Mainland China has very strict rules when it comes to broadcast, telecast, or distributed media. The Ministry of Propaganda is extremely adherent to protecting what they call China’s “Socialist Values”. They have to ensure that video games, movies, music, television shows, and even cartoons adhere to said “Socialist Values” to prevent societal disruption through propaganda or inadvertent indoctrination. This even applies to completely harmless idol shows such as the 3D animated show from South Korea, Shining Star 2, which was suspended from airwaves after a provincial television bureau received complaints about the show promoting hair dye.
Radii China did a brief article about the show’s suspension, noting that it came following complaints filed on May 22nd, 2020 over on the Hunan Provincial Radio and Television Bureau’s website.
The complaint states…
“Golden Eagle Cartoon channel’s [Shining Star 2], which airs around 18:00 in the evening, contains problematic value orientation. It should not promote colorful hair dye or wearing fancy-patterned costumes on stage.”
As reported by Radii China, the show was suspended while the bureau launched an investigation into the complaints.
The bureau then put together a response on June 10th, 2020 and posted the reply publicly on their website on June 16th, 2020.
They noted that the show is about young girls attempting to work together collectively as they strive to achieve a dream through trials and tribulations, and that part of the premise of the show is “never giving up” and “moving forward”.
In the response the bureau wrote…
“[…] the production company designed the characters’ hair in different colors to help the audience quickly distinguish the anime characters. To improve character recognition, not to promote hair dyeing.”
Radii notes that the bureau felt the show did not promote “problematic values” but that the different hairstyles/colors were simply to help audiences distinguish who was who, while also fitting the narrative of the characters pursuing the dream of becoming idols, which is not only popular in Japan and South Korea, but apparently is quite popular in China, too. The article notes that reality shows like Produce 101 and Youth With You have taken hold in Chinese households in recent times.
Surprisingly, the bureau was quite apperceptive to what the show is aiming to convey, and suggested that ignoring some of the nuances of the show’s art direction was also ignoring the details of the plot, writing…
“Meanwhile, since the show features stage performances, there are scenes of switching between daily clothing and stage clothing. This ignored the subtle influence of cartoons on minors and did not carefully consider the details of the plot.”
The show was still reportedly suspended, but it’s possible to still rewatch the episodes via a YouTube playlist provided by Chinese YouTube user Candy Star.
Twitter user RayforceGame warned that Chinese influence should not be taken lightly in Japan, and that if the Japanese want to preserve their culture they shouldn’t let China’s censorship policies seep into their media entertainment.
Not a Japanese work, not an American one, but a Chinese one that is a bit of topic in Japan.
A complaint was made about the color of the hair in a Chinese animation and it was suspended in China.
Many people were once again aware of the different freedom country by country. pic.twitter.com/e6IVhZQdir— ＜レイフォース＞ (@rayforcegame) July 2, 2020
— ＜レイフォース＞ (@rayforcegame) July 2, 2020
For those of you who don’t know, China is one of Japan’s biggest importers of media consumption, and so there are worries about Japanese production committees trying to veer content to accommodate the Chinese market, much like how some people worry about companies like Funimation attempting to influence production committees to cater to Left-wing activists in the West.
Things may get a little more difficult also now that China has made in-roads into controlling Hong Kong after the security law was passed in Beijing, as reported by the Hong Kong Free Press.
This will mean that the controlling influence from mainland China will spread even further, thus requiring Japan to hold steadfast against the ever-encroaching blight of the CCP.
(Thanks for the news tip Ebicentre)