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Post by SharksFan99 on Jul 15, 2020 22:02:44 GMT 10
On the 16th December 1997, an airing of the episode "Dennō Senshi Porygon" on Japanese television resulted in 685 viewers being taken to hospitals as a result of suffering from epileptic seizures, induced by a scene with bright, flashing colours. Viewers experienced symptoms of blurred vision, dizziness, nausea and even loss of consciousness. Due to the incident, the episode has not been broadcast in any country since. You can read more about it here.I know the incident made headlines worldwide, but from what I understand, Pokemon hadn't yet become a huge cultural phenomenon in the United States by Late 1997. I believe that was sometime in 1998. That being said, the incident caused a lot of concern among parents in the US and anime still hadn't become widely embraced by western media, so i'm wondering how Pokemon managed to become such a huge craze in the Late '90s despite initial backlash? It didn't start off on the right foot. The incident in Japan could very well have killed off any chances of the program and anime in general succeeding in the West, and yet, it is now one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all-time. How did that came to be?
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Post by #Infinity on Jul 16, 2020 1:00:59 GMT 10
Back in 1997, the games had not been released in the US and the series was known as Pocket Monsters. Pokémon really blew up around the day you were born; it wasn't an overnight success as I remember it. There was a lot of distance between Electric Soldier Porygon and the franchise's introduction in America. People got hooked on the series because the games were so good, and the anime and card game were also major successes. Plus, American kids likely wouldn't even be aware of the seizure episode, which wasn't broadcast ever again anyway.
SharksFan99 and astropoug like this
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Post by John Titor on Jul 16, 2020 1:47:25 GMT 10
1997 Tamagotchi / digimon virtual pet craze + DBZ and Sailor moon underground buzz is what caused it to pop off in the usa
In 1998 Pokemon was syndicated on American TV and started getting really popular, Then the Games in late 98 and then The WB
network bought the show and moved it in a good time slot started adding first run new episodes which caused it to beat Fox Kids
in the ratings
astropoug likes this
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Post by slashpop on Jul 16, 2020 4:15:50 GMT 10
On the 16th December 1997, an airing of the episode "Dennō Senshi Porygon" on Japanese television resulted in 685 viewers being taken to hospitals as a result of suffering from epileptic seizures, induced by a scene with bright, flashing colours. Viewers experienced symptoms of blurred vision, dizziness, nausea and even loss of consciousness. Due to the incident, the episode has not been broadcast in any country since. You can read more about it here.I know the incident made headlines worldwide, but from what I understand, Pokemon hadn't yet become a huge cultural phenomenon in the United States by Late 1997. I believe that was sometime in 1998. That being said, the incident caused a lot of concern among parents in the US and anime still hadn't become widely embraced by western media, so i'm wondering how Pokemon managed to become such a huge craze in the Late '90s despite initial backlash? It didn't start off on the right foot. The incident in Japan could very well have killed off any chances of the program and anime in general succeeding in the West, and yet, it is now one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all-time. How did that came to be? It wasn't really centered as much as on the show as much as other things. Infact I'm not sure how much of a difference there would be without the show. Pokemon really didn't exist in the west in 1997. There were coverage and previews throughout late 1997 to mid 1998 also in gaming mags and it really took off as massive craze around spring 1999, but after the game was released in september 1998 it was very very popular from very late 1998 to early 1999 and it wasn't just a kids things as well. The addictive aspects of the game combined with collectability of the trading cards and the strong appeal to children as well was a key reason it got massive. You can also add heavy marketing and oversaturation of merch. In that era, every 2-3 years there was a massive new craze and so its like people were also accustomed to it and ready for the next craze to get into.
