Japanese media accuses Chinese film of biological experimentation, “at a level that the world will laugh at”

On the 14th (local time), Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun reported that the Chinese film ‘731’ is receiving harsh reviews from film platforms and audiences in China.

‘731’ recorded a low score of 3.2 out of 10 on the movie rating site ‘IMDb’. The major film platforms in China, Maoyan and Douban, continued to criticize the film, saying, “If it were released around the world, it would be ridiculed,” and some platforms stopped releasing ratings.

While the Chinese Communist Party and government designated this year as the ’80th anniversary of the victory in the Anti-Japanese War’ and launched a large-scale anti-Japanese campaign, ‘731’ received explosive attention throughout China at the beginning of its release. On the first day of its release, the number of screenings nationwide exceeded 256,000, setting the record for the most screenings on a single day, and it recorded a cumulative box office revenue of 1.456 billion yuan (approximately 31.1 billion won) within 10 days of its release.

Mainichi reported that the audience’s evaluation was cold and the local reaction was cold. Chinese netizens criticized the film, saying, “It focused on exaggerated directing rather than historical facts,” and “It showed the limitations of domestic blockbusters.”

There were also many comments on IMDb saying, “”It’s an insult to history and the victims,” ​​and “”A director of this level should not deal with this kind of topic.””

The movie partially reflected the actual activities of Unit 731, such as using fleas and rats to spread germs and conducting human experiments, but the newspaper reported that unrealistic directing, such as a sudden oiran procession scene and anachronistic costumes, was criticized for hindering immersion in the plot.

‘731’s IMDb rating of 3.2 points is far behind the 8.1 points of the Chinese film ‘Nanjing Photo Studio’, which was released in July of the same year. As of October 13, box office revenue was approximately 40.4 billion won, making it difficult to catch up with ‘Nanjing Photo Studio’ (approximately 64.5 billion won).

https://www.hankyung.com/article/2025101504227

I looked it up when I remembered that anti-Japanese sentiment in China had intensified because of this movie.

There is an article posted today.

Even at the time of its release, there was a lot of talk that the movie was made poorly and was criticized even in China.

Even the IMDB review just criticizes everything.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33028976/reviews/

Aside from the fact that it was a huge box office hit on the first day, there is no separate audience count in China either.

I heard it will be released in Korea in December.