aespa's leading star, Karina, finds herself ensnared in an online dispute as Chinese social media users take umbrage with her professed fondness for the well-known Japanese anime, "My Hero Academia."

The dispute ignited when Karina expressed her affinity for "My Hero Academia" on the fan-based interactive platform "Bubble." The anime series, an adaptation from a manga, narrates the tale of young individuals striving to metamorphose into professional superheroes, employing their superhuman abilities to safeguard the world.

However, the anime series has been the center of discord in China due to a character's original name, which disturbingly correlates with a grim historical period.

Chinese Social Media Users Stir Over 'My Hero Academia' In the original manga, a character bore the name "Maruta Shiga," where "Maruta" translates to "wood logs." Regrettably, this term is historically linked to the victims of the notorious "Unit 731," inciting fury among Chinese netizens.

  Unit 731 was a grim chapter in history, marking the Imperial Japanese Army's biological and chemical warfare research unit infamous for horrific human experimentation and the production of biological weapons. The victims of these experiments were reduced to the status of "logs" (Maruta).

Chinese Netizens Demand Accountability from Karina for Endorsing Disputed Work Following this, numerous Chinese individuals have demanded a boycott of "My Hero Academia" due to the character's name.

They have voiced their discontent towards Karina for her endorsement of the contentious work, with some even taking their criticisms to her Instagram account.

Karina's Supporters Counter the Controversy Counteracting the backlash, Karina's followers have come to her defense, underscoring that the animated version had renamed the character to "Garaki Deku," and that the manga's author had already apologized, asserting that the name association was purely coincidental.

Furthermore, Karina's advocates emphasized that her fandom for "My Hero Academia" commenced in 2023, years after the controversy surrounding the character's name surfaced in 2020.

They contend that it's highly improbable that Karina had knowledge of the dispute while articulating her enthusiasm for the anime series.

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