"Chiikawa: The Secret of Mermaid Island," the adorable franchise's first-ever theatrical anime, hit the big screen on July 24, 2026, and it's been an absolute smash! Box office numbers are soaring, and critics and fans alike are raving.
But here's a wild one: a Japanese X (formerly Twitter) user recently shared a story about a couple who went to see "Chiikawa: The Secret of Mermaid Island" together. What should have been a cute date turned into a full-blown argument over—wait for it—"Is the author of Chiikawa male or female?" The fight escalated so much it almost led to a breakup! The internet, naturally, went wild, shocked that such a seemingly trivial topic could cause such drama.
The X user who posted the story, "Nenemaru," runs an account dedicated to sharing relationship anecdotes submitted by followers.
According to the submission, after their "Chiikawa" movie date, the couple was chatting when the boyfriend adamantly insisted that Nagano, the creator of "Chiikawa," must be male. His girlfriend pulled up official sources proving Nagano is, in fact, female. But instead of accepting the truth, he doubled down, declaring, "There's no way a woman could draw something like 'Chiikawa.'"
Even with more evidence presented, her boyfriend flat-out refused to admit he was wrong. He even started spouting baseless theories like, "Even if she's a woman, she probably has a 'male brain.'" Anything to avoid saying, "Oops, my bad." Understandably, his girlfriend was utterly disheartened.
This whole ordeal led Nenemaru to sigh, "Some people just absolutely refuse to apologize, no matter what."
Nenemaru also shared another submission where a couple broke up after watching the movie "We Made a Beautiful Bouquet." While many joked that "stable couples break up after seeing this movie," it wasn't for the usual reasons. Instead, the boyfriend convinced himself that his girlfriend must have had a similar romance in the past, which made him feel "grossed out" and "repulsed," even "disenchanted" with her. Talk about overthinking!
Once this story hit the web, comments flooded in. Most people agreed the real issue wasn't "Chiikawa" itself, but the boyfriend's glaring personality flaws. One netizen commented, "What's truly chilling isn't being wrong, it's having all the evidence laid out and still refusing to say 'Sorry, I messed up,' instead trying to twist it with bizarre theories." Another added, "Someone who can't admit they're wrong about something so small will never apologize for anything major."
Many users felt "Chiikawa" was merely the catalyst that brought deeper issues to light. One comment read, "They didn't break up *because* of 'Chiikawa'; they broke up because 'Chiikawa' revealed his ugly true colors."
Another user chimed in, "What's truly disheartening isn't that he got the author's gender wrong, but his blatant prejudice and his refusal to admit fault even after being proven wrong."
Some also pointed out that the boyfriend's remarks reeked of gender stereotypes. For instance, one person noted, "The phrase 'a woman couldn't draw something like this' is inherently sexist and prejudiced." Another speculated, "It's not just that he won't apologize; it's that he fundamentally looks down on women. This 'Chiikawa' incident was just the spark; more similar issues are bound to pop up later."
While this whole kerfuffle has nothing to do with "Chiikawa"'s plot, the clash over the author's gender perception highlights how common these relationship dramas are. This time, it just happened to unfold during a post-"Chiikawa" movie discussion.
Still, some Japanese netizens couldn't help but joke, "Turns out 'Chiikawa' has a built-in jerk-detector function, LOL!"