Jujutsu Kaisen: South Korean Fans Call for Boycott Over Recent Episode

When you look at the last year of anime, it will become apparent that Jujutsu Kaisen is one of the biggest anime to go live in that time. The supernatural series has gathered a loyal army of fans that spans the globe. For the most part, the fandom is an easy place to hang out, but that has changed for the worse in South Korea. After all, the anime’s most recent episode has some fans calling for a boycott, and the ordeal was sparked by a certain controversial name.

The situation was made public over on Reddit by user itadorinatsuki. The user, who identifies as Korean, said the Jujutsu Kaisen fanbase overseas is lighting up create Gege Akutami for a specific name. The issue comes from Mei Mei’s attack called Bird Strike as its kanji is written the same as kamikaze.

“What is Kamikaze’s historical background exactly? It was Japan’s suicide bombing team in World War 2, and I think the reason why the Korean fandom is upset is, some Koreans long ago were also forced to join kamikaze and sacrifice themselves,” the user explained.

It turns out a lot of fans in South Korea took offense to this technique name and made it know. A hashtag began trending on Twitter which referred to Akutami as a supporter of Japanese imperialism. Kamikaze also became a trending topic, and the Reddit user translated some of the messages found using the hashtag. As you can imagine, they were none too polite, and many Jujutsu Kaisen fans said they felt betrayed by the name’s usage. It brought up memories of a dark period in Korea’s history, and those wounds are still fresh.

In fact, relations between South Korea and Japan are tenuous to this day. The nations have been at odds since Japan forcefully occupied Korea, and many in South Korea hold a grudge since Japan has never fully owned up to the crimes it committed at that time. Most recently, the Seoul Supreme Court ruled that compensation is owed to victims of the occupation, but officials in Japan do not agree with the ruling. This case has made national news as of late, so tensions are already high between the two nations. Now, it seems Jujutsu Kaisen has thrown fuel to the fire, so there is no telling how Akutami’s reputation will fare in the aftermath.

What do you make of this Jujutsu Kaisen controversy? Do you understand the outrage? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.