Pokémon in the Arab world: Difference between revisions

Pokémon in the Arab world (view source)

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 ===Promoting "unislamic" values===
 [[File:Pokemon_rumors_flyer.jpg|250px|thumb|A flyer warning against the Pokémon franchise, depicting Pokémon names and their supposed translation from Hebrew. These types of flyers were handed out by several fundamentalist Muslim groups in schools and mosques.]]
-Similar to the [[History of Pokémon|Pokémania]] phenomenon experienced in America, the introduction of the Pokémon franchise to the {{wp|Arab world}} in 2000 resulted in an unprecedented surge in popularity, almost reaching the status of a cultural phenomenon. Swiftly, stores were inundated with an abundance of [[Pokémon merchandise|Pokémon products]], and the [[anime]] series rapidly found its way onto television stations in every country across the region.
+Similar to the [[History of Pokémon|Pokémania]] phenomenon experienced in America, the introduction of the Pokémon franchise to the {{wp|Arab world}} in 2000 resulted in an unprecedented surge in popularity, almost reaching the status of a cultural phenomenon. Quickly, stores were inundated with a variety of [[Pokémon merchandise|Pokémon products]], and the [[anime]] series rapidly found its way onto television stations in every country across the region.
-Amidst the heightened interest in the Pokémon series, certain parents and schoolteachers have raised concerns regarding children’s overattachment to the series while others started to criticize the franchise asserting that it primarily functions as a commercial ploy, strategically designed to entice children into frivolously spending their money on toys, trading cards, and various other related products. The franchise was then accused of promoting "unislamic values" such as  {{wp|violence}}, but most importantly  {{wp|gambling}}, as well as anti-creationism ideology: ''{{wp|the theory of evolution}}'' and ''{{wp|survival of the fittest}}'' with some accusing the series of trying to promote {{wp|Atheism}} among Muslim youth, meanwhile rumors started spreading that the Pokémon names in the series were in fact {{wp|Hebrew}} words meant to insult {{wp|Islam}} and that the franchise is a part of a {{wp|Zionism|Zionist}} conspiracy. Several media outlets started reporting these stories and from there the controversy escalated, soon after Pokémon products especially the TCG started to get banned in schools while several TV stations took the anime off air as the franchise was {{wp|blacklisting|blacklisted}}.
+Amidst this heightened interest in the Pokémon series, some parents and schoolteachers started to express concerns regarding children’s overattachment to the series while others began to criticize the franchise's commercial nature, assessing that it mostly  encourages children into spending their money on toys, trading cards, and various other related products. The franchise was then accused of promoting "unislamic values" such as {{wp|violence}}, but most importantly  {{wp|gambling}},<ref>https://gulfnews.com/uae/saudis-ban-pokemon-as-gambling-un-islamic-1.412082</ref> as well as anti-creationism ideology: ''{{wp|the theory of evolution}}'' and ''{{wp|survival of the fittest}}'' with some accusing the series of trying to promote {{wp|Atheism}} among Muslim youth, meanwhile rumors started spreading that the Pokémon names in the series were in fact {{wp|Hebrew}} words meant to insult {{wp|Islam}} and that the franchise is a part of a {{wp|Zionism|Zionist}} conspiracy. Several media outlets started reporting these stories and from there the controversy escalated, soon after Pokémon products especially the TCG started to get banned in schools while several TV stations took the anime off air as the franchise was {{wp|blacklisting|blacklisted}}.
