Keelung Cultural Center broadcasts simplified Chinese anime; city government to review vendor's error

The Keelung Cultural Center's exterior wall was found to be broadcasting a simplified Chinese version of the popular anime "Haikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle" during a test run on the evening of June 30th. The broadcast, intended for an upcoming summer film event, immediately drew criticism online, with many netizens questioning the legitimacy of the screening and accusing the organizers of playing pirated content.

Users on the social platform Threads shared videos of the broadcast, pointing out the simplified Chinese subtitles and raising concerns about copyright infringement. Fans of the anime also contacted its Taiwanese distributor, urging them to investigate. Online comments expressed dismay, with phrases like "Copyright awareness is so poor," "Hope Japan sues them quickly," and "How can you trample on culture like this?"

The Keelung Cultural Affairs Bureau (CAB) clarified that the screening was a test for their "Summer Cinema" event, which runs from July 4th to August 22nd. They stated that "Haikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle" was not among the officially selected films for public broadcast. The issue arose due to a vendor's error in selecting a simplified Chinese version from a streaming platform during the testing phase, not a formal public screening.

City government spokesperson Wu Yu-chen stated that the incident was a procedural mistake by the vendor during testing. The city government has instructed the CAB to conduct a thorough review of its outsourced vendor management, operational procedures, and oversight mechanisms to prevent similar situations from happening again. The CAB confirmed that future tests would use officially approved public broadcast versions.