Anime Fans Urge Trump to Stop Using Copyrighted Characters

Japanese anime and manga fans are urging Donald Trump to stop using their favourite characters in his social media posts.

About 20,000 people have signed a petition on Change.org entitled Protect Japanese Manga, protesting against the official White House X account posting videos featuring unauthorised use of imagery from the popular Dragon Ball, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Naruto series. Angry fans have also been posting on social media.

The petition was created in March and submitted to the Japanese government, according to its creators, after the White House posted a video that combined footage of US strikes on Iran with anime scenes. “Subsequently, the ministry of foreign affairs made a request to the US embassy in Japan regarding the unauthorised use of Yu-Gi-Oh! and Nintendo games on the official White House X account,” the petition read.

The official Yu-Gi-Oh! account on X issued a statement at the time, saying: “The original creators and anime staff were not involved in any way, and no permission was given for the use of the intellectual property in question.”

However, an image posted on Truth Social over the weekend depicting Trump as the ninja Naruto Uzumaki from the Naruto franchise set fans off again, reviving the petition on Tuesday along with a pledge to redouble lobbying efforts with the Japanese government.

“We are fans who deeply cherish Japanese manga and anime works,” the petition said. It added that fans had “very mixed feelings about” about a “video featuring military actions, released on an official US government social media account [that] incorporated footage from Japanese manga and anime works”.

A fan going by the name Matsui Qunishige posted on Tuesday: “If you respect the creators and those involved and have obtained their permission, I think that’s fine. Otherwise, you’re just showing yourself to be someone who can’t follow the rules and who disregards culture. And that criticism will likely be directed at Americans. They’re the ones who chose [Trump].”

Another fan, Kei Fukuyosh, said: “I truly, from the bottom of my heart, want them to stop. Their sense of ethics is severely lacking. I want the government to speak out against this.”

Keiichi Motohashi asked: “I wonder what the copyright situation is with this? Shouldn’t [the publisher] Shueisha and [Naruto’s creator] Masashi Kishimoto complain about it?”

Shueisha, which celebrates its centenary this year, is Japan’s biggest publisher and serialised the original Naruto manga from 1999 to 2014. The manga about a young boy training to become a ninja has sold more than 250m copies worldwide. Kishimoto, whose twin brother, Seishi, is also a manga artist, oversaw the production of three hit Naruto anime films.

A spokesperson for Shueisha said the copyright for the anime images used in Trump’s post was held by the film production committee, and that they believed Kishimoto was not commenting on the matter.

The Guardian has contacted the White House regarding its response to the petition.