Crunchyroll has issued an apology for their announcement of the English language title for the anime adaptation of the popular hentai manga Kuro-Gyaru ni Natta Kara Shinyu to Yatte Mita, believing the accurately translated name, I Became a Dark-Skinned Gal, So I Tried to Bang My Best Friend, to be racially insensitive.
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On February 12th, Crunchyroll revealed that “the gender-bending hentai manga series” I Became a Dark-Skinned Gal, So I Tried to Bang My Best Friend would receive an anime adaptation, noting that “Chokko will be directing the anime series at [studio] Irawiazu, with Eeyo Kurosaki and Rei Ishikura writing the scripts and McQ1 adapting the character designs and acting as chief animation director on the Comic Festa project.”
Created by Yupopo Orishima, the explicit hentai manga features the following summary from English language publisher CoolMic, who have translated the series as F—ed by my Best Friend, “But I’m getting pretty excited, thinking about doing a female Shion.” I’m dripping wet down there, thanks to my best friend’s touch… Has he always been so good at sex…!!?
Soon after publishing the series’ announcement, prior to any sort of widespread social media attention or criticism, Crunchyroll took it upon themselves to remove any mention of I Became a Dark-Skinned Gal, So I Tried to Bang My Best Friend’s English title, deleting the above tweet and replacing all instances of its use in their initial article with its Japanese title.
“We apologize for the insensitive translation in our article and the negative connotations that created,” reads a newly added Editor’s Note introducing Crunchyroll’s article. “We have changed our article to exclusively use the Japanese title, and are making changes to our operations to prevent circumstances like this from happening again.”
Despite the anime streaming platform’s belief that the title was racially insensitive, it should be noted that ‘Dark-Skinned Gal’ is an accurate translation of the series’ Japanese title, as “Kuro” translates to ‘black’ or ‘blackened’, while ‘Gyaru‘ is a transliteration of the English word ‘gal’ and is usually used in reference to a specific Japanese fashion subculture that places a heavy emphasis on tanning one’s skin.
Kuro-Gyaru ni Natta Kara Shinyu to Yatte Mita (I Became a Dark-Skinned Gal, So I Tried to Bang My Best Friend) is set to premiere on April 4th. The broadcast version of the show will be censored, while an uncensored version will be simulcast on the Comic Festa website.
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