Japanese fashion brand WEGO cancelled a collaboration with the popular anime and manga series My Hero Academia due to backlash from Chinese consumers on social media. The controversy arose because one of the character's names, Maruta Shiga, was seen by some as referencing wartime atrocities, specifically human experiments conducted during World War II. This incident highlights ongoing tensions between China and Japan related to historical grievances.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-13,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Claims extracted
6
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
17%
1 of 6 hedged
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject
Correction & hedging signals
93.6
corrections and hedging in what we collected;
not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
1
World
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Story summary
WEGO, a Japanese fashion brand based in Tokyo, recently cancelled plans for a collaboration with My Hero Academia, a popular anime and manga franchise, due to an angry backlash from Chinese consumers on social media. The controversy arose after WEGO announced it would release My Hero Academia-themed clothing featuring the character Maruta Shiga. Some Chinese netizens perceived Maruta’s name as referencing wartime atrocities committed by Japanese forces, specifically experiments conducted during World War II and a scientist linked to human experimentation. This incident highlights ongoing tensions between China and Japan over historical grievances.
Written for “Chinese Consumer Backlash” on 2026-09-14,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted
verbatim and was checked against the article text before being
stored, so you can find it in the original.
Leaning score -0.45 for article 8603 (high confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-09-13
Japan’s WEGO fashion brand is latest firm to feel force of Chinese consumer backlash
asserted
brand → feel → backlash
WEGO scrapped a collaboration with an anime and manga franchise that triggered controversy with a perceived reference to wartime atrocities
Japanese fashion brand WEGO has scrapped a plan to launch a new range in collaboration with the hit anime and manga franchise My Hero Academia after it triggered an angry backlash from Chinese consumers.
asserted
it → scrap → consumers
The Tokyo-based company triggered an outcry on Chinese social media after announcing it would release an exclusive range of My Hero Academia-themed clothing.
asserted
it → base → clothing
The character’s name, Maruta Shiga, added fuel to the fire, because maruta (or log) was a derisive name given to the subjects of the unit’s human experiments.
asserted
maruta → add → experiments
Some social media users also suggested that the surname Shiga was a reference to the scientist Kiyoshi Shiga, who has a bacterium named after him.
uncertain
who → suggest → him
The furore underscores the persistent grass-roots acrimony over Japan’s imperial history that continues to sour relations between the two countries.
asserted
that → underscore → countries
