For those that don’t know, Uzaki–chan wa Asobitai! aka Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! is a manga and anime about Hana Uzaki, college girl who wants to hang around and play with her senpai (upper classman/senior), Shinichi Sakurai. She follows him around college, eventually ends up working with him at his part time job at a cafe, and even at his apartment and her home in which she lives together with her family. So you could say Uzaki basically spends a majority of her time with him which senpai finds annoying sometimes. They never officially say they’re dating despite hanging out so much.
So what are people overacting about? She’s show, cute, big breasted, and energetic. Your typical anime character. The controversy really started in late 2019 when Japan’s Red Cross Society offered a clear file with Uzaki’s image on it as an incentive for people to donate blood. This was not the first time the Red Cross has done a anime collaboration.
People found this image to be used with a mainstream medical company like the Red Cross inappropriate as Uzaki was deemed too “titillating.” This was brought on by English speaking Twitter posters and eventually picked up by Japanese news media.
First of all, they mainly had concerns about how busty Uzaki is which is where the “titillation” comes from. If any of those who voiced complaint actually read the manga the most “ero” you’ll see Uzaki get was basically a swimsuit that revealed cleavage. Not even a especially scandalous swimsuit at all but a two piece that was too small for her to cover up everywhere on her breasts. Not the most scandalous I’ve ever seen in a anime either, more cute with a bit of ero.
It seemed more like a smear campaign by those that don’t have anything better to do and to not read the actual source to complain about something because they just want to complain. This brought up huge debates about the character. You could even tell some of those who were against Uzaki have never even read or barely seen how erotic manga’s can be without taking it into 18+ doujin territory. Uzaki basically plays video games with her senpai, cooks with him, works with him, and just want to be with him in general due to finding out over the course of the year that he was a lonely guy in college.
Fast forward to July 2020 when the anime was aired. The same sort of people who know nothing about anime or even women came out to flame the anime just because of Uzaki and claims of her senpai “sexualizing her.” Have they even watched the anime or read the manga that was released up until then? I highly doubt it.
Sure, senpai does look at Uzaki’s big breasts but who wouldn’t with how big they are? Does he imagine doing dirty erotic things with her? Nope. He sees her just as his annoying kohai (underclassman) who he also has regular fun with. In fact, it’s more like all the other characters in the series are trying to get the two together when they don’t even realize themselves that they should be together.
There are those who don’t agree with Uzaki’s body either. A body of a cute, big breasted, and short Asian woman. Who does that sound like to me who has done a cosplay of the character? Public figure/cosplayer Kaho Shibuya. Kaho has very similar proportions to Uzaki and I can verify that as I’ve met her in person. You can look her up if you’re curious. There you go, a real life example of a short and cute girl with big breasts.
Many of those who complained about Uzaki’s body don’t seem to believe her proportions are believable. There’s that mindset they seem to have ingrained in their minds that all Asian woman have either really small breasts or completely flat chested. Asian woman like Kaho aren’t as common to see with such big breasts like other parts of the world but they are all around. I’ve seen plenty of women with small breasts or flat in the western community as well so it’s not like big breasts are everywhere (though there is that fantasy in Japan that you see in manga of places like America where big breasted blonde woman are common). People come in all shapes and sizes, it’s a part of life to accept.
It seems more like a racist per-conceived notion of how Asian woman should be, how men treat women in Asia, and greatly misunderstanding how the anime community is. They hear only the negatives and just make a generalization that it’s all the same. Well it’s not . People just jump on the hate bandwagon without even giving it a second thought. Open your mind to possibilities and stop believing everything you read or hear about online.
If you don’t believe me then the first step is to actually watch the Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! anime or read the manga. That’s actual and factual data you can use to decide how to form your opinion about the anime. After that look around and learn more about Japan, the people, anime, manga, and more. Don’t limit yourself to just one or two sources; find as much as you can when you have the time. Look for yourself then when you have something to say you have references/knowledge to back it up.
Support the manga, get it at your local book store or even as a digital manga on Amazon.
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