Late at night on October 28th, Sanrio's official Weibo account @HelloKitty_Sanrio issued a statement of apology, announcing the termination of its partnership with the controversial Japanese drama "VIVANT".
The statement indicates that regarding the controversial “VIVANT” joint product that has caused controversy recently, the company has received opinions from various parties and expresses deep apologies for the public concerns caused by this. The company believes that the content of this joint venture contains expressions that do not conform to the corporate philosophy of Sanrio Group, and has decided to stop this joint venture and all subsequent projects and promotional activities. Currently, corresponding measures are being taken to address the situation.
The statement emphasizes that since its establishment, Snoopy has always conveyed values such as "care" and "connection" through its characters, and has been committed to practicing the corporate philosophy of "harmonious coexistence among all people". Under the vision of "One World, Connecting Smiles", the company hopes to help more people smile and extend the circle of happiness to every corner of the world.
Sanrio also stated that they will listen carefully and take into account the opinions of all parties regarding this incident. In the future, when carrying out joint cooperation projects, they will further strengthen the relevant review mechanisms.
According to investigations by Observer Network, as of the time of publication,
Japanese media reports indicate that this statement was issued in the name of Sanrio's Chinese subsidiary, and it is available only in Chinese. Although Sanrio has not publicly disclosed any specific arrangements for Japan, the related product pages on TBS's official shopping website are now unavailable.
According to previous reports, recently, the second season of the popular TBS TV series 'VIVANT', starring a top Japanese star, caused strong outrage on the Internet for deliberately slandering China and exaggerating the 'China threat theory'.
In the drama, Chinese intelligence agents are deliberately portrayed as brutal and backward villains. They even resort to cruel torture such as cutting off fingers and stabbing people in the abdomen. These methods closely resemble the torture methods used by Japanese invaders during their campaign of aggression against China. This practice of distorting history and attributing historical torture to modern Chinese people is seen as a deliberate attempt to create hostility and incite hostility.
In this context, the joint product launched by Japan's Sanrio and this drama has once again attracted widespread attention. As a brand labeled with “cute” and “healing” qualities and carrying the concept of peace, Sanrio’s deep association with a controversial drama that ‘damages China and distorts history’ has caused outrage and strong opposition on social media. Many Chinese and Japanese netizens have criticized it for abandoning its long-standing anti-war principles.
Japanese war historian Masaki Masahiro posted a message on social media platform X on the 25th, lamenting, "Sanrio, how could you also end up in this situation?" He stated that Sanrio was supposed to be a company that firmly believed in the principle of "never allowing war to occur," but now it has entered into deep cooperation with TV series that are accused of "promoting violence and inciting hostility towards China," which is puzzling.
In the face of fierce public criticism, TBS Television made strenuous efforts to defend itself. At a press conference on the 28th, the station’s president, Long Baozhengfeng, insisted that the show had no intention of showing hostility or derogation towards any specific country, and also had no intention of hurting the feelings of people from those countries.
Regarding the doubts from the outside world about why the real country names were used, TBS simply avoided addressing the issue and argued that “Azerbaijan and Thailand also appear as locations in the drama.” As for the scene in the drama where a “Chinese secret intelligence organization” interrogates the Japanese in a cruel manner, Long Baozhengfeng cunningly claimed that it was only “necessary for the plot and the style of presentation.”
However, he also admitted that the television station has indeed received complaints from viewers regarding issues such as whether the program shows a hostile attitude towards certain countries, and whether the depictions of violence are too extreme. He stated that the station will take these issues seriously in the future.
