Yesterday, two new characters were revealed for popular game Puzzle & Dragons: Gaia and Kraken. And for some in Japan, the reveal came at the worst time.
March 11 was the third anniversary of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami that ravaged the country's northeast, leaving scores dead and changing people's lives forever.
And that same day, an official Puzzle & Dragons Twitter account showed off a couple new characters for the first time, including previously mentioned Gaia (above) and Kraken (below).
Gaia personifies the Earth in Greek mythology, while Kraken is mythical sea monster.
As noted on popular Japanese game sites like My Game News Flash, some Japanese Twitter users found the character reveals on the quake's anniversary to lack discretion—with people pointing out that including a character that represents the Earth and one that represents a sea monster seemed unfortunate, given the timing.
"Announcing these characters on another day would be fine," wrote one Twitter user.
However, some commenters on My Game News Flash and Hachima Kikou said it was inappropriate to call these character reveals inappropriate and wondered how long it was necessary to mourn, while a few criticized the Tokyo-based Gung-Ho, the game company behind Puzzle & Dragons.
Then, there were those who didn't seem to care either way and said they liked the character designs.
『パズドラ』 3月11日に新モンスター発表！ → 「津波や地震を表していて不謹慎だ！」[オレ的ゲーム速報]
『パズドラ』公式が3.11に新モンスターを発表 → 「地震や津波を連想させる！不謹慎だ！」と話題に [はちま起稿]
超イケメンちゃん [パズル＆ドラゴンズ公式]
近日降臨予定の新キャラクター [パズル＆ドラゴンズ公式]
To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft.
Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.