Content area
In Japan, "Pokemon" is a top-rated children's cartoon that has spawned $4 billion in commercial tie-in sales. Most Americans, however, know it only for an incident in December, when hundreds of Japanese children needed medical treatment after watching a segment that featured colored strobe lights.
By the fall, U.S. viewers will be able to see the show for themselves, when "Pokemon" becomes available in TV markets covering more than 85% of the country. The episode that caused seizures and other illnesses will not be shown.
The distributor vouches for the safety of "Pokemon," but others have expressed concern after the December show resulted in the hospitalization of 200 children. TV Guide referred to the episode as "dangerous TV."
Coming this fall to a TV set near you the show that felled several hundred kids.
In Japan, "Pokemon" is a top-rated children's cartoon that has spawned $4 billion in commercial tie-in sales. Most Americans, however, know it only for an incident in December, when hundreds of Japanese children needed medical treatment after watching a segment that featured colored strobe lights.
By the fall, U.S. viewers will be able to see the show for themselves, when "Pokemon" becomes available in TV markets covering more than 85% of the country. The episode that caused seizures and other illnesses will not be shown.
The distributor vouches for the safety of "Pokemon," but others have expressed concern after the December show resulted in the hospitalization of 200 children. TV Guide referred to the episode as "dangerous TV."
As with other Japanese imports, it remains to be seen whether "Pokemon" will follow the path of the "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers," a live-action Japanese program that has fared amazingly well here, or of "Sailor Moon," a cult cartoon favorite that failed to catch on with the larger American audience.
The Winter Olympic Games in Nagano are piquing interest in things Japanese, but Americans already are quite familiar with Japanese animation, a wide range of genres collectively known as anime. Much of the recent interest in anime has focused on adult genres, some featuring sex and violence.
"Pokemon" is an abbreviated Japanese pronunciation of "Pocket Monsters," a Nintendo video game, which will be available in the United States in September. The cartoon, in its second year in Japan, features 150 creatures who can transform into super-powered friends or monsters, depending upon the skills of their human trainers.
The show's human heroes use the creatures to stop a group trying to conquer Earth. Pikachu, who shoots lightning bolts and looks like a yellow hamster with extended ears, is a cartoon and commercial star in Japan. Distributors hope Pikachu and friends enjoy merchandising success here, looking to the "Power Rangers" as an example of the great retail possibilities for a popular show.
The seizures, believed to have been caused by sensitivity to flashing lights, resulted from only one episode, after more than 30 had been broadcast without incident, said Shelly Hirsch, chief executive officer of the Summit Media Group, the U.S. distributor for "Pokemon." About 200 children were hospitalized, with others treated for milder reactions. Symptoms included blackouts, convulsions and nausea.
Credit: Hartford Courant
Copyright Journal/Sentinel, Inc. Feb 18, 1998