Links Kejang Pada Pokemon

December 18, 1997 --American TV executives are hoping to duplicate the success, but not the side effects, of a Japanese cartoon based on a Nintendo game that recently made international headlines when it sent more than 700 viewers to hospital. 

Summit Media, the U.S. distributor of the animated series Pokemon (Pocket Monsters), hopes to find buyers in the syndication market and have it ready for broadcast this fall.  An episode of Pokemon, aired December 16th on 37 Japanese stations, induced convulsions, vomiting and spasms in viewers from the ages of three to 58. 

Further broadcasts of the show have been cancelled, and video copies have been pulled from rental store shelves.

The phenomena labelled "videogame epilepsy" or "light epilepsy" is being blamed for the intense reactions of Pokemon fans.  First documented in 1952 in the U.S., it is believed to be caused by the viewing of bright flashes at a distance of 2 metres or less, and by colourful and repetitive explosions. While mainly associated with television, it can also be occur at  amusement arcades or in environments featuring fluorescent lights.

Animation and comic book writer Toshio Okada told reporters that Japanese cartoons need "intense concentration to be understood", and that it is common in Japanese homes to watch television from less than a metre away.  In the episode in question, Pokemon characters are depicted as fighting inside a computer.  A "vaccine bomb" is set off to kill a computer virus, and is followed by 5 seconds of flashing red light in the eyes of one of the characters.
Pokemon will be introduced at next month's National Association of Television Program Executives convention in New Orleans.  Al Khan, CEO of 4 Kids Entertainment (a division of Summit) says, "We're comfortable it won't be a problem.  We've taken the problem seriously and fixed it". Peggy Charren of the advocacy group Action for Children's Television dismissed the cartoon as "animated junk".

In Japan, TV Tokyo is considering compensation for the Pokemon seizure victims.  Program producer Takemoto Mori said, "I'm really sorry that the kids got sick watching their favourite cartoon."

Sources: Globe and Mail, December 18, 1997, Ottawa Citizen, December 18, 1997

This Article is taken from The Media Awareness Network 

LINKS

500 people sickened by TV animation in Japan, December 16, 1997
The Photosensitivity FAQ for answers to frequently asked questions on this Donovan's Page on Pokemon Seizure including the Video Clip on Real Video you can download

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Video clip episode Porygon yang diidentifikasi sebagai penyebab seizure dapat anda peroleh dalam bentuk Quicktime via email (3MB). Quicktime diperlukan untuk menonton clip tersebut, dapat di download secara terpisah dari web site Apple Quicktime.

Pokemon, Pikachu and all the related materials are the properties of Nintendo. This web page acknowledges that all trademarks belong to their appropriate licensee. This is not an official nintendo nor pokemon web site.

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