{"id":66308,"date":"2026-05-07T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=66308"},"modified":"2026-05-07T18:09:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T09:09:29","slug":"japans-major-cosmetics-brand-faces-backlash-for-ai-generated-ad-following-sailor-moon-comparisons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japans-major-cosmetics-brand-faces-backlash-for-ai-generated-ad-following-sailor-moon-comparisons\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan&#8217;s major cosmetics brand faces backlash for AI-generated ad following Sailor Moon comparisons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Major Japanese cosmetics brand Utena recently faced backlash for its latest commercial featuring the Utena Moisture line of skin products. Titled \u201cMoisture Warrior,\u201d the video was created entirely using AI and features an art style similar to Naoko Takeuchi\u2019s <strong>Sailor Moon<\/strong>. Following backlash regarding its creation and misappropriation of the Sailor Moon IP, the video has since been taken down from the <a href=\"https:\/\/youtube.com\/@ut3387?si=lDs6c9KmQ1gucVYh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">company\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a> and all physical ads related to it (specifically <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/oriton47\/status\/2051551512195957247?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">those in transit stations<\/a> that were placed before the ad went live) are in the process of being removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">\u5f0a\u793e\u30b9\u30ad\u30f3\u30b1\u30a2\u30d6\u30e9\u30f3\u30c9\u300c\u30a6\u30c6\u30ca \u30e2\u30a4\u30b9\u30c1\u30e3\u30fc\u300d\u306e\u4ea4\u901a\u5e83\u544a\u304a\u3088\u3073PR\u52d5\u753b\u300e\u6f64\u3044\u6226\u58eb\u30e2\u30a4\u30b9\u30c1\u30e3\u30fc\u300f\u306b\u3064\u3044\u3066\u3001\u304a\u8a6b\u3073\u3068\u3054\u5831\u544a\u3092\u7533\u3057\u4e0a\u3052\u307e\u3059\u3002 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YVI3nKtfEB\">pic.twitter.com\/YVI3nKtfEB<\/a><\/p>&mdash; \u682a\u5f0f\u4f1a\u793e\u30a6\u30c6\u30ca\u3010\u516c\u5f0f\u3011 (@utena_official) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/utena_official\/status\/2051844399538307301?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 6, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The official apology acknowledges the comments regarding the commercial\u2019s use of generative AI. While it does not &nbsp;mention Sailor Moon by name, the company remarked that the ad \u201clacked understanding of the creativity and cultural background of existing works.\u201d After apologizing for any discomfort and concern that the ad may have been caused, Utena said it will be removing the video from their YouTube channel and taking down any related transit ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Though Utena says that the ad underwent \u201cmultiple legal reviews\u201d before being posted, the company is once again seeking counsel to make sure the video, as well as all future advertisements, do not break any laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Comments on the apology post have been mostly negative, with some openly criticizing the risky move by Utena\u2019s advertising department. Given the ad\u2019s similarities to Sailor Moon, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/tk8d32\/status\/2051973666397901128?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">some are wondering if the company should have forwent the generative AI route in favor of an official collaboration<\/a> (the suggestive style of the ad led many to believe this was the case). Other fans and consumers expressed concern for the company\u2019s overall direction, saying it could <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/kyochis7\/status\/2051987062296125931?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">negatively impact Utena\u2019s reputation<\/a> as one of Japan\u2019s oldest cosmetics brands, going as far back as 1923.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/ive-never-made-a-single-magical-girl-anime-sailor-moon-r-and-revolutionary-girl-utena-director-says-many-people-mistake-the-genre-of-his-work\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cI\u2019ve never made a single magical girl anime.\u201d Sailor Moon R and Revolutionary Girl Utena director says many people mistake the genre of his work<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231020-22422\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>False plagiarism accusations a growing problem in Japan\u2019s anime industry \u2013 Sailor Moon director takes legal action, fearing deadly outcome<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new AI-generated commercial by Japanese cosmetics brand Utena faces online criticism for looking &#8220;too similar&#8221; to the Sailor Moon art style. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":66310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,65],"tags":[17,66],"class_list":["post-66308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-nongaming-news","tag-japan-related-news","tag-non-gaming-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Japan&#039;s major cosmetics brand faces backlash for AI-generated ad following Sailor Moon comparisons - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A new AI-generated commercial by Japanese cosmetics brand Utena faces online criticism for looking &quot;too similar&quot; to the Sailor Moon art style.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japans-major-cosmetics-brand-faces-backlash-for-ai-generated-ad-following-sailor-moon-comparisons\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japan&#039;s major cosmetics brand faces backlash for AI-generated ad following Sailor Moon comparisons - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new AI-generated commercial by Japanese cosmetics brand Utena faces online criticism for looking &quot;too similar&quot; to the Sailor Moon art style.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japans-major-cosmetics-brand-faces-backlash-for-ai-generated-ad-following-sailor-moon-comparisons\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-07T12:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20260507-66308-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"724\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Japan's major cosmetics brand faces backlash for AI-generated ad following Sailor Moon comparisons - 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