Anime as a medium has come under fire from the LGBTQ community, who took to Twitter to raise their voice against the depiction of queer and transgender characters in recent shonen. The heated discussion was sparked by Twitter user @stillgray, who posted an image of the okama from One Piece, whose less-than-flattering depiction triggered people online.Anime as a Japanese medium of storytelling often diverts from Western ideas, ethics, and gender roles, although its fanbase extends around the world. As such, cultural clashes such as this one is a common recurrence.Fans react after Twitter user attacks Eichiro Oda's One Piece for its depiction of LGBTQ charactersIan Miles Cheong@stillgrayThis is how Japanese anime depicts trans people.298642528This is how Japanese anime depicts trans people. https://t.co/Zwg6RA2KadIan Miles Cheong posted a picture of one of the famous scenes from One Piece in the Return to Sabaody arc and captioned his post with the title:"This is how Japanese anime depicts trans people."The grotesque, intentionally cartoonish features of the LGBTQ okama who aid Luffy and his crew in escaping, do so by horrifying and overwhelming the Navy of the World government through their exaggerated features.This seems to paint the characters as offensive caricatures laden with stereotypes that real people have to face in the world.However, other Twitter users soon jumped to the rescue of anime, claiming that such a depiction was in fact more limited to that particular series as opposed to anime as a whole.User @kdjfile replied to Cheong's post, posting several other pictures to denote how anime is also known for its positive portrayal of the queer community. Yet another user posted a video from an old series, claiming that anime used to be more progressive back in the 90s.According to @femboy_fujoshi:"This is how Japanese anime depicts trans people back in 1985. You're 38 years behind my dude.'Juno 🔞 working on comms@noredemptionarcI love 80-90s anime because they weren’t afraid to depict trans and gay characters and not make fun of them twitter.com/femboy_fujoshi…Meryl ♂️ 𝔦𝔫𝔣𝔢𝔠𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔪𝔞𝔩𝔢@femboy_fujoshiThis is how Japanese anime depicts trans people back in 1985.You're 38 years behind my dude. twitter.com/stillgray/stat…2798241This is how Japanese anime depicts trans people back in 1985.You're 38 years behind my dude. twitter.com/stillgray/stat… https://t.co/OM6PQmwfhjI love 80-90s anime because they weren’t afraid to depict trans and gay characters and not make fun of them twitter.com/femboy_fujoshi…Twitter user @noredemptionarc agreed to this, claiming about LGBTQ representation:"I love 80-90s anime because they weren’t afraid to depict trans and gay characters and not make fun of them."Yet others, however, had less polarizing opinions.shaquille o'atmeal@crypt0e@stillgray15558@stillgray https://t.co/Vd1dTcKe0kIan Miles Cheong@stillgray@crypt0e19988@crypt0e https://t.co/wdBrKVCDs6John Hawkins@johnhawkinsrwn@stillgray That's actually a fairly accurate representation.333317@stillgray That's actually a fairly accurate representation.shaquille o'atmeal@crypt0e@stillgray1795@stillgray https://t.co/vhzAM8TtyeDylan Hall@OnlyDylanHall@stillgray Japanese people haven't had much experience with Transgenderism even yet. However, the depiction of males dressed as females varies quite a bit.2031@stillgray Japanese people haven't had much experience with Transgenderism even yet. However, the depiction of males dressed as females varies quite a bit. https://t.co/sGiXwFe7cGBrady Buchanan@Commander_Brady@stillgray I remember that! It was One Piece anime show! It has been forever ago since I last saw this episode!3@stillgray I remember that! It was One Piece anime show! It has been forever ago since I last saw this episode!What the okama in One Piece representOne Piece Tweets@onepiecedaiIysBon Clay167891875Bon Clay https://t.co/qUR1PV1XnKDespite the appearance of the okama, Oda does depict them favorably. Not only are they allied with Luffy and the Straw Hats, the protagonists of the story, but several of them also have great combat skills and have become fan-favorite characters. Notable among them is Ivankov, the ally of Luffy's father Dragon, the revolutionary.Another fan-favorite okama is Bon Clay, whose role in the series has changed over time, from being an adversary to an ally to finally even sacrificing himself in the Impel Down arc.