What? Too Soon?

Several anime, manga, and game titles depicting disaster scenes caused by earthquakes, tsunamis, or nuclear reactors have either been altered or completely taken off the air due to the current circumstances in Japan. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, in particular, has hit home with its plot about a huge tremor that originates from a large ocean trench and shakes Tokyo to its core. This dramatic story about survival during such a horrible disaster almost foreshadowed the events of March 11, 2011. Japan’s Animax channel has pulled Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 from its lineup and replaced it with the best episodes from Lupin III and other classic anime series. On Thursday, the publisher Nihonbungeisha announced it would suspend the Hakuryū Legend yakuza manga from its Weekly Manga Goraku magazine, in light of the massive damage caused by the earthquake on Friday the 11th. The manga’s current Nuclear Power Mafia story arc focuses on the “dark side of the nuclear power industry,” according to Dai Tenoji, storywriter and artist. He developed the story a month prior to the disaster currently afflicting his home. Other productions, such as Precure All-Stars DX3 Mirai ni Todoke! Sekai o Tsunagu Niji-Iro no Hana, Takashi Otsuka's third film to combine the casts of all the Pretty Cure (Precure) magical girl television series to date, opened in theaters today after having its tsunami scenes edited out. Re-runs of older anime depicting similar story arcs have been completely pulled off the air out of consideration to the public’s feelings and suffering during this trying time in Japanese history. Even games, like nuclear-themed Root Double, are being affected by the disaster.

I think it wise of the creators, distributors, publishers, and other anime/ gaming industry staff to have taken such measures to ensure that the content being released is not “remenicent of the disaster”, as some have stated. It’s unfortunate for the creators of such series to have their months-worth of work and creativity to go unappreciated, however, the effects of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake are obviously still being dealt with.

In regards to fanart being released on sites like Pixiv, a number of works titled “Hang in there, Japan!” have arisen, in attempts to make light of the situation. Some argue that the nature of the art is borderline insensitive. Though the fans’ intentions are good, many artists and Japanese citizens have found that it is too soon for such content to be published. In fact, an artist posted a letter voicing his frustration on the matter. “it fills me with murderous rage,” he states, “to see the words ‘good luck!’ posted at a time like this.” He equates this action to having a person say this to him immediately after he lost his parents in an earthquake years ago.

I'm sure that, eventually, some of these episodes and story arcs will be aired and published. I think it's a matter of time - the people of Japan need time to recover and rebuild their lives.