The Pokemon anime series has been going on for decades at this point, and over the years, its hard its fair share of controversies. Some Pokemon anime episodes have been outright banned due to these controversies, but others have just been censored instead. The English dub of the Pokemon anime in particular is known for censoring certain episodes, and that's exactly what it did to Pokemon Sun and Moon Episode 118, which first aired outside of Japan on August 24.
In the episode, there is a scene where Ash throws shuriken at a target. In the original Japanese version of the episode, the shuriken look as one would expect - like sharp metal. The English dub of the Pokemon Sun and Moon anime changes the shuriken so that they're pink and have a ring around them. Not only that, but the audio in the scene was changed so it didn't like sound the shuriken were sharp and actually piercing the target.
Twitter user worldofkevinc discovered the censorship and shared a clip on Twitter comparing the Japanese version of the scene with the English dub.
For whatever reason, it appears as though American audiences are considered to be more sensitive to seeing weapons and things on-screen, which is the most likely reason why this episode of the Pokemon Sun and Moon anime was censored. Episodes of the Pokemon anime have been censored or banned for similar reasons in the past, like the episode where Ash and his friends visit the Safari Zone, only for him to have a gun pointed in his face. The unfortunate thing about that episode being banned instead of clever editing tricks being done to get rid of the gun or make it less threatening, like we've seen with the shuriken in this clip, is that the Safari Zone episode was actually pretty important to the overarching storyline as it showed how Ash caught his herd of Tauros.
This isn't the first time the Pokemon Sun and Moon anime has been censored and based on the show's history, it may not be the last time either. As some may recall, Episode 35 was banned because it featured scenes where Ash dressed as the Pokemon Passimian, which some people felt resembled blackface.