8 Strangest Examples Of Censorship In Video Games
2. Pokemon Diamond & Pearl
The Pokemon series is no stranger to controversy and censorship. There was that whole Jynx blackface thing I'm sure everybody remembers, the weird way they used to call onigiri "sandwiches" in the American localisation of the anime, and, oh yeah, that time Saudi Arabian authorities issued a fatwa against the franchise. Twice.
However, one particular instance of Pokemon censorship is a little more abnormal. Back in 2006 when Diamond and Pearl were released, you could find a series of in-game books called the "Sinnoh Folk Stories" which detailed how Pokemon became "very close to humans" and "ate together at the same table." I guess this was before humans invented capsule technology and started enslaving them or something.
In the Japanese version of the game, the same book explicitly states that "there were once Pokemon that married humans." To be fair, it does go onto state that this is "this was a normal thing" - sure, whatever helps you sleep at night - because "people and Pokemon were the same."
I have so many questions. If they were the same, how did everyone know the difference? Could they... copulate? Could they have kids? Oh god, you know what, I'm glad it was censored. Moving swiftly on.