Barbie: Popular Manga Creator Stirs Debate Over Feminist Critique

Barbie is a global hit, but following its premiere in Japan, manga artist Hiroya Oku has sparked debate with his feminist critique of the film.

By Megan Peters

It is Barbie's world and we are all just living in it. The Mattel movie made its debut to much buzz this summer and delivered a box office banner. With over $1 billion USD earned to date, Barbie is still sweeping fans across the globe. However, the film has earned its share of critics, and now one manga creator is earning flak for his 'feminist' critique of Barbie.

The situation played out after Hiroya Oku took to Twitter to share his take on Barbie. The artist, who is best known for creating Gantz and Inuyashiki, said the film started off fine before taking a nose dive.

"I saw the movie Barbie. In the beginning, it was trendy and cute. I was laughing while watching it, but in the second half, it slowly cooled off. It was a strong feminist film. A movie for independent women who don't need any men. Is America doing okay for a movie such as this to be a big hit," Oku wrote.

Obviously, everyone is entitled to their own opinions when it comes to film, but Oku's feminist critique didn't sit well with netizens. Barbie never pretended to be anything but a film for women, so expectations were already set for fans. When netizens shared their replies to Oku's review, well – things soured as the creator had this to say: "Ah, I have been found by the feminists. It's annoying."

Barbie is undoubtedly a hit film, but there is no world wherein everyone approves of it. Oku is one of many who didn't jive with the movie, and that is fine. However, that has not stopped netizens from debating Oku's response. Being upset over Barbie's female empowerment is like being upset about an anime having a beach scene; It was always going to happen, you know? 

Related:

Of course, Oku is not the only person in Japan who took offense to Barbie. The movie never held high tracking in the market as Barbie never thrived with Japanese consumers. Barbie also experienced a PR nightmare abroad because of its Oppenheimer ties. After Warner Bros. Discovery shared support for the Barbenheimer trend online, Japanese netizens rebuked Barbie in the same way they did Oppenheimer. As such, Barbie barely ranked in the box office's top ten in Japan upon opening, but that is still better off than Oppenheimer. The war epic has yet to get a release date in Japan as its story focuses on the team who created the nuclear weapons which decimated Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Have you seen Barbie yet? How did you enjoy the movie...? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!

Trending Now: