A few days ago, several memes exploded on Reddit claiming that “feminist groups call for total ban on Fanservice,” saying that it wasn’t art, but just softcore material. This caused the usual reaction online, with anime fans shaking their fists at any group threatening to take away their sexy anime. But does a group called “No More Fanservice” actually exist, or was the original article just clickbait garbage? Let’s explore the so-called “feminist anime ban” controversy together!
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No More Fanservice? Exploring the “Feminist Anime Ban” Controversy
The memes claimed that “feminist groups” are targeting fanservice-focused anime and pressuring streaming platforms like Netflix and Crunchyroll to stop showing such anime. “The movement, named ‘No More Fanservice,’ directly targets series known for sexualized content, arguing they normalize the objectification of women under the guise of animation.”
The story emanated from this blog post on OtakuKart.com, but oddly lacked specific details. A Reddit thread asking if anyone had a valid source for the article came to the conclusion that the original post was pure clickbait, created out of whole cloth to get a reaction out of enraged fans. I reached out to the writer asking for a source, but the comment was removed from his blog.
Clickbait Is a Hell of a Drug
Having blogged about anime three times a week since 1998 and written more than 6,000 posts, I’m no stranger to wanting more people to read what I write. I instinctively know that my readers will be much more receptive to a blog post titled “15 Famous Manga Artists Who Also Made Hentai” compared with, say, a linguistic-focused post exploring Five Unique Features That Define the Japanese Language. I keep a huge list of topics I might want to write about, and actively try to force myself to discard ideas that are too esoteric to be popular with my readers.
But to invent a news event about a feminist anime ban that never happened just to get a rise from easily-manipulated fans? That’s something I would never do. Both Takamine-san and I think that’s just…pathetic.
In my opinion, the writer of the original post, Steve Markus Johanson, should be ashamed of himself. The same goes for the two named editors of the piece, Sohel Moldharia and Umair Nakade. (Interestingly, the name of the editor changed after its initial publication.). If these guys were writing for the J-List blog, I’d give them all the boot.
What happened when Japan’s only lesbian politician criticized anime ads as “sexism”? Read this blog post!
Viewing Anime Through the Lens of Feminism
Whenever I start working on a blog post about a new anime that’s just been released, I’ll check Tumblr, X, and Facebook for interesting images and memes I can use in my article. Occasionally, a review of the anime in question by the Anime Feminist blog will pop up, and I’ll click on it. I find that the writers of that blog write thoughtful articles, and I appreciate reading thoughts about anime from a point of view different from my own.
It’s true that the “feminist” view of anime is often critical of sexy fanservice in anime. In a post about the Atelier Ryza anime, their writer expressed a strong dislike for the anime’s fanservice. She complained that a show defined by sexy thighs should show sexy thighs, as well as “her shorts, looking like a bright red diaper.”
Never mind the fact that out of the 50+ new anime series we get each season, only 4-5 of them have any significant fanservice. This is because ecchi is just another niche in the “big tent” that is anime, alongside mecha, idol, sports, and romantic comedies. And that plenty of media aimed at female fans exists, and no guys think twice about it.
There’s nothing wrong with having a unique point of view through which you see the world. I appreciate reading opposing views on the Anime Feminist blog, even though I would rarely agree with them.
The Great Information War?
As I’ve written before, there’s a chance the era we live in will one day be known as the First Great Information War. While I dearly love the internet, it’s probably harming the human race. This is because we build “information bubbles” where we only encounter opinions we already agree with. This makes us think all our current opinions are correct, because we never encounter others with good opposing arguments.
And the internet makes it easy for us to be manipulated in dangerous ways. In 2014, Vladimir Putin invaded Crimea and started a full-scale war of information against the West, doing everything he could to tear down our faith in our institutions. It feels like we’re all at each other’s throats because public discourse is manipulated to make us angry about everything.
Thanks for reading this blog post exploring the supposed “feminist anime ban,” a terrible instance of clickbait by a hack blogger. What do you think of a blogger creating a fake controversy to get views? Are you worried about anime cancel culture and that ecchi anime will ever become targeted politically?
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Did you know you can order anything you want from Japan? It’s true! Just visit Megumi Express.com, open a ticket to the J-List staff, and fill in the details of whatever you’d like to order, and we’ll send you a quote within a few hours. Now you can get anything from Japan, even if J-List doesn’t already have it!
