---
title: 'Japan Refuses to Make Black Characters Because Author''s Get Harassed'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=F2fbyMKEAzY'
video_id: 'F2fbyMKEAzY'
date: 2026-10-25
duration_sec: 599
channel: 'Chibi Reviews'
---

# Japan Refuses to Make Black Characters Because Author's Get Harassed

> Source: [Japan Refuses to Make Black Characters Because Author's Get Harassed](https://youtube.com/watch?v=F2fbyMKEAzY)

## Summary

The video discusses the controversy surrounding the lack of black characters in anime and manga, referencing a 2020 Guardian article and recent incidents where manga authors faced harassment for including black characters. The creator argues that activist pressure and online outrage have created a chilling effect, discouraging authors from incorporating diverse characters.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to the controversy** [00:02] — The video opens with a viral clip of someone claiming anime is inspired by black people, setting the stage for a discussion on race in anime.
- **Guardian article reference** [01:05] — The creator references a 2020 Guardian article titled 'anime has a race problem,' which argued for more inclusivity in anime, and notes its renewed relevance.
- **Historical black characters** [02:13] — The creator cites Commander Black from original Dragon Ball as an example of a well-received black character, arguing that such characters would face backlash if created today.
- **Manga author's confession** [04:47] — The video reads a statement from manga author Shosho Kurihara, creator of Uria, who revealed that publishers fear discrimination complaints, leading to last-minute changes of black antagonists to white ones.
- **Case study: Karana** [06:04] — The creator discusses manga author Karana, who faced backlash from her own fans after retweeting a low-effort cosplay of a black character, leading her to leave social media and likely avoid black characters in the future.
- **Chilling effect on authors** [08:18] — The creator concludes that activist pressure has caused authors to avoid including people of color altogether, citing characters like Chad from Bleach as examples of well-written black characters that would now be controversial.

