The distressing affair was deeply embarrassing for many, and the entire anime industry came under intense scrutiny. Television executives apologized repeatedly to the public, broadcasts of Pokemon were temporarily suspended, and all manner of investigations launched. Psychologists, doctors, and animation artists were all involved in trying to determine just what happened and how to avoid a reoccurrence. At the same time there were voices in Japan calling for tight new regulations to govern the production methods of anime studios, and in fact new regulations were eventually passed.
The Western media which rarely mentions anime, suddenly fell all over itself to bring the unfortunate story to public attention. For the most part media accounts were handled in a "matter of fact" style, but even this so-called "fair and balanced" type of coverage had a built-in bias against Japan's art of anime. If the Western public which has little knowledge of anime is suddenly overwhelmed with negative information concerning it, in all likelyhood they will be left with an unfavorable impression of the artform.
The Western press could easily report on the artistic triumph of Japan's biggest hit film, Hayao Miyazaki's animated feature "Princess Mononoke" (see the link at the bottom of this page) but instead we are subjected to horror stories of children in convulsions, the result of watching "violent cartoons." A few Western reporters have even gone so far as to describe pikachu as a "rat like creature" (a description which would never be applied to Disney's Mickey Mouse).
Some Western press accounts concerning the Pocket Monsters incident were flagrantly inaccurate and xenophobic. Perhaps one of the biggest offenders in this anti-anime frenzy was the newspaper "USA Today," which published a shoddy and untruthful article on the incident. So detestable and fallacious was this piece of "journalism" that one internet anime fan constructed a Web page in order to initiate an e-mail campaign protesting Japanbashing in the media.
The regrettable occurrences of illness linked to watching a few brief seconds from one particular Pocket Monsters episode should in no way discourage anyone from enjoying anime... or the show Pocket Monsters itself! Pokemon is back on Japanese television and is as popular as ever. Plans are now underway to have an edited and dubbed version of the show broadcast on North American television.
In defending anime against the fearmongers and nay sayers, I have only this to say. Over the years I've discovered a world of joy and fabulous storytelling in the realm of anime. I've had my breathe taken away by the romance of the series "Ah! My Goddess," been delighted by the incredibly funny "Tenchi Muyo," intrigued by the mysticism of "Fushigi Yuugi," and brought to tears by the tenderness and loving affection amongst friends displayed in "Sailormoon."
These and many other titles present such a wide range of artistic, intellectual, and emotional experiences that Western animation seems paltry, infantile, and poverty stricken in comparison. So the next time some news reporter feeds you that old line about the "extreme violence of Japanimation".... don't listen to 'em, because their brand of journalism will only give you fits.
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