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Post by SharksFan99 on Jul 16, 2020 11:02:06 GMT 10
Back in 1997, the games had not been released in the US and the series was known as Pocket Monsters. Pokémon really blew up around the day you were born; it wasn't an overnight success as I remember it. There was a lot of distance between Electric Soldier Porygon and the franchise's introduction in America. People got hooked on the series because the games were so good, and the anime and card game were also major successes. Plus, American kids likely wouldn't even be aware of the seizure episode, which wasn't broadcast ever again anyway. That's interesting to read. I knew that Pokemon really blew up in popularity around early-mid 1999, but I was always under the impression that the franchise itself started to become a huge craze sometime during the second-half of 1998, especially considering the fact that the original series made its debut on American television in September that year. It's interesting that it took up to at least six months for it to truly take off in the United States. I do agree with you that kids themselves wouldn't have been aware of the existence of the seizure episode. However, nine months isn't that long of a time for the incident not to have been on the minds of parents. They could have easily stopped their children from watching a new, imported series that was made in a style of animation that hadn't yet become widely embraced by the west. It wasn't really centered as much as on the show as much as other things. Infact I'm not sure how much of a difference there would be without the show. Pokemon really didn't exist in the west in 1997. There were coverage and previews throughout late 1997 to mid 1998 also in gaming mags and it really took off as massive craze around spring 1999, but after the game was released in september 1998 it was very very popular from very late 1998 to early 1999 and it wasn't just a kids things as well. The addictive aspects of the game combined with collectability of the trading cards and the strong appeal to children as well was a key reason it got massive. You can also add heavy marketing and oversaturation of merch. In that era, every 2-3 years there was a massive new craze and so its like people were also accustomed to it and ready for the next craze to get into. That's true. I can see what you're saying about how other elements would have came into play. The franchise likely still would have become the huge cultural phenomenon that it did, even if the television series never made it to US shores. Still, it is surprising that it became as popular as it did.
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Post by jaydawg89 on Jul 16, 2020 13:33:18 GMT 10
Pokémon definitely blew up during Spring 1999. I don't remember hearing too much about it in 1998. 1999 on the other hand (except for the first couple months), Pokémon was everywhere, it was an absolute craze.
#Infinity likes this
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Post by #Infinity on Jul 17, 2020 2:57:00 GMT 10
Back in 1997, the games had not been released in the US and the series was known as Pocket Monsters. Pokémon really blew up around the day you were born; it wasn't an overnight success as I remember it. There was a lot of distance between Electric Soldier Porygon and the franchise's introduction in America. People got hooked on the series because the games were so good, and the anime and card game were also major successes. Plus, American kids likely wouldn't even be aware of the seizure episode, which wasn't broadcast ever again anyway. That's interesting to read. I knew that Pokemon really blew up in popularity around early-mid 1999, but I was always under the impression that the franchise itself started to become a huge craze sometime during the second-half of 1998, especially considering the fact that the original series made its debut on American television in September that year. It's interesting that it took up to at least six months for it to truly take off in the United States. I do agree with you that kids themselves wouldn't have been aware of the existence of the seizure episode. However, nine months isn't that long of a time for the incident not to have been on the minds of parents. They could have easily stopped their children from watching a new, imported series that was made in a style of animation that hadn't yet become widely embraced by the west. Anime was barely known about in America in 1997. You had a few syndicated shows, but it hadn't yet arrived to Toonami (that would occur the following year). Because of this, Pocket Monsters, upon the seizure episode, would have just been known as "that weird Japanese show that gave kids seizures". Nobody knew what the franchise was even about; just look at how The Simpsons parodied the incident in "30 Minutes Over Tokyo" (which aired right when Pokémania was starting but would have been made before the franchise arrived in North America) - they used a show about giant flashing mecha robots, not collectable monsters. Sure, that one British news story showed mentioned "Pachuko", but the show still just blended in with all other anime to western eyes. The games were such a success and the anime so well marketed that the seizures were never going to stop the franchise from being a hit. I should also mention that when Pokémon came out, the fact that it happened to be the same show that caused seizures in 1997 wasn't the only potential controversy surrounding it. A lot of conservative parent groups were angry at the franchise for a number of other reasons, including making their kids too obsessed, being satanic, or having some other problematic influence over them. Take a look at South Park's "Chinpokomon", which spoofs Pokémania as a yellow peril plot - while it seems racially insensitive today, at the time it was mainly satirizing the paranoia that anybody not into the franchise had in the west. Honestly, the anime was pivotal in the franchise getting as big as it did. Not only was it an entity of its own, but it greatly enhanced the appeal of the games, giving each creature an actual face and personality that the Game Boy couldn't properly portray. Americans were never really into RPGs beforehand, even the most popular ones like Dragon Quest, but the Pokémon anime helped the game experience feel more intimate and easier to imagine.
