Chibi Reviews

Gender equality, Inclusivity, Climate action... is now a part of Kodansha's message... a company once known for its unapologetic promotion of Japanese entertainment, is now a UN puppet. In 2020, Kodansha joined the United Nations SDG Media Compact. It is a framework that "encourages" media and entertainment companies to promote the 17 sustainable development goals... and they aren't quiet about it either. They actively promote it on their website and promote UNESCO talking points about gender, equality, equity, and inclusivity. Now they are talking about “gender stereotypes,” sexualization, and “violence against women” as things that need to be tackled in Japanese manga etc... This means more “inclusive” stories, less fanservice, stronger “assertive female” themes that fly in the face of the usual unapologetic, uncensored, and sometimes dark stories. Witch Hat Atelier is the prime example of this, where the author’s UNESCO interview literally talks about identity, inclusivity, disability, and “inborn abilities,” women’s rising role in manga, and “women's anger” in an unstable world... and it is looking more like a UN psyop rather than an actually domestically produced story. UN/UNESCO has not been quiet about its criticism against Japanese media, where they attack the unfiltered depiction of gender stereotypes, sexual content, or "violence against women," sometimes pushing member countries to monitor and regulate it. It has even gone as far as pushing for the criminalization of certain types of content, especially loli content.