-The whole controversy gained major public attention to the point that the {{wp|Japan|Japanese}} embassy in {{wp|Saudi Arabia}} had to issue a statement explaining the Japanese origins of the franchise and denying any relation to any political or religious ideology.<ref>https://archive.aawsat.com/details.asp?issueno=8070&article=33242#.ZCFtNHbMKvE</ref>
+The whole controversy gained major public attention to the point that the {{wp|Japan|Japanese}} embassy in {{wp|Saudi Arabia}} and [[Nintendo]] had to issue a statement explaining the Japanese origins of the franchise and denying any relation to any political or religious ideology.<ref>https://archive.aawsat.com/details.asp?issueno=8070&article=33242#.ZCFtNHbMKvE</ref><ref>https://www.news24.com/news24/saudi-arabia-bans-pokemon-20010326</ref>
-The origin of the controversy remains unknown, but several industry insiders theorize that certain rival companies who were trying to conquer the toys and merchandise market in the {{wp|Middle East}}, might have felt threatened by the popularity of the Pokémon franchise and might have had a hand in escalating the controversy and lobbying for the ban. Regardless, all of this remains speculations as there is no substantial evidence to these allegations.
+The origin of the controversy remains unknown, but several industry insiders theorize that {{wp|Disney|a certain rival company}} who was trying to conquer the toys and merchandise market in the {{wp|Middle East}}, might have felt threatened by the popularity of the Pokémon franchise and might have had a hand in escalating the controversy and lobbying for the ban. Regardless, all of this remains speculations as there is no substantial evidence to these allegations.
 ===Claims of Zionist Jewish plot===
@@ Line 87: / Line 87: @@
 ! style="background: #6AA9E4;"| Dubbed episodes
 |- style="background: #fff"
-| Season 01
+| '''Season 01'''
 | ''[[S01|Pokémon: Indigo Leage]]''
 | Venus Center
@@ Line 93: / Line 93: @@
 | 52
 |- style="background: #fff"
-| Season 02
+| '''Season 02'''
 | rowspan=2 style="text-align:center; background: #fff" | ''[[S02|Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands]]''
 | Venus Center
@@ Line 99: / Line 99: @@
 | 52
 |- style="background: #fff"
-| rowspan=2 style="text-align:center; background: #fff" | Season 03
+| rowspan=2 ; background: #fff" | '''Season 03'''
 | Super M Productions
 | KM Productions
@@ Line 109: / Line 109: @@
 | 41
 |- style="background: #fff"
-| Season 04
+| '''Season 04'''
 | ''[[S04|Pokémon: Johto League Champions]]''
 | Super M Productions
@@ Line 115: / Line 115: @@
 | 52
 |- style="background: #fff"
-| Season 05
+| '''Season 05'''
 | rowspan=2 style="background: #fff" | ''[[S05|Pokémon: Master Quest]]''
 | colspan=3 style="text-align:center; background: #fff" | The first 52 episodes were not dubbed
 |- style="background: #fff"
-| rowspan=2 style="text-align:center; background: #fff" | Season 06
+| rowspan=2 background: #fff" | '''Season 06'''
 | Super M Productions
 | KM Productions
@@ Line 129: / Line 129: @@
 | 40
 |- style="background: #fff"
-| Season 07
+| '''Season 07'''
 | ''[[S07|Pokémon: Advanced Challenge]]''
 | Super M Productions
@@ Line 135: / Line 135: @@
 | 52
 |- style="background: #fff"
-| colspan=5 style="text-align:center; background: #fff" | Seasons [[S08|08]] to [[S22|22]] were not dubbed
+| colspan=5 style="text-align:center; background: #fff" | '''Seasons [[S08|08]] to [[S22|22]] were not dubbed'''
 |- style="background: #fff"
-| Season 23
+| '''Season 23'''
 | ''[[S23|Pokémon Journeys: The Series]]''
 | Image Production House Studios
@@ Line 143: / Line 143: @@
 | 48
 |- style="background: #fff"
-| Season 24
+| '''Season 24'''
 | ''[[S24|Pokémon Master Journeys: The Series]]''
 | Image Production House Studios
@@ Line 149: / Line 149: @@
 | 42
 |- style="background: #fff"
-| Season 25
+| '''Season 25'''
 | ''[[S25|Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series]]''
 | Image Production House Studios
@@ Line 155: / Line 155: @@
 | 54
 |- style="background: #fff"
-| Pokémon Horizons: The Series
+| '''Pokémon Horizons: The Series'''
 | ''[[Pokémon Horizons: The Series (season)|Pokémon Horizons: The Series]]''
 |
@@ Line 296: / Line 296: @@
 [[File:Lama Maraachli.jpg|200x200px|thumb|''Lama Maraachli'' voice actress for [[Goh]].]]
