They criticize romances where the man is older than the woman

Prominent anime creator Tetsuo Hirakawa, known for his roles in "Jujutsu Kaisen," "Owari no Seraph," and "Grimoire of Zero," has sparked intense controversy on social media after sharing a post on Twitter. In his tweet, Hirakawa addressed an issue related to the uneven distribution of a booklet titled "Grand Analysis of the New Writers Literature Prize, Extended Edition of the Literary Magazine Vol. 1)."

Through Twitter, he wrote:

• "The booklet 『大解剖!文學界新人賞出張版文學界第1号』, which is only distributed at the Literature Fair, has caused some 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's no need to spend a hundred pages on something that can be communicated in three lines. Also, I don't want to read any more novels about middle-aged men who are office workers and who are desired by young women who could be their daughters." This sincerity made me laugh.

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

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

• "Is it a form of self-realization?"
• "The only one who could write stories like that and sell them was Akagawa Jiro."
• "But hey, if there are a lot of submissions of novels in that genre, it means that there is a lot of demand, right? Then you can't cut them because the judges get bored of them."
• "The demand of people who want to write and the demand of people who want to read are different."
• "First of all, you don't seem to like novels where the protagonist is popular anymore."
• "It's a common setting in historical novels, so it's not surprising."
• "Most of the time the creepy of the weak wins, I guess."
• "It is normal for the trends of stories to be biased according to the medium and the place of application. If the only thing you can get is a novel about an old man hooking up with a minor, that's what you'll get."
• "Is there a demand for realistic fiction about the suffering of middle-aged men who aren't as popular?"
• "If the environment is like this, 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 a single preconceived idea. I wonder if that's the right way to look at it."
• "A long time ago, they were high school students. I guess the people who read those books have reached an age where they can no longer relate to high school students."

Source: Yaraon!