I’m curious of why–even though it’s clearly obvious–there’s a warning at the beginning of an Episode of every anime series to “sit in a brightly lit room, far away from the TV”. From my point of view, it’s possible that the warning was put in place after the airing of the infamous episode of Pokemon aired, “Electric Soldier Polygon”.

It does make sense for the warning: Sitting Close to the TV + Flashing Lights = Not Good. Chances are that I’m correct: I could do a search for “sitting close to the TV AND anime” right now…but this is a good opportunity for a conversation piece. However, I must protest: does this actually work?

Several years ago when Toonami was my only source of anime, I got a headache from watching an episode of Tenchi Universe…

*Spoilers ahead!*

…where two of Ayeka’s servants, Hazaka and Kamadake, are released into their human form.

*End of spoilers*

The whole sequence lasted 3 minutes. Within 45 seconds, I had to turn my head away from the screen until it was all over. Note: I was a few feet away from the TV, and the lighting in the room at the time was as bright as it could get (slight dimness).

Case in point: I had problems watching certain parts of an anime, even though I’m far away from the viewing area, regardless of room lighting. Even today, I still have problems watching some shows with A LOT of lighting. In recent years, I have noticed that in many anime, some scenes involving flashing lights becomes dim… *hint?*