Kimura Kyōko, retired pro wrestler and mother of deceased pro wrestler Kimura Hana, has criticized a recent episode of the anime Oshi no Ko. The episode’s events strongly resemble the real events that led Hana to take her own life, and Kyōko is unhappy with the writers’ use of her daughter’s death as source material.
Content Warning: Discussions of suicide and self-harm follow.
Who was Kimura Hana?
Kimura Hana (1997-2020) was a Japanese professional wrestler. She was a second-generation wrestler; her mother Kyōko is a former pro wrestler herself, who earlier competed in some of the same companies. Hana also appeared as a cast member in the reality TV show Terrace House, during what became its final season.
Hana was no stranger to bullying. As a child, she was bullied for her mixed Japanese-Indonesian roots. But Terrace House viewers piled on relentless online harassment following Hana’s verbal confrontations with co-stars on the show.
The cyberbullying only intensified, sending her into depression. This relentless tide of bullying drove her to suicide in May 2020. She was 22 years old.
Our chief writer Jay Allen covered Hana’s death in 2020. As he observed at the article’s close:
As someone who’s been the victim of cyber-bullying multiple times, this incident hits home. While I don’t want to get my hopes up, I hope this incident sparks some real change in the way we all act with one another online. And I hope that governments worldwide – not just in Japan – find ways to make it easier to hold online bullies to account for the torture they inflict on others.
In the wake of Hana’s death, law enforcement arrested several individuals across different parts of Japan in conjunction with the fatal wave of cyberbullying. Kyōko took one of them, a man from Fukui Prefecture, to court. The court decided the case in Kyōko’s favor, and the defendant paid damages of approximately USD $12,000. Kyōko has also launched a nonprofit organization, Remember Hana, with the aim of fighting against bullying.
But just before the third anniversary of Hana’s death, the anime Oshi no Ko aired an episode that the family says re-opened old wounds.
Oshi no Ko S1E6: “Egosurfing”
Oshi no Ko was first a manga by Yokoyari Mengo and Akasaka Aka, and now an anime directed by Hiramaki Daisuke. It premiered on 12 April 2023, just over a month before this writing. The elder Kimura criticized Episode 6, “Egosurfing” (Japanese title Ego Sāchi), for drawing directly from Hana’s story and interviews with her family as “free source material.”
In this episode (based on a story from the original manga), a character named Kurokawa Akane, appearing on a reality TV show similar to Terrace House, has her own heated interactions with co-stars. Despite clearing things up with her co-stars, and public apologies, these result in a wave of cyberbullying similar to that which Hana received.
Akane decides to take her own life, as did Hana. Hoshino Aqua, the story’s protagonist, stops her just in the nick of time.
The story in Oshi no Ko did not end exactly like Hana’s did, as Akane ultimately lived. Nonetheless, Kimura Kyōko noticed an uncanny similarity between her daughter’s case and the family’s own words from interviews. As she put it:
The hateful comments that the protagonist received were exactly the same as those Hana was subjected to. They were the words we publicized amidst the coverage [of her death]. How could they use such real words, unaltered? I can’t ignore Hana’s death being used as free source material.
As of this writing, we have no indication that the anime’s showrunners have issued a response.
A New Wave of Hate, and Rising Above
Despite these quite rightful criticisms and questions, some fans of the show attacked Kyōko herself. One suggested she would cause the anime’s cancellation, while another suggested her criticism might drive the author themself to suicide. Attacks like these, rather than patience and understanding of a grieving mother’s point of view, would only seem to further underline the need for endeavors like Remember Hana.
In an interconnected world, and in a pandemic era where more of our lives exist online than ever before, the least we can do is remember to be kind. After all, the convenience of anonymity notwithstanding, there are humans on the other side of our screens.
If you or someone you love is contemplating suicide, please reach out for help and support.
TELL Lifeline (Japan – English) – 03-5774-0992
988 Lifeline (United States)
Sources
- “Dai 6wa: Ego Sachi.” Oshi no Ko homepage. 16 May 2023, accessed 24 May 2023.
- “Episode 6.” Oshi no Ko Wiki. Accessed 24 May 2023.
- “Hana Kimura (1997-2020)” IMDB.com, Accessed 24 May 2023.
- テレビアニメ「推しの子」の“恋愛リアリティーショー編”、逝去した木村花さん母が批判 「傷つくことは想像できないのかな」. Netlab
- “Man told to pay damages for hateful posts on late “Terrace House” star.” Kyodo News, 19 May 2021, Accessed 24 May 2023.
- Harley R. Pageot. “STARDOM NEWS: Beloved wrestler Hana Kimura dead at 22.” PWTorch, 23 May 2020. Accessed 24 May 2023.
- Remember Hana homepage. Accessed 24 May 2023.