## Transcript

black fans are fixing it. And then on top of that, we have manga authors to incorporate any black characters into their story because of controversy. And then we had this clip that went viral, which just let's play this clip before I
go any further cuz honestly, it speaks for itself. >> How anime >> isn't black? Like how they say anime is
>> isn't black? Like how they say anime is Japanese. >> Like it got to be inspired by black people. >> Brother, >> it's too witty. It's too catchy.
>> I'm watching this anime right now and this is like >> super duper catchy. >> Like it's super like slick >> Like it's super like slick >> just like us.
to talk about this. So, yes, this is a real article, by the way, that was released by the Guardian where they said anime has a race problem. Basically saying that anime needs to incorporate more black characters, people of color,
be inclusive, all the uh, you know, different check boxes that you see want to be completely transparent here that this article that is now starting a trend is actually a very old article that came out in 2020 but it is very
relevant is because obviously within this year we have seen for instance incorporating you know black characters within her story which most likely is going to cause her to never want to put anybody of you know let's say people of
story going forward because of the controversy around it. And then we also had a manga author besides Karana opening up and talking about how they black characters because of just the controversy that constantly surrounds
just a lot to really unpackage with this. So let's just uh let's go to the talk about this article okay that obviously we have seen actually be kind
of like the starting point the origin point of how anime has been infested. Now, I want to be completely blunt. There has been amazing black characters within anime and manga for a very long time. A very good example of this
actually is Commander Black from Dragon Ball. Yes, the Dragon Ball. I'm not about GT, not talking about Super, not talking about Da. Nothing like that. Not talking about the games. I'm talking about the OG Dragon Ball. There was a
called Commander Black and um was unironically probably one of the best unironically probably one of the best villains of Dragon Ball prior to Demon King Piccolo. Like straight up amazing character. Like anyone that actually has
watched Dragon Ball will 100% agree with me. He had a he was a badass. And if a Black was made today, like hypothetically, if this character came out and all that in this day and age and Ker Toriyama wrote it, I'm willing to
bet you he would be harassed, slandered, and overall just cancelled to the same degree that you see, for example, that happened to Kurana for daring to make a REGARDLESS OF how you feel about, you know, the character design or whatever,
the character legitimately was a badass, very smart, and just insane. And um the point here is is that stuff like this obviously has become very risky in creating nowadays because obviously we have seen uh how there is a lot of
people that get very upset, very sensitive about any form of potential uh microaggressions and stuff like that unironically. And um we have also seen basically how a lot of politics have been trying to be forced within anime.
And when you look at how the Guardian released this article back in 2020, it really kind of like showcases how right I have been over the years on how there has been a lot of parasites that have been infiltrating the anime and manga
industry to forcively change the culture and incorporate certain ideologies or activism or overall just uh political alignment to certain degrees. It just definitely see that especially with how this was written by the Guardian. And we
pushes where there is like let's say western studios like for instance let's say Netflix you know hire certain studios to work on stuff there is always a certain form of layer of agenda that is definitely shoved into it including
let's say subtitles dub work and stuff like that it is definitely pretty damning so when you got this statement from an official manga author talking about their overall feelings of why they don't want to incorporate black
characters into their work makes a lot of sense when you see the outrage that it constantly caused. causes. And I guess let's actually read this. So, mang guess let's actually read this. So, mang offer Shosho Kurihara, creator of Uria,
revealed that one of the reasons why black characters rarely appear in manga is the publishers fear of receiving discrimination complaints if they are depicted as villains. The artist recalled that years ago he had to make a
lastminute change to a black antagonist, swapping it for a white one to avoid trouble. Khar questioned that he sees as he sees that as a double standard that white villains don't provoke the same complaints that experience changed his
almost stopped including black characters in his stories to avoid characters in his stories to avoid further controversy basically um a chilling effect where there was just so much harassment and controversy that
surrounded it he decided instead of just dealing with the problems he'd rather not even give the potential for those problems to even kind of rise up and appear to begin with. So why incorporate characters that could cause potential
headaches in the future? Just don't write them to begin with. And so you saying it like it is. They don't want to incorporate, say, black characters with harassment. And we know that this happens because let's look at for
instance Karana. And I'm going to give a brief little rundown on this. It's a very short summary, but basically Karana, she is obviously from my as a monger. Nothing wrong with that. she whatever she believes in. She's not,
anything like that. So, I don't really care. The point though is she is definitely a left-leaning progressive type offer. She has added people of color within her manga. And the big thing about the situation is is that
very vocal and active with her community, especially with her fans within the West. But that came back to bite her in the end because her fans kept trying to head cannon that she was, let's say, non-binary or trans. Her
character was trans. all these type of things and she just said no that that's not true. And uh obviously she started getting backlash and then eventually she retweeted or reposted a um a cosplay of one of her black characters with someone
doing a loweffort cosplay with leaks in their hair and um people basically said that Kron was racist and um because she was just wanting to appreciate a cosplay uh it caused her to completely leave social media and basically completely
cut contact with her community which IS PRETTY SAD. BUT BASICALLY, SHE got ran off by the very individuals that we she was trying to cater to. And I'm willing that she's had this year, because there's been a lot of hiatuses and
breaks that obviously is definitely related. I'm willing to bet you she black character within her story ever again. I I'm willing to bet you she won't. I would be very shocked if she ever does because of the amount of
headache and drama that it's gotten her into throughout this entire year. And been going on with France and how Japan is literally, I'm not even joking, is literally, I'm not even joking, having a a freaking race war with like
just illegal immigration and migrants in France with the riots and looting and stuff. It's uh it's not good. So, I'm willing to bet you Kana probably is going to avoid um probably making, you know, uh probably people of color, black
characters within her story. I I I definitely see that happening. But that gets into the main conversation of this entire situation. Basically, it's very clear that in in the journey of many of these publication companies, these
different activists trying to push, let's say, inclusivity within it, they have in turn caused so much drama that in fact it's caused it to where offers don't even want to include people of color within their stories. Because like
like Bleach. You know, you have Chad. Chad's a badass. Like he's a freaking badass. I'm not even going to act like he ain't. He is a really cool character. But obviously, you know, and nowadays I feel like the way his if he was written
controversy around him. If he was written today, put in the story Bleach there would be be probably a lot of, you know, anger and stuff. But the point is characters within stories that are written very well. But nowadays a lot of
offers probably don't even want to touch that because of the drama around it. And I just it's um it's really interesting to me like you we have straight up confirmation now that offers are actively avoiding it and makes sense
especially when they you know the groups bring it upon themselves by harassing offers for literally just retweeting a loweffort cosplay. With that being said though, I this clip really is just so funny to me because I feel like it just
funny to me because I feel like it just really goes to show just apparently anime isn't Japanese. It's made by like black people. It's
Oh boy. Like I I I just I don't know, man. There's just a lot of stuff that's been going on. And uh how do you feel about it? Tell me your honest thoughts to see what you guys think. But uh be safe, stay healthy.