Japanese Games, Manga Used in White House Airstrike Videos

Washington, March 14 (Jiji Press)–The White House has posted on X, formerly Twitter, videos showing U.S.-Israeli forces’ ongoing military operations against Iran, which feature elements from “Wii Sports,” a video game of Japan’s Nintendo Co., and popular Japanese manga series “Yu-Gi-Oh!” These videos are criticized as being inappropriate because the attacks have led to deaths of not only military personnel but also civilians. A video that is titled “Epic Fury,” the name of the military operations, and lasts 52 seconds was released Thursday. It combines an image of a bombing with that from Wii Sports’ bowling game, displaying the word “Strike.” The phrase “Hole in one” appears in the part combining airstrike and golf shot images. On March 5, a separate video featuring Yu-Gi-Oh! and bombings was posted. In response, the official X account of Yu-Gi-Oh! released a statement saying that people linked to the original content and related animation have not been involved in the White House videos at all, and that intellectual property associated with the manga series has not been licensed to the White House. A bombing of an Iranian girls’ elementary school apparently by the United States killed about 170 students. U.S. media showed comments from a former senior U.S. government official that the administration of President Donald Trump is treating war like a game and that this is a very careless attitude toward deceased troops and civilians. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]