A potentially discriminatory piece of Attack on Titan clothing merchandise will not be sold after all. The official website for the final season of the show offered pre-sales for an Eldian armband before removing it from sale.
Here’s what it looked like.
The producers of the show said they would no longer offer the armband because it evokes images of discrimination.
“The product set for production reproduces part of a character’s costume that appears in Attack on Titan,” the producers said in a statement. “However, [the armband] is also considered a symbol of racial and ethnic discrimination. We recognize there was a lack of consideration in commercializing the item. We are very sorry.”
In the show, the state of Marley passed a law that all Eldians must wear the armband to differentiate themselves from the rest of the population. They’re forced to reside in low-income housing and constantly face oppression. However. the armband closely resembles the ones that Jewish people had to wear during the period around World War II.
While the armbands were obviously meant to signify oppression, making real-life examples of them is probably not a good idea. Many people online agreed.
Others say that people are being too sensitive about the issue.
Another user also said the armband was fictional, so it shouldn’t matter.
Whether or not you agree or disagree, the show’s producers decided that they didn’t want merchandise that could be mistaken for a real-life discrimination tool out on the streets.
Part two of Attack on Titan The Final Season premieres on January 9.
