Forum - View topic

INTEREST: My Hero Academia Character Gets Name Change Following Controversy

Where was this outrage when Hajime Isayama modeled one of the good guys in AOT after an Imperial General who invaded Korea?

Haterater wrote:

I'm hoping that this would give some in Japan to find more sources about the event since its not being taught there well.

The issue is more complicated than that. Japan has acknowledged and apologized for their war crimes many times, as well as having them being taught in curriculum. The problem is it's not enough for some Chinese and Korean protesters. When they say it's not taught well enough, they mean it's not it's own dedicated history book and required course students are required to take every year like a dog getting its nose rubbed into the carpet it peed on. A lot of these people harbor outright racist anti-Japanese views, what with routinely burning Japanese flags and effigies of Japanese leaders while chanting for for blood tributes. In Korea, Japanese media was banned until the 2000s, and after anime, video games, and other stuff started becoming popular with the youth, this led to the older generations and racists calling their youth race traitors. That's a kind of hatred that can never be sated short of complete subjugation or outright destruction, so it's best not to even humor it. Most of the younger generations in each country have moved on and made amends.

Censorship Always wins... What a sh** world that we live in... WTF man, its just a WORD! The next step now will be force Hollywood to not use the world 'Nazi' too... ¬¬

Correct me on a couple of things if I'm wrong but doesn't Japan still have a problem with racism towards both Koreans and Chinese people?

Also don't they still have something of a problem with acknowledging certain things they did in the war such as using Korean women as sex slaves?

I ask because while you might call the opposition to this subject extreme and unfair towards Japan. Japan isn't itself isn't wholly innocent or above legitimate criticism for certain conduct.

making levity of Unit 731 is unironically as low as you go as a human being. I lost all respect for the author, personally.

cookiemanstah wrote:

making levity of Unit 731 is unironically as low as you go as a human being. I lost all respect for the author, personally.

I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt he wasn't purposely trying to be be crass, only that he probably read the room very wrong. A lot of American comic characters borrow names, powers, and origins from wars and tragedies all the time. He could have been trying to emulate that like he does for other things in American comics. The main difference is Japan and China have always had a tenuous relationship at best over topics like this so it was obviously going to be a lot worse than how DC and Marvel both have super villains named Holocaust.

cookiemanstah wrote:

making levity of Unit 731 is unironically as low as you go as a human being. I lost all respect for the author, personally.

I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt he wasn't purposely trying to be be crass, only that he probably read the room very wrong. A lot of American comic characters borrow names, powers, and origins from wars and tragedies all the time. He could have been trying to emulate that like he does for other things in American comics. The main difference is Japan and China have always had a tenuous relationship at best over topics like this so it was obviously going to be a lot worse than how DC and Marvel both have super villains named Holocaust.

Part of me thinks that Horikoshi did know what he was doing. Not out of ignorance but trying to have the reader understand how awful this villain is