On March 6, the official White House X account posted a video showcasing clips and audio from several popular franchises mixed in with footage of U.S. troops’ activity. Amongst American-made films and shows like Iron Man 2 and Breaking Bad being played against the backdrop of a remix of Mortal Kombat’s Techo Syndrome, the video ended with a clip from an English-dubbed episode of the 2000s Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters anime. In response, the official Yu-Gi-Oh! X account stated that the clip was used without permission.
“It has come to our attention that a post on the White House’s official X account used footage from the anime series Yu-Gi-Oh!. This was made without any authorization from the rights holder. Regarding this matter, no one associated with the manga or anime had any involvement, and no permission was granted for the use of this intellectual property,” they wrote in the post.
Japanese X users are understandably upset about the use of the clip. One Yu-Gi-Oh! fan points out that the scene in the anime ends with protagonist Yugi Muto exclaiming, “There is no true victory at the end of hatred,” which could be taken as ironic considering the contents of the White House commercial.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters wasn’t the only Japanese anime used in the propaganda video, as a close-up of Dragon Ball’s Beerus can also be seen towards the end. The official White House X account often uses pop culture memes and references to spread its ideas, but perhaps this is one instance where it went too far.
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