 [[File:Souhair Naser El Deen.jpg|200x200px|thumb|''Souhair Naser El Deen'']]
-[[File:Ibrahim Madi Actor.jpg|190x190px|thumb|''Ibrahim Madi‎'']]
+[[File:Ibrahim Madi Actor.jpg|185x185px|thumb|''Ibrahim Madi‎'']]
 [[File:Hassan Hamdan.jpg|220x220px|thumb|''Hassan Hamdan'']]
@@ Line 493: / Line 493: @@
 * Seasons [[S01|01]] and [[S02|02]] aired between 2000 and 2001.
 * [[S03|Season 03]] premiered sometime later in late 2001.<ref>https://youtu.be/Alon0moiAls?feature=shared</ref>
-* [[S04|Season 04]] premiered on ''{{wp|ART Teenz}}'' on January 1, 2003, a year after [[S03|Season 03]] had concluded its run.
+* [[S04|Season 04]] premiered on ''{{wp|ART Teenz}}'' on January 1, 2003, a year after [[S03|Season 03]] had concluded its run. This coincided with the channel becoming permanently free-to-air.
 * [[S06|Season 06]] premiered on ''{{wp|Al Jadeed|New TV}}'' on December 10, 2005,<ref>http://www.mexat.com/vb/showthread.php?t=27436&page=63</ref> and later aired on ''{{wp|ART Teenz}}'' starting from September 24, 2006 as part of the channel's special {{wp|Ramadan}} programming.<ref>http://www.mexat.com/vb/showthread.php?t=151439&page=9</ref>
 * [[S23|Season 23]] aired on ''{{wp|e-Junior|e-Junior}}'' in February 2021 before being released on ''[[Netflix]]'' later that summer.<ref>https://www.facebook.com/groups/PokemonUAE/posts/3221003271335102/</ref>
@@ Line 633: / Line 633: @@
 [[File:Pokemon_M04_Arabic_DVDcover.jpg|250x250px|thumb|DVD cover for the Arabic release of [[M04]].]]
 *[[M04]] to [[M07]] were also released on DVD by '''''Miramax International''''' featuring an Arabic and an English audio, although the exact release dates are currently unknown.
-{| style="background: #2E83D2; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; {{roundy}}; border: 3px solid #81807A"
-|-
-! style="background: #6AA9E4; {{roundytl|5px}}" | Movie
-! style="background: #6AA9E4;"| Arabic Title
-! style="background: #6AA9E4;"| Release date
-|- style="background: #fff"
-| [[M04|Pokémon 4Ever - Celebi: The Voice of the Forest]]
-| {{tt|بوكيمون للأبد|Pokémon Forever}}
-| 2007.<ref>https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/%D8%A8%D9%88%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%88%D9%86_%D9%84%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%A8%D8%AF?id=04DA86F46A1701A6MV&hl=ar&gl=US</ref>
-|- style="background: #fff"
-| [[M05|Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias]]
-| {{tt|أبطال بوكيمون|Pokémon Heroes}}
-| Unknown{{tt|*|2008 or prior}}
-|- style="background: #fff"
-| [[M06|Pokémon: Jirachi: Wish Maker]]
-| Arabic title unknown
-| Unknown{{tt|*|2008 or prior}}
-|- style="background: #fff"
-| [[M07|Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys]]
-| Arabic title unknown
-| Unknown{{tt|*|2008 or prior}}
-|}
 * Seasons [[S04|04]] to [[S07|07]] didn't receive any form of home media release, and they are currently completely unobtainable. Complicating matters further, because of legal issues preventing any chance of re-airing or commercial distribution to alternative television networks. ''KM Productions'' facing the inability to profit from these seasons, made the unfortunate decision to recycle the tapes and re-purposing them to store other projects thus scrapping the Pokémon episodes and losing them completely.<ref>Confirmed by Mufid Merie, a producer and the manager of KM Productions.