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Post by John Titor on Jul 17, 2020 3:27:34 GMT 10
That's interesting to read. I knew that Pokemon really blew up in popularity around early-mid 1999, but I was always under the impression that the franchise itself started to become a huge craze sometime during the second-half of 1998, especially considering the fact that the original series made its debut on American television in September that year. It's interesting that it took up to at least six months for it to truly take off in the United States. I do agree with you that kids themselves wouldn't have been aware of the existence of the seizure episode. However, nine months isn't that long of a time for the incident not to have been on the minds of parents. They could have easily stopped their children from watching a new, imported series that was made in a style of animation that hadn't yet become widely embraced by the west. Anime was barely known about in America in 1997. You had a few syndicated shows, but it hadn't yet arrived to Toonami (that would occur the following year). Because of this, Pocket Monsters, upon the seizure episode, would have just been known as "that weird Japanese show that gave kids seizures". Nobody knew what the franchise was even about; just look at how The Simpsons parodied the incident in "30 Minutes Over Tokyo" (which aired right when Pokémania was starting but would have been made before the franchise arrived in North America) - they used a show about giant flashing mecha robots, not collectable monsters. Sure, that one British news story showed mentioned "Pachuko", but the show still just blended in with all other anime to western eyes. The games were such a success and the anime so well marketed that the seizures were never going to stop the franchise from being a hit. I should also mention that when Pokémon came out, the fact that it happened to be the same show that caused seizures in 1997 wasn't the only potential controversy surrounding it. A lot of conservative parent groups were angry at the franchise for a number of other reasons, including making their kids too obsessed, being satanic, or having some other problematic influence over them. Take a look at South Park's "Chinpokomon", which spoofs Pokémania as a yellow peril plot - while it seems racially insensitive today, at the time it was mainly satirizing the paranoia that anybody not into the franchise had in the west. Honestly, the anime was pivotal in the franchise getting as big as it did. Not only was it an entity of its own, but it greatly enhanced the appeal of the games, giving each creature an actual face and personality that the Game Boy couldn't properly portray. Americans were never really into RPGs beforehand, even the most popular ones like Dragon Quest, but the Pokémon anime helped the game experience feel more intimate and easier to imagine. id say 97's Final Fantasy 7 is what made rpg's popular with it's Million dollar advertising campaigns with billboards, pepsi cans and tv spots airing in prime time. Rpg's were pretty much niche until 1997 when it went maintstream.
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Post by #Infinity on Jul 17, 2020 8:11:39 GMT 10
id say 97's Final Fantasy 7 is what made rpg's popular with it's Million dollar advertising campaigns with billboards, pepsi cans and tv spots airing in prime time. Rpg's were pretty much niche until 1997 when it went maintstream. FF7 was indeed a game changer for RPG's in America, but even then, it was still very different from Pokémon, which focused on collecting and training monsters rather than just training human warriors in a fantasy setting. The fact that it was on PS1 rather than Game Boy also made it very different.
