In a recent episode of Super Cub, the anime about schoolgirls and the Honda motorcycle, two characters are shown riding on the same motorcycle. That is illegal in Japan.
In Japanese, two people riding on the same motorcycle or bicycle is called futari-nori (“two riders”). Those who violate this traffic law can be fined up to 100,000 yen ($1,177). As reported on Yahoo! News Japan, when the episode aired, there were those pointing out that the scene appears to show characters doing just that.
Yahoo! News Japan got in touch with Kadokawa, the company behind the anime, and an official spokesperson pointed out, “This story is fiction. The people, the groups, and the names are fictional and have no connection to reality.” The spokesperson did concede that the Super Cub that appears in the anime is based on reality and added that the show was created with the guidance of supervision of Honda.
(Note that the licence plate that appears in the anime is not real.)
Parts of Super Cub seem like a fantasy (or even like a Honda ad), but other parts are realistic, especially regarding the bike. This might have exacerbated the calls of legal impudence or even made the show seemed irresponsible.
While the incessant motorcycle talk is grounded in reality, the show is not actually a depiction of actual reality. Just imagine if every anime was called out for every single legal infraction, no matter how minor.
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