Artificial intelligence is playing a bigger role in advertising, but one company recently had to remove a commercial created by AI because it too closely resembled a popular Japanese manga and anime series.
Utena’s recent advertisement for its “Moisture Warrior” skincare line, shared on social media, quickly drew criticism. Many anime fans claimed the video’s art style closely resembled that of Naoko Takeuchi, the creator of Sailor Moon.
Interestingly, the character Utena features a warrior design and look that closely resembles Sailor Jupiter. An older female character with long, purple hair also sparked comparisons. The controversial video has now been taken down from television and all social media platforms, and any related posters or advertisements are being removed from public view.
Sailor Moon Comparisons Force New AI Ad Offline After Fan Backlash
On May 6, 2006, Utena posted an apology on X (formerly Twitter) addressing concerns about recent advertisements that began appearing on April 27, including a video called “Moisture Warrior Moisture.” The apology specifically addressed the use of AI in creating the ads and how they resembled other existing works. Utena expressed sincere regret for any discomfort or concern this caused.
I’ve been watching the debate around AI and copyright heat up recently. Programs like ChatGPT and PixAI are often trained using work created by people – things like images and writing – and then they generate new stuff. The problem is, this often happens without the original artists even knowing, or giving their permission. We’re seeing this play out in online trends, like people creating AI-generated images, and it’s really forcing us to figure out how to protect artists’ work in this new AI world.
Japanese copyright law does cover content created by AI, but it doesn’t stop AI programs from learning by analyzing existing artwork. However, these programs are so advanced that they can copy an artist’s style almost perfectly. Utena has stated that the promotional video went through several legal reviews with outside experts before it was released.
Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming a standard tool in the anime industry. Last year, Toei Animation – the studio famous for both the original ’90s Sailor Moon series and its 2014 remake, Sailor Moon Crystal – announced plans to use AI more extensively in its future anime projects.
The company’s latest report for 2025 focuses on how artificial intelligence can be used for tasks like creating storyboards and coloring images. They are also exploring AI tools for typesetting, as demonstrated by their work with the manga series My Dress-Up Darling.
Utena has announced it will keep consulting with experts and outside sources to avoid similar problems happening again. They plan to thoroughly examine how they review content, focusing not only on legal requirements, but also on ensuring it’s sensitive to viewers. Utena once again offered a sincere apology for any distress this caused.
The Sailor Moon manga series is available in English from Kodansha USA.
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2026-05-08 03:49