Pokemon who is weirdly sexualised? pic.twitter.com/0kDBVyPJjZ
— ???????? Frog-kun ???????? (@frog_kun) February 3, 2016
[via Complex, opening image via Delpixel / Shutterstock.com]