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Post by John Titor on Jul 17, 2020 8:14:54 GMT 10
id say 97's Final Fantasy 7 is what made rpg's popular with it's Million dollar advertising campaigns with billboards, pepsi cans and tv spots airing in prime time. Rpg's were pretty much niche until 1997 when it went maintstream. FF7 was indeed a game changer for RPG's in America, but even then, it was still very different from Pokémon, which focused on collecting and training monsters rather than just training human warriors in a fantasy setting. The fact that it was on PS1 rather than Game Boy also made it very different. Nintendo is lucky Pokemon came along as Game Boy's life got expanded on the wait to Game boy Advance in 2001
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Post by SharksFan99 on Jul 19, 2020 18:59:21 GMT 10
Anime was barely known about in America in 1997. You had a few syndicated shows, but it hadn't yet arrived to Toonami (that would occur the following year). Because of this, Pocket Monsters, upon the seizure episode, would have just been known as "that weird Japanese show that gave kids seizures". Nobody knew what the franchise was even about; just look at how The Simpsons parodied the incident in "30 Minutes Over Tokyo" (which aired right when Pokémania was starting but would have been made before the franchise arrived in North America) - they used a show about giant flashing mecha robots, not collectable monsters. Sure, that one British news story showed mentioned "Pachuko", but the show still just blended in with all other anime to western eyes. The games were such a success and the anime so well marketed that the seizures were never going to stop the franchise from being a hit. I should also mention that when Pokémon came out, the fact that it happened to be the same show that caused seizures in 1997 wasn't the only potential controversy surrounding it. A lot of conservative parent groups were angry at the franchise for a number of other reasons, including making their kids too obsessed, being satanic, or having some other problematic influence over them. Take a look at South Park's "Chinpokomon", which spoofs Pokémania as a yellow peril plot - while it seems racially insensitive today, at the time it was mainly satirizing the paranoia that anybody not into the franchise had in the west. Yep, that's true. That's why it's so incredible that the franchise ultimately became the success that it did; the odds were stacked against it. If it hadn't of been for the success of the games, anime in general could have still remained a niche topic of interest in the West to this day and that would also put into question whether later anime franchises such as Yu Gi Oh, Digimon etc. would have ever become popular.
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Post by John Titor on Jul 20, 2020 2:03:34 GMT 10
Anime was barely known about in America in 1997. You had a few syndicated shows, but it hadn't yet arrived to Toonami (that would occur the following year). Because of this, Pocket Monsters, upon the seizure episode, would have just been known as "that weird Japanese show that gave kids seizures". Nobody knew what the franchise was even about; just look at how The Simpsons parodied the incident in "30 Minutes Over Tokyo" (which aired right when Pokémania was starting but would have been made before the franchise arrived in North America) - they used a show about giant flashing mecha robots, not collectable monsters. Sure, that one British news story showed mentioned "Pachuko", but the show still just blended in with all other anime to western eyes. The games were such a success and the anime so well marketed that the seizures were never going to stop the franchise from being a hit. I should also mention that when Pokémon came out, the fact that it happened to be the same show that caused seizures in 1997 wasn't the only potential controversy surrounding it. A lot of conservative parent groups were angry at the franchise for a number of other reasons, including making their kids too obsessed, being satanic, or having some other problematic influence over them. Take a look at South Park's "Chinpokomon", which spoofs Pokémania as a yellow peril plot - while it seems racially insensitive today, at the time it was mainly satirizing the paranoia that anybody not into the franchise had in the west. Yep, that's true. That's why it's so incredible that the franchise ultimately became the success that it did; the odds were stacked against it. If it hadn't of been for the success of the games, anime in general could have still remained a niche topic of interest in the West to this day and that would also put into question whether later anime franchises such as Yu Gi Oh, Digimon etc. would have ever become popular. Digimon came out in 1997 before Pokemon in the untied states and had no anime at the time and it was still popular because it was under the Tamagotchi brand name. However the anime did prove to boost both shows for Pokemon and Digimon to unreal levels. So yeah Pokemon anime HAD to happen and was on a top 10 network The WB which also helped. Pokemon blowing up largely had to do with being moved to The WB network, the games did help as well as the cards. It was made so there was always trading going on and interaction.
