Why This Topic Landed in Japan

Stephen Chow's comedy Kung Fu Soccer follows a weak women's football team that uses Chinese kung fu to win its way to a continental cup, and one opposing side — a team called Ihwa that evokes Korea — is drawn as winning through fouls, diving and bribery, which has drawn anger in Korea. The film took 260 million yuan on its opening day, the biggest opening of a Chinese summer season to date, and passed 1.2 billion yuan by its eighth day. Reports position it as a follow-up to Chow's 2001 hit Shaolin Soccer, though it has also been described as a women's remake or spin-off, and it is his first film as director since 2019. In Japan the original is widely remembered fondly, which meant the news reached film fans before it reached anyone arguing about Korea. What turned it into a longer thread was that disputed refereeing at the 2002 World Cup and rough play in Japan-Korea fixtures are durable reference points for Japanese football fans, so a Chinese production reaching for the same characterisation was read as outside confirmation. Running against that, a substantial share of comments treated the casting as a commercial decision about which nations a Chinese studio is free to make into villains.

Key Reaction Themes

  • Sarcasm framed as simple accuracy — "Non-fiction" and "far too faithful to the historical record" set the tone, backed by specific recollections of past fixtures.
  • Reading the villain slot commercially — Commenters argued a Chinese production cannot make China the villain, and that Korea was the available option rather than a considered judgment.
  • Relativising the stereotypes — Attention moved to how every team in the film is a national cliché, with commenters cheerfully speculating about the Australian, Indian and Japanese sides.
  • Straightforward anticipation for the film — A steady thread simply wanted to watch it, remembered the original as a masterpiece, and asked when it opens in Japan.

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

A Korea-like team written as serial cheats

The portrayal of the Ihwa team drew anger in Korea, and that reaction became the story in Japan.

ミン・イヒョウ/CMGアナウンサー
ミン・イヒョウ/CMGアナウンサー
@Min73946608
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＃佐藤健 が ＃周星馳（＃チャウ・シンチー）監督の待望の新作映画『＃功夫女足（＃カンフー・サッカー）』に登場？！ 11日から中国で公開中のこの作品は、初動記録はすでに5億元（約120億円）を突破。 予告編には佐藤健の姿が！！！（一瞬だけど） Show more

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CGTN JAPANESE
CGTN JAPANESE
@CgtnJapanese

【注目の映画新作：功夫女足】待望の周星馳（チャウ・シンチー）監督の新作映画『功夫女足（カンフー・サッカー）』が7月11日に中国本土で一般公開決定。本作は、サッカーとカンフーを融合させた女子サッカーチーム「峨嵋隊」の奮闘を描くストーリーで、25年前のチャウ・シンチー自身の名作『少林サッ

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Sources: Yahoo! news, 2ch

Comments:

  • "I'm sensing a big hit in Japan."
  • "Non-fiction."
  • "Well, in real life they've been breaking opposing players with taekwondo football too." [Translator's note: "taekwondo football" is a long-running Japanese fan nickname for rough play in Japan-Korea matches.]
  • "Hong Kong was handed back, so they can't make the Chinese team the villains."
  • "Far too faithful to the historical record."
  • "Every single team is a stereotype lol"
  • "I thought, is there really anything here to be furious about? But if someone called me short, fat and bald I might get annoyed too."
  • "I watched the scene where Konga got kicked to pieces live at the time, and it's seared in deep enough that I can still picture it."
  • "Take a look at yourselves first."
  • "Is the Japanese team picking up litter? lol"

Why Korea got the villain slot, and hopes for the film itself

Analysis of the casting decision ran alongside straightforward fan anticipation.

Comments:

  • "Shaolin Soccer was fun, so I'd genuinely like to watch this."
  • "Shaolin Soccer really did draw audiences and get good notices. The subculture scene, or rather Eiga Hiho, has collapsed, so promotion in that direction is probably difficult. China has no stake of its own here, so it's fair enough in its way. It's just an assessment of how Korea looks from the outside."
  • "If you're going to cast a villain it should be Japan. With Korea the sense of them being beneath you is too obvious. Why not put in imperial-Japanese girls with bayonets and superpowers?"
  • "If it's this stereotypical, does Australia end up the one you feel sorry for? I understand the rugby-powerhouse image, but you start wanting a kangaroo in there."
  • "China would be the robot team, surely."
  • "China's respect for Japanese football is abnormal."
  • "Dhalsim in Street Fighter II was India's representative and a yoga user, and even now in the Reiwa era the India team still fights using yoga. I'm curious about Japan's ninja team too."
  • "Shaolin Soccer really is a masterpiece."
  • "I have a memory of Shaolin Soccer being fun, but I don't remember the plot."
  • "I'm looking forward to this. When does it open in Japan?"