Season 2 of Japanese drama Vivant Photo: Screenshot from CCTV News

By portraying Chinese characters as perpetrators of ruthless violence while casting Japanese Self-Defense Forces (SDF) intelligence operatives as defenders, the season 2 of the Japanese drama Vivant has recently drawn criticism from Chinese netizens, who argue that its depiction turns historical reality on its head while ignoring Japan's wartime atrocities.

The TBS drama series - a spy suspense story in which an alleged unofficial intelligence unit of the SDF operates across the globe -- has attracted a passionate fanbase. Its currently airing season 2 opened with a household rating of 18.8 percent, the highest for a TV drama this year, according toa commentary article by Japanese media Toyo Keizai. 

What draws attention is the portrayal of the enemies in the series, the article noted. Scenes in which the Chinese organization subjects kidnapped members of the SDF unit to brutal torture are repeated with unrelenting intensity. 

It is rare for Japanese TV dramas to explicitly portray a real-life country as the enemy, the article noted. 

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi also made a reference to the drama, saying that she has been recording Vivant and hope to binge-watch it over the year-end and New Year holidays, according to Japanese media outlets.

China's CCTV News report on Sunday revealed that the drama features scenes in which Chinese personnel cut off the fingers of and stab Japanese intelligence operatives in the abdomen. Such acts bear striking similarities to the torture inflicted on Chinese nationals by invading Japanese troops during the World War II. 

The drama distorts the truth by attributing these atrocities to modern Chinese characters. Beneath the surface, it subtly glorifies Japan's cross-border overseas operations, blurs the functional boundaries of the SDF and implicitly promotes an expansionist narrative, per CCTV News.

Following the report, the topic "Japanese drama Vivant smears China" quickly became a trending topic on Chinese social media. 

One Chinese netizen Luoxuchen noted that while previous content avoided sensitive topics by setting the story in a fictional country, this season directly names China, signaling that anti-China narratives in Japanese cultural entertainment have shed their disguise and become open.

Some netizens pointed out that Japan's acts of distorting history are commonplace. "This is a familiar tactic of Japan, and vigilance must never be relaxed."

The drama has even drawn criticism from some Japanese netizens. One netizen and history scholar @mas_yamazaki said that while the drama explicitly names "China," it portrays Chinese people as "cruel," "stupid" and "incompetent," shows viewers weekly scenes of Japanese people being brutally tortured, and then coolly depicts SDF members slaughtering dozens of the "evil Chinese." 

"TBS broadcast this kind of drama in 2026, with major companies such as Japan Airlines as sponsors. The country is sick," the netizen said.

"I'm quietly intrigued by the process of how content like this gets approved within the framework of commercial broadcasting," another Japanese netizen @kyou_kore_mite wrote.

In the 2026 defense white paper released in August, Japan smeared and accused China, hyped up the "China threat," while continuously accelerating its remilitarization.

China has already repeatedly urged Japan to reflect on its historical crimes, earnestly draw lessons from history, stop making excuses for its military buildup, and not go further down the wrong path, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian during a press conference.

Global Times