Ultra Pro has removed a playmat which features No Game No Life characters from their online store after the popular trading card supply retailer received numerous complaints about the product from members of the Magic: The Gathering community.
On August 14th, the play mat in question was brought to public attention by popular Magic: The Gathering YouTuber Tolarian Community College, who noted that he did not “like that the company that sells officially licensed MTG accessories also makes and sells playmats which depict a girl who is expressly stated as being 11 years old in this way.”
The mat featured official promotional artwork from the series’ anime adaptation of Steph and Shiro in suggestive clothing and poses, with Shiro herself nude from the waist up. You can see the mat here.
The disgust expressed by Tolarian Community College was soon echoed by other members of the Magic: The Gathering community, many of whom took offense to the mere existence of the playmat.
User @M0u53b41t stated that “it even existing I have an issue with tbh.”
Another player by the handle of @Jayosu expressed his disbelief that others could enjoy this style of artwork and suggested there was something wrong with those who thought “this is okay in public, let alone private.”
@Robbertstevens, a Magic: The Gathering player, stated he “would pack my cards if someone would be using a playmat like this against me.”
While suggestive loli imagery causes widespread offense, it appears that sexually charged images of furry characters are acceptable, as user @IoukoYamato declared that “As someone who has a custom playmat that is fantasy-setting beefcake image of my fursona I’m sometimes bashful about using in public, I feel absolutely chaste using it in light of this degeneracy.”
Other fans took their outrage and disgust one step further and began to propose that any products featuring suggestive, or in some cases any, anime-related imagery should be banned from use or incur tournament penalties.
“Ban anime playmats” declared user @coL_Amazonian.
@Butterball_moo stated that if they “saw someone come into my LGS and unroll one of these, it’d be on sight.” They did not specify whether the action taken would be mat confiscation, verbal chastising, or physical violence.
One solution put forth was to “ban mats not depicting abstract shapes, landscapes and architecture, just to be on the safe side”
As the outrage surrounding the mat began to build, Magic: The Gathering artist Jeff Miracola stated that “they need to remove that crap!” and informed fans that he had “just emailed my contacts at UltraPro to make them aware of this playmat.”
Ultimately, the playmat was removed from Ultra Pro’s store, with links to the page now providing visitors with a 404 error.