Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu is a story that is considered the pioneer of the Isekai, and responsible for the rise in popularity of this genre. The plot features an unemployed man with no hope for the future, who reincarnates in a fantasy world where he decides to live without regrets and enjoying every day. Mushoku Tenseí began to be published in 2012 as a web novel, it made the leap to physical format as a light novel in 2013, and as a manga in mid-2014. Finally, its anime adaptation was released in early 2021.
Although this anime is very popular in the otaku community, it does not seem to be doing so well in China. It was recently reported that all four episodes of the series were taken down from the well-known Chinese website Bilibili, shortly before the fifth episode aired. The administrators of the page placed a notice, communicating that what happened was due to technical problems, but did not specify more.
According to many outraged users, the Chinese platform withdrew the Mushoku Tensei anime due to constant harassment from a user, named LexBurner, and his followers. This group has been bombarding the series with very negative reviews, and that appears to have forced the Bilibili administrators to remove it from their content.
The virtual personality known as LexBurner has previously lashed out at other anime and his characters, always being backed by his vast legion of followers. The streamer has caused the fury of several fans by harshly and unceremoniously criticizing the plot, character design, personality of these, and even the authors of well-known series, such as Gintama. And the most recent victim of him has been Mushoku Tensei, which he called an anime made for mediocre and depressing people.
To make matters worse, LexBurner and his entourage used an option available on the bilibili page to rate the Mushoku Tensei anime negatively, even forcing administrators to remove it from their catalog. In response to this, several users denounced LexBurner for his behavior, demanding that Bilibili take action on the matter.
According to a user on the Reddit site, China is a country where the freedom of expression of artists is not highly valued. That explains why Bilibili gave in to pressure from LexBurner, a streamer on his platform who has been creating content for years and the leader of a large number of users who subscribe to the online streaming service.
As long as the situation lasts, China’s otaku community will have to wait patiently for Bilibili to resolve the mess LexBurner caused, and finally re-stream the Mushoku Tensei anime.
Social Media Author: [RonLaoHu]
