10 Biggest Pokémon Controversies
4. Nudity
Following on from the sidestepped controversy that The Kangaskhan Kid’s original dialogue would have caused, it’s important to remember that Misty’s canonical age ranges from 10-12, apart from in the Gold and Silver games which show her to be slightly older.
Therefore, it’s strange and unsettling that she’s shown in various heavily sexualised poses in the manga. While her anime persona is much more innocent, her body type is hardly correct for her age.
Jessie of Team Rocket, canonically older and therefore permitted to be more adult anyway, still had substantial breast reduction in the Western manga to avoid the novels being too obscene.
The manga tends to get away with more, seeing as it was intended for more mature audiences anyway rather than children. While that might excuse Jessie, it doesn’t make Misty’s depiction any better.
Finally, for maximum weirdness the episode Beauty & The Beach shows James of Team Rocket wearing inflatable breasts, jiggling them while mocking Misty. Ash, Brock and some creepy old guy don’t seem put off though, as the three of them openly ogle Misty in the bikini. Unsurprisingly, this episode was only shown once outside of Japan.
The nudity trend continues into the trading cards too...