'Ridiculous' rape scene 'may be cut' from anti-Japanese war drama

The scene is during the second world war. An attractive heroine from China, who has lethal martial arts training and is an expert with a bow and arrow successfully fends off a group of evil Japanese troops attempting to rape her.

Held down by a group of soldiers, the heroine, played by mainland actress Jiang Xin, puts an arrow through the neck of an advancing villain about to remove his pants. She reaches for her bow and starts firing off arrows - three at a time - eventually killing the entire platoon. The last soldier, who appears to be a Chinese traitor, is also killed with gusto.

This scene from the mainland TV series Jianzai Xianshang, or “Ready to Fly” in English, reads like nationalist propaganda – the type Beijing wants to air more of.

But after online complaints flooded in ahead of a debut broadcast on Sichuan, Guizhou and Henan primetime television, the scene may be cut, the New Express Daily reported on Tuesday. It was widely criticised for being unrealistic and ridiculous.

Anti-Japanese films and TV dramas are on the rise in China. According to Reuters, about 200 of these were produced in 2012 alone, partly due to the territorial row over the Diaoyu Islands, but also because the theme itself has always been popular.

Actor Chen Daoming earlier this month criticised mainland-produced anti-Japanese war dramas for being “entertainment-oriented” content which distorted history and misled young people.