April 1st, April Fool's Day, saw communities worldwide rolling out their pranks, with countless ACG IPs joining the fun to interact with fans.
But not every prank lands perfectly. This year, Animate Japan found itself in hot water over an April Fool's post. The official announcement teased an original otome game with over 1,000 potential love interests. However, the description also mentioned BL (Boys' Love) elements, triggering a massive backlash from netizens who slammed it with comments like, "An otome game with BL? Are you trying to infuriate us?" The post was eventually deleted, followed by an apology.
Here's the scoop: Animate announced an "otome game" as their April Fool's prank. The post even went all-out with a detailed game concept: "Over 1,000 conquerable characters!? From school princes and office workers to angels and monsters, it's all here! An otome game with Isekai reincarnation, BL storylines, and more!? With over 100 million endings! Dive into an infinitely unfolding love story with 'Unlimited Mates ~∞ Endings~'!"
But here's where things went sideways. "Otome games" traditionally feature a female protagonist romancing male characters. Yet, the official announcement explicitly stated "content includes BL elements." For many otome game fans, BL is a massive red flag, and the community absolutely exploded. Comments poured in, like "How did this project even get approved?" "Are they looking down on otome players?" and "Do they really not understand this huge landmine, or are they just messing around?" The post went viral for all the wrong reasons.
▼ Animate's original post (now deleted)
Netizens were baffled, wondering how a company so deeply entrenched in otaku culture could miss such a fundamental point. It was genuinely shocking.
Facing the backlash, Animate later posted: "We have deleted the April Fool's post. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to those involved. We are truly sorry." They further emphasized their commitment to thoroughly reviewing their content and presentation methods, promising to be more careful in the future to ensure everyone can enjoy their content with peace of mind.
While April Fool's is all about jokes and gags, stepping on a major landmine or alienating your core audience can quickly lead to a spectacular backfire, as this incident clearly shows.