The author of the well-known comic book “Magical Boy Jia Xiu” (Golden のガッシュ!!) and Japanese cartoonist Raigo Sung tweeted yesterday (5th) in response to the controversy: Korean fans protested that the background of the New Year’s greeting picture he posted on New Year’s Day “contains the rising sun flag” , and asked him to apologize and delete the picture. He denied that he had not targeted Koreans and refused to delete the article.
Lei Jucheng shared a New Year’s card on January 1 with the theme of Jia Xiu, Qing Ren, Kai Qiaomei and Fulgaolei, and Kai Qiaomei turning into a white snake. The illustration comes with the author’s seal and “2025 HAPPY NEW YEAR” ” title, but not long after, he revealed that he received protests from Korean fans.
Dissatisfied Korean fans believe that the background of Lei Jucheng’s illustrations has the “Rising Sun Flag”. Although the Rising Sun Flag has also appeared in other countries, its most famous image is used by the Japanese army, from World War I and World War II to the modern Self-Defense Forces. It is regarded as “a symbol of Japanese militarism” in mainland China and South Korea.
The protesters, who call themselves the “Magical Boy Jia Xiu Korean Fan Group”, believe that the background of the congratulatory picture is reminiscent of the Rising Sun Flag and “has the danger of spreading images of war and aggression, causing negative impacts.” They hope that the author can be responsible for his creative behavior. Delete the illustrations and issue an apology, “withdraw and revise the work” and “re-learn historical facts”.
Now, I would like to respond to this post from a Korean Gash fan.@stur22 A person called me wrote a statement asking for an apology and for the picture to be deleted because the background of the New Year’s card he drew appeared to represent the Rising Sun flag.
Here is an illustration of the problem. … https://t.co/2d2DHCtIjc pic.twitter.com/yms3ILDpVm— Makoto Raiku (@raikumakoto) January 5, 2025
In response to the protest, Lei Jucheng clarified at the beginning that this New Year’s card was drawn to convey a festive atmosphere to Japanese readers, and was by no means intended to make Koreans feel uncomfortable. “In fact, criticism of similar statements, especially from South Korea, involves I have received critical messages from Rising Sun Flag several times.”
“I have seen it all, but my design concept is based on the New Year’s greeting card symbol ‘sunrise’ and does not involve the so-called rising sun flag, so I did not respond. I take measures to hide the extreme remarks.” Lei Jucheng said he had seen it previously Most of his remarks were personal attacks and he did not respond directly, but this time he received a formal statement and he felt it was necessary to respond.
Lei Jucheng also admitted that if the illustration was really aimed at Koreans, he would have used the real red and white Rising Sun Flag and written the relevant message in Korean. “I will pay more attention to the interpretation of the Rising Sun Flag in the future, but this time about the apology and deletion The request for pictures, I concluded, is unacceptable.”
There are several reasons for not accepting the apology for deleting the article. First of all, Lei Jucheng said that the inspiration for the congratulatory picture must not come from the Rising Sun Flag; secondly, if he accepts the request and deletes the picture, “then all creators around the world will no longer be able to draw similar sunrise patterns.” . Any work that takes time to create may be forced to be deleted because of a word from a Korean netizen.”
Lei Jucheng posted free illustrations similar to the “sunrise” design, indicating that this type of expression often appears on the covers of Chinese New Year magazines, comic magazines, calendars, etc. He is worried that this turmoil may lead to the sunrise pattern being completely banned, or even The publication was suspended due to comments made by Korean netizens.
“It will not only affect cartoonists and illustrators, but also affect creations such as television and YouTube. The creation of sunrise expressions will also be restricted (or become very limited). It is often said that the seeds of the “shrinking” of the creative environment will be greatly Limiting creative expression, and isn’t this the beginning of this situation?”
Lei Jucheng said that if the dissatisfied people (in addition to the protesting account @stur22, there are also netizens with the same demands) continue to protest after reading the statement, he will consider taking legal action and consult a lawyer, the Japan Cartoonists Association, and Senate Member Ken Akamatsu (author of Magic Teacher), Congressman Taro Yamada, and various publishing houses, associations of Japanese art circles and other organizations.
“At the same time, I will also discuss this matter with Daewon, the publisher responsible for publishing the “Magic Boy Jia Xiu” series in South Korea, including whether it can continue to be published in South Korea. If the Korean publisher also requests to delete the picture, I may I’m afraid to continue publishing in Korea.”
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of “Magic Boy Jia Xiu” in 2022, the sequel “Magic Boy Jia Xiu 2” will be serialized. The original work tells the story of the marginalized middle school student “Kyoto Takamine” who encounters the magical boy “Jia Xiu Bell”, and the two work together to embark on a journey. On the journey of “The Thousand Years War” to compete for the throne of the King of the Demon Realm, the sequel of the Demon Realm King partners return to save their friends, and the series continues to this day.