Anime Director Kazuyoshi Yaginuma Sparks Antisemitic Controversy

Warning: Some readers may find the content of this article distressing.

Anime director Kazuyoshi Yaginuma  (Recovery of an MMO Junkie sparked controversy earlier this week when historic tweets came to light of him displaying clear antisemitic sentiment and outright Holocaust denial, ranging from shortly after he joined the service in 2011, up until the present day. This discovery was made following a more recent thread, where Yaginuma questioned the existence of the gas chambers used in concentration camps by Nazi Germany during World War II.

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Following the discovery of these messages earlier this week, we reached out to Ellation, the corporate parent of Recovery of an MMO Junkie co-production partner Crunchyroll, who responded with this statement:

We do not support or condone this type of behavior, and we are disappointed to see the anti-semitic activity that has transpired. The comments made do not reflect any opinions of Crunchyroll, as we pride ourselves on our diverse, global community that connects through the content they love.

We reached out to Kazuyoshi Yaginuma for comment, but a response was not received before press time. We will update this article if we receive a reply.
Writing for Anime News Network, Lynzee Loveridge and Rebecca Silverman have shared their extensive examination on the impact of this story and experiences with antisemitism. We would like to thank Rebecca Silverman in particular for the bravery shown in talking about the persecution faced by her family.
Anime UK News vehemently condemns any and all instances of antisemitic sentiment or behaviour, including any attempts to deny the existence of one of the modern world’s darkest chapters.

Josh A. Stevens

Reviewing anime by moonlight, working in film by daylight, never running out of things to write, he is the one named Josh A. Stevens.

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