Wow. This gave over 800 kids seizures. Cool

[Hambone]

There's an episode of Pokemon back in the first season that was banned across the globe after it gave 800+ kids seizures. I am posting the moment that caused the majority of the seizures. Do not watch if you are epileptic (sp), had seizures, or afraid that you will have a seizure.


Do not watch if you are epileptic (sp), had seizures, or afraid that you will have a seizure.

I've watched it 3 times and honestly, I felt nothing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-Ybd0Yby68

[ljkkjlcm9]

I have a headache, but I think I had that before hand... I don't really remember lol

THE JACKEL

[Momiji]

That was just red and blue blinking for 3 seconds, and that was what caused all that trouble years ago?! That is hardly seizure (or headache for that matter) inducing at all.. >_>

[Diango12]

It made my spine hurt :/ ... nothing else really. I think it was just because I was scared

[MecaKane]

800?
And how many kids watch pokemon? Of course you're not going to feel anything, I'm sure there was more than 800 epileptic kids who watched pokemon, even!

[Madame Adequate]

I find it hard to believe a siezure, epileptic or otherwise, could be induced by such a short thing O_o But apparently it was.

[ff7+ff10 gurl 100]

It made my back hurt for like a second, but nothing else. =/ It probably wasn't even the pokemon clip that made my back hurt. Probably just my wierd sitting. o:

[Venom]

That was lame. My eyes didnt even roll into the back of my head.

[Diango12]

It made my back hurt for like a second, but nothing else. =/ It probably wasn't even the pokemon clip that made my back hurt. Probably just my wierd sitting. o:

i think that was why my spine started to tingle. we were just scared so we sat in a awkward posture ;p

[oddler]

I have seen far worse on humor sites. :)

[Mitch]

Leekspin would pwn way more kids than that.

[Jowy]

http://seizurerobots.com

That'll do it.

*editga* Apparently it's turned into a site where you can buy mail order brides AND see crazy flashing seizure robots! That's just slightly more entertaining.

[ReloadPsi]

There's no history of epilepsy in the family, and I certainly don't suffer from it, but the first time I watched this clip a while ago, I actually began to feel physically sick and a bit nauseous.

Incidentally, that particular incarnation of the clip clearly has the flashing slowed down. I did watch a fansubbed version encompassing about five minutes of the episode. That was what made me ill.

[Lynx]

hmm i would think this would be old news for people but then again maybe not everyone as an obsessed pokemon fan like i use to be :p I remember hearing about this i think before the show was even aired in the US so my brother went and foudn it online and we watched it nothing happened.

never knew it was in the first season though thats one way to be off to a bad start.


also didnt the video game nights for sega saturn cause seizures in people??? i heard that somewheres dont know if its true.

[Khaotic]

You guys seem to be forgetting you're watching it on a rather small screen, and low quality. Try watching it on a 36 inch TV, or larger.

[Big D]

You guys seem to be forgetting you're watching it on a rather small screen, and low quality. Try watching it on a 36 inch TV, or larger.That would make all the difference - YouTube videos usually have a lower framerate than the original material, and the it's the speed of the flickering that makes such things so nasty.
I'm not epileptic in the least, but strobe lights - or anything remotely similar - can make my head spin in a bad way.

[JKTrix]

Yeah, the thing is that this episode was on people's TVs, which is much higher quality than stuff you'd find on the internet--much less YouTube.

I can't watch that video right now but I know what it is.

Ever since then, several anime (especially those aimed at kids) have warnings saying things like "Don't sit too close to the TV and always watch in a well-lit room." Some videogames have that as well.

CNN article on the incident
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9712/17/japan.cartoon/

[Garnie]

try living with a d.j when hes checking his lighting equipment.
A epeletics nightmare.
i love pokey moko

[Breine]

That wasn't that bad... at all. But, I guess it's a whole other story if you're epileptic?

[Firo Volondé]

It would've been the red lights that did it. Red lights are more likely to give people seizures than other colours. That video was a bit of an anti-climax, though if it was dangerous in its Youtube form, it probably would've been removed by now. The Simpsons also satirised it in their Japanese episode:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d9/Battling_seizure_Robots.jpg

When I first saw that episode, I had no idea it was based off a real incident.

[MJN SEIFER]

I saw that episode. It was never banned was it?

[Lynx]

I saw that episode. It was never banned was it?

the pokemon episode was banned not the simpsons episode with seizure robots.

[MJN SEIFER]

I meant Pokemon.

