The Tokyo Olympics will start next month in Japan, and anime characters like Goku from the Dragon Ball franchise, Naruto, Sailor Moon, Astro Boy, Shin-chan from Crayon Shin-Chan, and Luffy from One Piece are being enlisted to promote the global sports competitions.These iconic anime characters were announced as "ambassadors" for the Tokyo Olympics in early 2017.
The Japanese Olympic Committee has been sharing images of the anime characters, which are featured in "Japan" outfits to show their support for the games. However, website Hachima Kikou reports that fans are not happy about how the anime characters are being used to promote the event. Some against the Tokyo Olympics have even called for its cancellation.
Kotaku has shared the English translations of some of the comments:
"This is awful."
"This will make Astro Boy's image bad."
"Don't use this character [Naruto] in these dirty Olympics."
"If [Osamu] Tezuka was alive, would he approve of holding this Olympics?"
"Stop this. Seriously, stop it. Don't get [Sailor] Moon wrapped up in this."
"They're just drawings."
"The creator of Astro Boy was a doctor. The Olympics should not be supported over human life, because this is an emergency due to the novel coronavirus."
"You're making a bad call, Japan Olympic Committee."
"It's sad to see Sailor Moon used like this commercially. This is confirmation that the current Olympics are the worst."
"Complain to the copyright holders who permitted this."
"This is dirtying up Usagi Tsukino's image."
"This is blasphemy to the God of Manga (Tezuka)."
"This is embarrassing so please stop."
"Osamu Tezuka is weeping..."
"I'm looking forward to the Olympics! I'll be cheering from my house."
"People who get upset over this are unhinged."
"Apologize to Tezuka."
"I will punish you, in the name of Corona!"
"In some way, this is truly sad...regrettable...aggravating..."
Rumiko Tezuka, the oldest daughter of Tezuka and a board member of Tezuka productions, shared a statement on Twitter explaining the agreement to use Astro Boy was inked when there wasn't any notion of the impeding COVID-19 threat. "At that time, this [Olympics] was something everyone was looking forward to," she said. She also added that there are pros and cons for holding the games, saying that Astro Boy was part of the cheering squad for business reasons.
Read More: Redo of Healer Uncensored Version - Where to Watch, and What's Not Shown in The Censored Version
The Tokyo Olympics official page have listed licensed goods featuring the aforementioned anime characters.
Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!
Anime