ALBAWABA - Hours after the Gachiakuta anime won three awards, mangaka Kei Urana deleted her X (formerly Twitter) account following a clash with fans after reposting a Jabber dance video on Instagram.
While many fans took the video in good faith, others accused Urana of "racism" because the clip captured a Japanese man imitating Jabber's hairstyle by installing leeks on his head to resemble locs.
A social media user wrote on X, "watching kei urana block people on her professional account whose only crime was rightfully criticize her after she reposted some racist bs on her story..."
On the contrary, a fan took to Kei Urana's defense and wrote, "This is what I never wanted to see. Kei Urana, the mangaka of GACHIAKUTA, just deactivated her account after heavy harassment from parts of the fandom — right after winning multiple major awards. I’m genuinely disappointed. She did nothing wrong."
Gachiakuta mangaka deletes X account following clash with fans
In response to the criticism, Urana started blocking fans who sent hateful comments towards her on the same platform, which eventually led to the account's deactivation or deletion.
Before deactivating her account, the Gachiakuta mangaka said that the chaos on X was affecting her creative work. She is considered one of the few manga artists who often interacts with their fanbase and is quite active on social media.
She also took to Instagram with a lengthy story post that read, "This is a quote from a dance video that recreates the scene by using hair to resemble a leek. I apologize if it caused offense. I will remove the quote." I shared the dance because I found it entertaining, and I had no intention of making fun of their culture.
Urana added, "I'm so happy to see so many people recreating Jabbar's 'dance' and Zanka's 'falling down' in such a fun and cool way, so I often give them a 'like.'"
It's worth noting that Urana remains active on Instagram, where she regularly posts updates, drawings, and news, and occasionally goes live.
