In recent days, the White House has posted videos on X showing U.S.-Israeli forces’ ongoing military operations against Iran that feature elements from Nintendo’s Wii Sports video game and popular manga series “Yu-Gi-Oh!”
The videos have been criticized for making light of deadly attacks.
A 52-second video titled “Epic Fury,” the name of the military operation, was released Thursday. It combines an image of a bombing with that from Wii Sports’ bowling game, displaying the word “Strike.” The phrase “Hole in one” appears in a part of the video that combines airstrikes and images.
On March 5, a separate video featuring “Yu-Gi-Oh!” and bombings was posted.
In response, the official X account of the manga series released a statement saying that the manga and anime franchise has had no involvement with the White House videos, and that intellectual property associated with the manga series has not been licensed to the White House.
A bombing of an Iranian girls’ elementary school, believed to have been done by the U.S., killed about 170 students in the opening days of the war.
U.S. media has shown comments from a former senior U.S. government official who accused the administration of President Donald Trump of treating war like a game, saying the administration has displayed a very careless attitude toward deceased troops and civilians.