Uma Musume Pretty Derby, the mobile simulation game created by Cygames is inching closer to global release thanks to its English version coming soon across mobile platforms. However, amidst this positive news, Uma Musume has come under fire in the National Assembly of South Korea for its supposed portrayal of “sexual objectification of minors”.
The Horse Girls’ portrayal of characters in Uma Musume is seen as controversial
Last week on the 16th of July, 2024, Lee Byung-jin, a lawmaker of the Democratic Party, raised concerns about the game during the National Assembly’s Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee’s work report.
He stated that the Korea Racing Authority had created its own YouTube content by imitating the game’s portrayal of racehorses as women or female minors, which caused a stir. The Korea Racing Authority explained that they removed the content due to copyright issues.
If you’re not familiar, Uma Musume is an adaptation of the popular manga and anime series, Uma Musume, which translates to Horse Girls. It began as a mobile game in 2018 but has since evolved into a multimedia franchise that includes anime, manga, and merchandise, with multiple titles released over the years, including Pretty Derby.
He also voiced the opinion that no female executives in the authority were the reason behind this lack of awareness. There are mares and stallions into women and characters in school uniforms, leading to further controversy over the sexualization of minors.
Korea Game Users Association disagrees with the lawmaker, supports Uma Musume
However, the Korea Game Users Association did not agree with Byung-jin’s criticisms. They stated that Uma Musume had no history of controversy over sexual objectification within the game itself while justifying the 12+ rating as legitimate.
The President of the Association Lee Chul-woo noted that this kind of exposure is common in webtoons, K-dramas, and K-pop, arguing that the negative view of games shows a lack of understanding. He further stated that lawmakers should “listen to the voices of game users”.
The game was a storm in Japan’s mobile games market and with its global launch, it is bound to attract more people into it. However, I hope that no such issues will happen as because of the cultural differences, might lead to such controversies. Well, we will get a clear picture once the game releases, so until then, let us wait.
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