Japanese Anime creators are notoriously bad at handling foreign cultural and religious references. This time, one publisher got in some serious trouble for an insensitive portrayal of the Islamic holy book.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Shueisha Inc. has pulled an anime DVD series based on a popular manga after protests from Muslims about the negative portrayal of the Koran, the publisher said Thursday.

An episode of “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” featured a villain looking at a copy of the Koran before ordering the killing of the hero and his companions, in a story set in Egypt.

Shueisha said the illustrators were unable to read Arabic and therefore unaware that the featured text came from the Islamic holy book, saying it was included to give “authenticity.” The book doesn’t appear in the original manga.

Whoops! :icon_neutral:

Japan has always been a homogeneous country, and what they know of cultures outside their own is largely influenced Western media. Still, you would think somebody with a head on their shoulders would have picked this one up. This is not the first time this kind of thing has happened though. As anime becomes more of a worldwide phenomenon and “ambassador” for Japan, will the creators become better educated on political correctness?

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