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My Hero Academia Author Apologizes for Naming New Villain After Japanese War Crime


My Hero Academia continues to be one of the most popular shounen manga/anime out right now, essentially being this generation's Naruto or Dragon Ball Z. The anime is currently in its fourth season, finishing the first-half by concluding the Overhaul arc, while the manga is way ahead, dealing with topics that would blow the mind of an anime-only viewer. Recently, the manga introduced the creator of the Nomu, Daruma Ujiko, those tough monsters that have given the pro heroes a tough time.

Unfortunately, when it was revealed that the creator's real name was Maruta Shiga, there was a lot of backlashes. While Maruta simply means "log" in Japanese, it's also a term used to refer to the experiments of a covert biological warfare research and development detachment of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II, Unit 731. You can see why people would be upset.

Since then, both Shonen Jump and My Hero Academia author Kohei Horikoshi have said their apologies for the incident. The character's future name will be changed once all of the chapters are collected into a physical volume to avoid all controversy. It's a shame that something like this happened but we're glad they are taking measures to stop it.

While we do see why Horikoshi would go with the name, given how he performed experiments to make these Nomu, it's a reference that makes the Japanese uncomfortable. This might not be the most offensive thing in the world but we respect their decision to censor it.

My Hero Academia is currently airing its fourth season on Crunchyroll and Funimation.

Read:One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows Release Date Revealed in New Trailer, Along With New Characters

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