Kōhei Horikoshi, the creator of Boku no Hero Academia, ran into an unfortunate situation with his Chinese audience in February. The name Horikoshi used for one of his villains was coincidentally a name that reminded his Chinese viewers of a darker past in human experimentation.
He publicly apologized for this and made efforts to fix the damage; however, it looks like people are still upset… maybe a little bit too much.
Recently a Chinese twitter user started slandering Horikoshi on a streaming platform, even threatening to invade his house and urged others to do the same. Fans rallied around their beloved creator and reported the incident to My Hero Academia’s publishers.
OMG a very serious situation a Chinese is saying he will invade Horikoshi's house on April 15th, it is probably fake but I'm worried #SupportHorikoshi #wesupportyouhorikoshi https://t.co/d42VbQGMg4
— MHA NEWS ♂️ 🇧🇷 #SupportHorikoshi (@animenews_news) April 1, 2020
The name of a villain, Dr. Ujiko, was recently revealed to be “Maruta Shiga” in chapter 259 of the series, titled “A Quiet Beginning.”
“Maruta” refers to the code-name for human experimentation undertaken by the Imperial Japanese Army’s Unit 731 during the Second Sino-Japanese War of World War II.
The Chinese victims of the experiments were called ‘maruta,’ and the Japanese word for “logs” was a reference to the facility’s cover story that it was a lumber mill. Victims, including children, the elderly, pregnant women, and the mentally disabled, were purposefully infected with diseases, dissected, lobotomized, and amputated while still alive.
This name reminded the Chinese people of the horrors of World War II and upset them. Hirokoshiko and Shueisha published public apologies for this, which can be seen below:
今週発売のジャンプで登場した志賀丸太という名前について、歴史的な出来事を想起させるというご意見を多くいただいています。命名にあたり、そのような意図を込めたつもりはありませんでした。ご指摘のお声を重く受け止め、今後は名前を差し替えさせていただきます。
— 堀越耕平 (@horikoshiko) February 3, 2020
“Many have heard that the name Shiga Maruta, which appeared in the jump this week, is reminiscent of historical events. I didn’t mean that in the naming. We take your comments very seriously and will replace the name in the future.”
English Translation
About My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia is a Japanese superhero manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since July 2014, with its chapters additionally collected in 24 tankōbon volumes as of August 2019.
It follows a quirkless boy Izuku Midoriya and how he backed the greatest Hero alive. Midoriya, a boy who has been admiring heroes and their ventures since the day he was born, came into this world without a quirk.
On one fateful day, he meets All Might the greatest Hero of all time and discovers that he was quirkless as well. With his diligent attitude and unwavering spirit about being a hero, Midoriya manages to impress All Might. He is chosen to be the heir to the power of One for All.
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