The prominent anime creator Tetsuo Hirakawaknown for his participation in “Jujutsu Kaisen”, “Owari no Seraph” and “Grimoire of Zero” sparked intense controversy on social media after sharing a post on Twitter. In his tweet, Hirakawa addressed an issue related to the unequal distribution of a pamphlet titled “Major Analysis of the Literature Prize for New Writers, Expanded Edition of the Literary Magazine Vol.“.

Via Twitter, he wrote:

• «The booklet "The Book of the Year 1st Edition", which was distributed only at the Literature Fair, has caused controversy for being unfair to authors from other regions. In its digital version, one of the members of the pre-reading committee answered the question of what kind of works he would like to read: “Personally, I prefer novels whose concept or plot cannot be easily explained. If you want to make a social statement, there are more effective methods than a novel, and there is no need to spend a hundred pages on something that can be communicated in three lines. Besides, I don't want to read any more romance novels about middle-aged men who work in offices and are desired by young women who could be their daughters.“That sincerity made me laugh.

The controversy surrounding stories of romances between adult men and young women is complex. On the one hand, it is argued that such conspiracies can perpetuate stereotypes and imbalanced power dynamics.contributing to the objectification of young women and the glorification of age differences without critical context.

On the other hand, some argue that literature should be a reflection of all facets of human experience, including the exploration of unconventional or even problematic relationships, as long as they are addressed with appropriate depth and context.

• «Is it a form of self-realization?».
• «The only one who could write stories like this and sell them was Akagawa Jiro».
• «But hey, if there are a lot of submissions of romance novels in that genre, it means there is a lot of demand, right? So you can't cut them because the judges get bored with them.».
• «The demand for people who want to write and the demand for people who want to read are different.».
• «First of all, it seems like you no longer like romance novels where the protagonist is popular.».
• «It's a common setting in historical novels, so it's not surprising.».
• «Most of the time the weirdness of the weak wins, I think.».
• «It's normal for storytelling trends to be biased depending on the medium and location of application. If the only thing you get is a romance about an old man dating a minor, that's what you'll get.».
• «Is there a demand for realistic fiction about the plight of middle-aged men that is not so popular?».
• «If the environment were like that, even if there was a really interesting novel about a middle-aged man who is attracted to a girl his daughter's age, it would be cut and buried with just a preconceived idea. I wonder if that's the right way to look at things?».
• «A long time ago, they were high school students. I think people who read these books have reached an age where they can no longer relate to high school students.».

Source: Yaraon!