Claim to Fame                    

December 16, 1997: At exactly 6:50 p.m., 685 people in Japan (most of them children) simultaneously suffered epileptic seizures while watching the Pokemon cartoon. Japanese researchers have found evidence that the seizures were provoked by rapid changes of blue and red strobes in the cartoon's color. With this discovery, they believe they may have pinpointed a new type of epilepsy related to color sensitivity.

 

Born                                                                                     

Pikachu (Pokemon's name in Japan) originated in Japan in 1996 as a Nintendo game and made its way west in 1998.

 

Appeals to           

 

A detailed article on this topic with a downloadable clip from Pokemon's "Seizure episode" which has been scaled down and is not harmful in anyway. 

A news report on Video game seizures.

 

 

  

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