Amid the controversy regarding "Made in Abyss" involving K-pop idols, a forum mentioned LE SSERAFIM Sakura, who also admitted to watching the anime.

Here's what happened.

LE SSERAFIM Embroiled in 'Made in Abyss' Fiasco, Sparks Discussion Regarding Cultural Factors

On November 20, netizens opened an online thread, which discussed Sakura of LE SSERAFIM, who happened to have watched the popular dark fantasy anime "Made in Abyss."

The author uploaded a previous 2021 podcast between Sakura and her former HKT48 and IZ*ONE bandmate Yabuki Nako. However, the OP captioned that on the 28:45 mark, Sakura mentioned how she enjoyed watching the anime.

 

The post was made due to an ongoing fiasco involving the show. On November 20, numerous idols caught flak for either simply watching "Made in Abyss" or reading its manga releases due to its provocative themes and disturbing content.

Both Korean netizens and international fans have called out idols such as NCT Taeyong, SEVENTEEN Woozi, and TXT Soobin for having watched the show. This caused their fandoms and viewers of the anime to defend that media consumption does not equate to "promoting."

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Back in the forum regarding Sakura, netizens weren't happy with Sakura's decision to watch the anime. They also expressed their shock with people who find the show enjoyable or even watchable.

They also pointed out that some otakus, a term for someone who consumes Japanese pop culture, skipped on watching "Made in Abyss," while others recommended the show.

Read their comments below:

•  "What do you expect from a Japanese kid? I can't expect her to be normal."
•  "How can a p*d* fetish anime with a bunch of weird and creepy elements be fun?"
•  "Korean male idols already recommended it, so who cares about a Japanese person doing the same thing?"
•  "But there were a lot of otakus who said they skipped it, and there were a lot of people who recommended it. Is there a divide between people who like it and those who don't?"

International fans noticed the "tame" reactions Sakura received from the online community, compared to the volatile ones the male idols got.

One fan stated:

"Not everyone exclusively supports girl groups and plenty of boy group stans like female groups too. The Korean male idol worshipping stan of boy group stans are different from the normal ones. Plenty of girl group stans hate on other girls.

Sakura said here that she watched season 1 and not 2. People will still question her (decisions), but it won't have the same impact because she's Japanese and she speaks the language here. She is consuming her own country's media."

Meanwhile, some commented on the "hypocrisy" of the ones who called out these idols for watching the anime, while others stated how the conflict doesn't matter at all and fans just want to hate on everything.

•  "The fake a** b**ches are either silent or changing their tune."
•  "They don't care about actual issues like racism, bullying, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, or how tweens are debuting. But they draw the line at a cartoon everyone around them watched."
•  "K-pop fans never cared. They just want to hate."
•  "Give it a rest. Go touch some grass and watch the birds fly. I beg."

What are your thoughts on their discussion? Let us know in the comments below!

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Written by Riely Miller