In recent months, China has been the scene of intense controversies related to ACG (anime, comics, and gaming) culture. In the wake of proposals to ban "clothing that harms the Chinese national spirit" and the suspension of Japanese anime songs and events, many local fans have expressed concern and sparked heated debates. Recently, a new controversy arose on Chinese social media when a fan was kicked out of an anime convention in Jinan, Shandong, for wearing a Nezuko Kamado cosplay from "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba" and wearing a kimono.
A viral video on Weibo shows the incident where the event's security argued that "kimono is not allowed", stating that it was a rule imposed by the organizers and asking for understanding from the affected cosplayer.
The video has received mixed reviews. Some netizens supported the security action, while others harshly criticized the move with comments such as:
- «To say that Japanese anime clothes are not allowed to be worn at an anime convention, who is going to believe it?"
- «There are kimono-wearing characters in Genshin Impact as well."
- «If they hate Japan so much, they should ban all Japanese elements from the anime event."
- «I suggest banning all anime and Japanese elements."
The situation has transcended borders, reaching the ears of many Japanese netizens who were also perplexed and critical:
- «An anime convention that bans Japanese manga characters, what's left then?"
- «If they hadn't organized the convention from the beginning, there wouldn't be these problems."
- «They should just turn it into a Chinese anime convention."
- «And cosplay of Western characters then?"
- «Why continue doing these conventions if you can't express your personal taste?"
This incident is framed in a broader historical and cultural context. Half a century ago, China struggled with the "strange and extravagant clothing" associated with the West and decadence, but over time, these sartorial enemies have changed. Japan, with its distinctive cultural products and war history, has become the new target of such bans. By the 1980s, the Japanese kimono was an accepted symbol of excellence in Japanese design in China, but with the resurgence in the 1990s of memories of Japanese war atrocities, these garments began to generate visceral reactions.
However, cosplay, a fad imported from Japan, has found fertile ground in China. Despite this, the rise of anti-Japanese sentiment has led to the cancellation of related events, such as Japanese-style summer festivals. The recent events in Jinan not only highlight the current cultural tensions in China, but also raise questions about the future of anime conventions in the country.
Source: Yahoo! News Taiwan
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