[Tifa's Real Lover(really]

wow, and to think i was scared of watching that

[Tavrobel]

Bright flashing colors on the opposite ends of the color spectrum really fast in the dark, for the win!

They apparently have made it so that the animation is no longer able to cause seizures on such a mass scale. Probably reduced the framerate on all shows after that, but it's probably some kind of biological answer, also.

[Rengori]

That was it? THAT WAS IT?! ARGHHHHHHHHH!!! *punches wall*'
THAT WAS SMURFIN' IT?!

[No.78]

What Rengori said O_O

I thought it was like, uber flashes for like 4 minutes. Erm... How the hell did that give someone a seizure? 800 kids? Japanese are wierd.

[jrgen]

I had a seizure once, but it wasn't related to flashing lights. I heard that only people suffering from a certain form of epilepsy can get seizures triggered by flashing lights and they're a minority among epileptics.

[Parker]

I meant Pokemon.

The episode wasn't banned, but the fit-inducing scene was edited to be less "flashy", I think.

[MJN SEIFER]

I meant Pokemon.

The episode wasn't banned, but the fit-inducing scene was edited to be less "flashy", I think.

Oh right, Because I remember (IN England) it got a complaint, but that's it.

[farplaner]

That was it? THAT WAS IT?! ARGHHHHHHHHH!!! *punches wall*'
THAT WAS SMURFIN' IT?!

What? You wanted to have a seizure??

...Do people still not read threads? I mean there are only a few posts on this one. It's already been said: the youtube version is not exactly prescription strength....

:rolleyes2 (annoyed)

[Khaotic]

That was it? THAT WAS IT?! ARGHHHHHHHHH!!! *punches wall*'
THAT WAS SMURFIN' IT?!

What? You wanted to have a seizure??

...Do people still not read threads? I mean there are only a few posts on this one. It's already been said: the youtube version is not exactly prescription strength....

:rolleyes2 (annoyed)

Agreed, not to mention ages. Pokemon is probably for 7-14(?) ages, for the anime, atleast, considering I'm almost 19 and still enjoy the games, but my point is, younger people will most likely not be able to tolerate the lights as much as a full grown adult.

[Rengori]

That was it? THAT WAS IT?! ARGHHHHHHHHH!!! *punches wall*'
THAT WAS SMURFIN' IT?!

What? You wanted to have a seizure??

...Do people still not read threads? I mean there are only a few posts on this one. It's already been said: the youtube version is not exactly prescription strength....
I didn't want a seizure, but I was expecting something better than THAT.

[Jessweeee♪]

Tokyo made Guennis for this awhile back XD

Under strobe lights I just get REALLY depersonalized. The first time it happened I was in a haunted house thingy, and I don't remember much of it because there were strobe lights in the whole place. Usually it has to be something really strong like lightning-white to pitch black every second.

[Big D]

Tokyo made Guennis for this awhile back XD

Under strobe lights I just get REALLY depersonalized. The first time it happened I was in a haunted house thingy, and I don't remember much of it because there were strobe lights in the whole place. Usually it has to be something really strong like lightning-white to pitch black every second.That's the same sensation I get, too - like I'm not fully in touch with reality or my own body. However, I can get it from much more mild stimuli: a couple of weeks ago I was in a room with really narrow blinds; when I stood up from my chair, the sunlight streaming between the blinds created a kind of natural strobe effect. Wasn't fun, but was mercifully short-lived.

It's strange that the episode made it through animation and post-production without anyone realising the effect it'd have on people. Sure it only gave seizures to 800 out of umpteen million viewers, but even if none of the production crew got seizures, surely one or two would've been made giddy or unsettled by it.

[Eiko Guy]

It gave me a minor headache...cool!

[MJN SEIFER]

That was it? THAT WAS IT?! ARGHHHHHHHHH!!! *punches wall*'
THAT WAS SMURFIN' IT?!

What? You wanted to have a seizure??

...Do people still not read threads? I mean there are only a few posts on this one. It's already been said: the youtube version is not exactly prescription strength....

:rolleyes2 (annoyed)

Agreed, not to mention ages. Pokemon is probably for 7-14(?) ages, for the anime, atleast, considering I'm almost 19 and still enjoy the games, but my point is, younger people will most likely not be able to tolerate the lights as much as a full grown adult.

Pokemon is for all ages, At least where I;m from it's pretty popular for 18+ year olds.

[Bunny]

I threw up my insides.