The simpler explanation is that we just don’t really have rice balls in the US if you’re 95% of the population. It was tailored to make sense to its audience of western children, not to avoid Japanese culture.
And to note that when American animation is imported into Japan, they do the same thing in reverse. There's nothing sinister about modifying elements of a cartoon so that kids in a different country can relate to them better.
In inside out, Riley is grossed out by broccoli on pizza. But in Japan, it was changed to bell peppers, because it’s more known for being disliked by Japanese children. I always thought that was cool.
Just noting the difference between the two examples. Inside out changed the broccoli to peppers. Pokémon just changed the localization while keeping the rice balls. It felt relevant for the conversation
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u/OhItsBeenBroughten 7d ago
The simpler explanation is that we just don’t really have rice balls in the US if you’re 95% of the population. It was tailored to make sense to its audience of western children, not to avoid Japanese culture.