The anime industry is not without its controversies. Anything that is in the public sphere is never immune to them. However, a lot of controversy blows over quickly, but some can have lasting effects on the series that it is tied to. I mean, it is very difficult to look at a series in the same light after you find out something horrible done by the staff or the author.
I guess I’m here to ruin your day.
Worst Anime Controversies
Kemono Friends – Fired Director and Writer
While it never received quite the same legs in the West, there was a time where Kemono Friends was wildly popular in Japan. Unfortunately, fans did not take it so well when the director and writer for the series, Tatsuki, was suddenly fired from the series. Apparently he shared art assets from the series without studio permission, but fans let their displeasure be known so fervently it lowered the studio’s stock prices and plummeted the reviews for the second season made without the director.
Kokoro Connect – The Ichiki Incident
Pranks often go too far, and in a professional sphere, they should be avoided. For some reason, the Kokoro Connect staff decided to play a prank in what we can assume was an attempt to bring attention to the upcoming Kokoro Connect.
In this prank, they auditioned Matsuhiro Ichiki for an anime-only character role on the upcoming show. They told him he got the job and needed to attend a public promotion event. At this event, they announced it was a prank and even played the audition tape to humiliate him.
While Ichiki himself took it in stride, the community did not. They viewed it as a needless abuse of power and the entire series endured the backlash. Ever wonder why Kokoro Connect isn’t very popular? This is the reason.
Shirobako – The Woes of an Animator
Making anime and manga seems glorious, but almost every creator in Japan will tell you otherwise. It’s long hours, little pay, and no social life. In an interesting bit of irony, Shirobako shines a little light on the struggles of an animator by being an anime about making anime. The odd bit is that the studio that created it, P.A. Works, ran into a bit of controversy about how they treat their anime staff. In a deleted tweet by one of the newer staff, they stated that they only got paid for the most basic living expenses and even had to pay a desk fee to the company to work there. P.A. Work’s denies it all, of course. This is, however, just one more rumor in a long list of rumors on how bad conditions are for animators on our favorite series.
Pokemon – Pokemon Shock
This is a popularly known one. However, if you don’t know it, when Pokemon first aired in Japan, the episode Electric Soldier Porygon gave about 600 Japanese kids seizures. Known as Pokemon Shock, the flashing red and blue lights of the episode triggers seizures in their children.
The event cause Pokemon to be taken off the air for four months in order for the animation to be changed. They re-tweaked the series to make sure that didn’t happen again. Unfortunately for Porygon, he never had major focus again in the show either.
Legend of the Overfiend – Anime = Tentacle Porn
Ever wonder why it took so long for anime to latch on in the US and UK? Sure, the language barrier was an issue, but it also has a bit to due with the movie Legend of the Overfiend. Think of this movie as early gore and breasts. They wanted the negative attention of film critics to serve as free advertising, but it went beyond that to a major backlash against all anime. It is due in no small part that normies still think anime means tentacle porn.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya – Endless Eight + Aya Hirano Has Relationships
By now, especially if you have watched the series, you know about the Endless Eight arc. In Haruhi’s second season, they essentially showed fans the same episode eight times in a row as a way of telling Groundhog’s Day-esque loop arc. While clever in its own way, it turns out they went a little overboard with it and fans were not happy.
That’s not the only Haruhi controversy, though. Another involves Aya Hirano, the voice actress of Haruhi herself. Previous to the scandal, she became a voice actress to promote her singing career. She got very popular when cast as Haruhi in the show. Her popularity plummeted later, however, when pictures leaked of her having sex with every member of her band besides the bassist. Despite saying unkind things to otaku fans before the scandal, it was only after they learned that shes did, in fact, have sex that they ended up turning on her.
Neon Genesis Evangelion – Hideaki Anno Got Sad
If you don’t already know, the original Evangelion anime kind of spirals into a surreal pit in the final episodes. It is notorious as one of the weirdest and most depressing endings of all time. It was quite shocking to fans and angered many who argued it didn’t make much sense. Of course, the reason being that the director had spiraled into such a deep depression by that point that it profoundly left its mark on his work.
The ending of Evangelion has been sorted out in subsequent movies, but Anno made some fans so furious that they sent him death threats at the time.