</ref> With no recordings of the episodes to be found on the internet since they haven't been re-aired in over a decade, the Arabic [[dub]] of these seasons is now considered by many fans to be a {{wp|Lost media}}. It's unclear whether or not ''{{wp|Al Jadeed}}'' (formerly known as ''New TV''), ''{{wp|2M (TV channel)|2M}}'' and the ''{{wp|Arab Radio and Television Network|ART Network}}'' still have copies in their archives, but since both ''Al Jadeed TV'' and ''2M TV'' stopped airing children's programs years ago while ''ART Teenz'' was defunct in 2008, it's most likely that they disposed of their copies as well. Out of 312 episodes dubbed to Arabic approximately 156 episodes (from [[EP158]] to [[AG092]]) are now potentially completely lost, and only a couple of short videos have made their way to the internet.<ref>https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1bujg</ref>
 ** [[S02|Season 02]] also seems to have never been officially released on home media, and it was for many years considered lost as well. However in 2011 fan-recorded episodes were illicitly uploaded to the internet, and presently these unauthorized recordings constitute the sole means by which the Arabic dub of [[S02|Season 02]] can be viewed.
@@ Line 707: / Line 683: @@
 The first season titled [[S01|''دوري إنديغو (Indigo League)'']] is also currently available on Netflix retaining the original Arabic dubbing done by ''Venus Center'', except for the episodes "[[EP020|The Ghost of Maiden's Peak]]" and "[[EP022|Abra and the Psychic Showdown]]" which were re-dubbed since they were heavily censored in the original Syrian dub.
 ===[[Pokémon movies]]===
-Throughout the years, the first few Pokémon movies were released in some capacity in Arab countries, usually on special events or around holidays like {{wp|Eid Al-Fitr}}. All of the movies that were distributed in American theaters by Warner Bros, were also released in theaters in certain Arab countries by {{wp|Warner Bros. Pictures}}' Middle East agent Shooting Stars LLC (also known as Joseph Chacra & Sons in Lebanon).
+Throughout the years, the first few Pokémon movies were released in some capacity in Arab countries, usually on special events or around holidays like {{wp|Eid Al-Fitr}}. All of the movies that were distributed in American theaters by ''Warner Bros'', were also released in theaters in certain Arab countries by ''{{wp|Warner Bros. Pictures}}'' Middle East agent ''Shooting Stars LLC'' (also known as ''Joseph Chacra & Sons'' in Lebanon).
 *{{DetPikMov}} was released theatrically on May 9, 2019.<ref>https://uae.voxcinemas.com/movies/pokemon-detective-pikachu</ref>
 ====Movies availability====
@@ Line 718: / Line 694: @@
 | style="text-align:center" | All {{wp|Arab countries}} except {{wp|Syria}}
-| [[M22|بوكيمون: ميوتو يضرب مجددًا - التطور]](February 27, 2020 - Present)<br>[[M23|بوكيمون الفيلم: أسرار الأدغال]](October 8, 2021 - Present)<hr>[[M20|!فيلم بوكيمون: إخترتك أنت]] (January 1, 2019 - April 1, 2022)<br>[[M21|!فيلم بوكيمون: معاً أقوى]] (January 1, 2020 - April 1, 2022)
+|'''Currently:'''<br>[[M22|بوكيمون: ميوتو يضرب مجددًا - التطور]](February 27, 2020 - Present)<br>[[M23|بوكيمون الفيلم: أسرار الأدغال]](October 8, 2021 - Present)<hr>'''Formerly:'''<br>[[M20|!فيلم بوكيمون: إخترتك أنت]] (January 1, 2019 - April 1, 2022)<br>[[M21|!فيلم بوكيمون: معاً أقوى]] (January 1, 2020 - April 1, 2022)
 |-
 | style="text-align:center" | [[File:eJunior logo.png|100px]]<br>'''{{wp|e-Junior|e-Junior}}'''