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One of the most highly anticipated and well-received television anime series of the Spring 2023 season has been the incredibly gripping and lifelike Oshi no Ko. The series, a television adaptation of the original manga written by Aka Akasaka and illustrated by Mengo Yokoyari, has proven to be one of the biggest hits of the year thus far.
Focused on the parasocial relationships that celebrity and, more specifically, Japanese “idol” culture create and promote, Oshi no Ko is an unflinching look at their real-life consequences. While the series makes its point in a narrative-driven context with some slight fantasticisms, it’s nevertheless a respectably grounded series with a good point to make.
Likewise, recent episodes from the Oshi no Ko anime series have come under scrutiny for bearing real-life similarities to the tragic suicide of Japanese professional wrestler Hana Kimura. When Kimura’s surviving relatives expressed discomfort at the scene, this led to harassment from a subset of the series’ fans, which led to Japan’s BPO group taking action.
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Disclaimer: This article contains mention of self-harm and mental health issues.
Japan’s TV governing body publishes comment on Kimura family’s harassment from Oshi no Ko fan subset
Japan’s Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization (BPO) is one of the nation’s governing bodies on domestic network television. Their oversight includes television anime series, such as Oshi no Ko. Likewise, the group’s May summary published a comment written to them by a viewer regarding a recent incident relative to the aforementioned anime series.
The comment essentially questions why there isn’t an announcement on the attacks the Kimura family received after expressing discomfort at the series’ evoking Hana Kimura’s real-life death. With a subset of fans now attacking them due to the production company and broadcast creating “the impetus behind these attacks,” the fan is seemingly calling for an announcement.
The controversy revolves around the series’ sixth episode, in which a character considers suicide after being on a dating reality show. The situation reflects the real-life death of Hana Kimura, who tragically took her own life after being cyberbullied for her actions on the Japanese reality TV show Terrace House.
Kimura’s mother, who commented on the matter, pointed out that Oshi no Ko exposed the character in question to the same words Hana was exposed to. Hana’s mother references how the family publicly shared the words through interviews, asserting that using the same words turns Hana’s death into “free source material.”
Author Aka Akasaka hasn’t directly commented on the controversy but alluded to using Kimura’s death as inspiration. This allusion came via his claim that “there has been an instance of suicide stemming from a reality show” in the context of his inspirations behind the portrayal of Japanese showbiz.
Be sure to keep up with all Oshi no Ko anime and manga news, as well as general anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.