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Post by slashpop on Jul 22, 2020 22:19:03 GMT 10
That's interesting to read. I knew that Pokemon really blew up in popularity around early-mid 1999, but I was always under the impression that the franchise itself started to become a huge craze sometime during the second-half of 1998, especially considering the fact that the original series made its debut on American television in September that year. It's interesting that it took up to at least six months for it to truly take off in the United States. I do agree with you that kids themselves wouldn't have been aware of the existence of the seizure episode. However, nine months isn't that long of a time for the incident not to have been on the minds of parents. They could have easily stopped their children from watching a new, imported series that was made in a style of animation that hadn't yet become widely embraced by the west. Anime was barely known about in America in 1997. You had a few syndicated shows, but it hadn't yet arrived to Toonami (that would occur the following year). Because of this, Pocket Monsters, upon the seizure episode, would have just been known as "that weird Japanese show that gave kids seizures". Nobody knew what the franchise was even about; just look at how The Simpsons parodied the incident in "30 Minutes Over Tokyo" (which aired right when Pokémania was starting but would have been made before the franchise arrived in North America) - they used a show about giant flashing mecha robots, not collectable monsters. Sure, that one British news story showed mentioned "Pachuko", but the show still just blended in with all other anime to western eyes. The games were such a success and the anime so well marketed that the seizures were never going to stop the franchise from being a hit. I should also mention that when Pokémon came out, the fact that it happened to be the same show that caused seizures in 1997 wasn't the only potential controversy surrounding it. A lot of conservative parent groups were angry at the franchise for a number of other reasons, including making their kids too obsessed, being satanic, or having some other problematic influence over them. Take a look at South Park's "Chinpokomon", which spoofs Pokémania as a yellow peril plot - while it seems racially insensitive today, at the time it was mainly satirizing the paranoia that anybody not into the franchise had in the west. Honestly, the anime was pivotal in the franchise getting as big as it did. Not only was it an entity of its own, but it greatly enhanced the appeal of the games, giving each creature an actual face and personality that the Game Boy couldn't properly portray. Americans were never really into RPGs beforehand, even the most popular ones like Dragon Quest, but the Pokémon anime helped the game experience feel more intimate and easier to imagine. "Anime was barely known about in America in 1997. You had a few syndicated shows, but it hadn't yet arrived to Toonami (that would occur the following year). Because of this, Pocket Monsters, upon the seizure episode, would have just been known as "that weird Japanese show that gave kids seizures"." In Canada I remember dragon ball, sailor moon being pretty big in 1996 and also prior to the release of pokemon, wasn't it the same in the US in a way ?. I would see malls carrying a lot of merch, there being anime video stores or sections with videos released by manga entertainment around that time. Also Armitage III, Ranma ½ , Neon Genesis Evangelion were popular and comics were already popular then with dedicated sections. Robotech, Golgo 13, Fist of The North Star and Akira the movie were relatively popular in the US/Canada in the 1980s among a lot of others. Also transformers could be seen as anime influenced. "Honestly, the anime was pivotal in the franchise getting as big as it did. Not only was it an entity of its own, but it greatly enhanced the appeal of the games, giving each creature an actual face and personality that the Game Boy couldn't properly portray. Americans were never really into RPGs beforehand, even the most popular ones like Dragon Quest, but the Pokémon anime helped the game experience feel more intimate and easier to imagine." Wouldn't you include Zelda even though its not technically an RPG? Phantasy Star series, Final Fantasy series, Utima Series, Secret of Mana, Earthbound, Chrono Trigger etc. I think you made a point about the cartoon helping which it likely did but I don't think it was the backbone of the craze. I think the nature of game and trading card rarity was, but I guess the cartoon, like a lot of the merch, helped expand it even more to younger audiences at some point which may have helped the craze. I think when it first started there weren't enough episodes, nor as much merch as later, and I'm sure many older fans of the game thought it was too child-oriented. Later on it played more of a role I would guess. I do think the actual game was not particularly easy for kids under 7 or 8 possibly even older ones and the trading card game needed some skills and experience to fully master, also adults and older kids were likely more able to directly buy the rarer cards and were the ones who had a role in increasing card prices and reselling etc. There was a strong appeal to older kids/teens and adults in that regard, especially at the very start of pokemon and during the early phase of pokemania. I recall playing the card game in organzied groups in card shops in 1999-2000 where magic the gathering games were usually held. The people playing pokemon were usually 12-18 and up. I don't remember either the game particularly being very easy, you would earn badges and it would take some time to really get good at it, so I would imagine for younger kids at that time it must have been difficult if not impossible. It may have been more of a toy and cartoon thing for very young children that grew as time when one, and the cards and game was more of novelty and just things they got or collected more than anything else, and then at some point it may have been a peer pressure thing.
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