Major anime broadcaster Tokyo MX has been forced to make a grovelling apology after one of its bosses called the company’s involvement in the creation of an AKB anime “shameful.”
The incident was prompted by a Tokyo MX manager tweeting thus:
“Doing an AKB anime is shaming the company, but there were certain reasons…”
This outrageously unguarded expression of an honest opinion, and one critical of Japan’s greatest cultural institution at that, was simply intolerable and soon Tokyo MX issued an official corporate apology:
We recently became aware that one of our management employees made critical comments about an upcoming anime show on his personal Twitter account.
We apologise deeply to all our valued viewers – we intend to immediately deal most severely with this employee. Additionally, we will ensure he is thoroughly trained in proper compliance so as to prevent any future incidents.
[They go on to describe the details of their corporate policy on social media, likely only of interest to the likes of Syria and China]
Tokyo MX is notable for being Tokyo’s only “independent” regional channel, the rest being associated with national broadcasters, and has long enjoyed a certain amount of notoriety for its relatively heavy anime involvement (although nothing compared to that of TBS and AT-X), and the amount of time it devotes to niche otaku shows.
Despite this relatively good reputation, aside from anime most of its programming seems to consist of looped shopping channel broadcasts interspersed with 30-year-old “classics” and occasional grovelling interviews with Tokyo fuhrer Ishihara.
Online there is not a great deal of sympathy for either him or the notoriously pure and blameless little schoolgirls of AKB48:
“But he’s right…”
“We live in a world where you cannot just say what you want to say.”
“What kind of soviets are in charge there? They want to control what he says in private as well?”
“He’s an anime otaku apparently. Naturally he couldn’t stand AKB48.”
“He’s creepy. He apparently started tweeting about how he was asked to select the tunes for his daughter’s school event, selected a bunch of anisong, only to end up with it all being AKB stuff – hence his dislike of them.”
“When I heard about this I agreed with him, but knowing that I’m a bit shocked…”
“He was a bit naive to have said all this under his real name…”
“I think he would have been warned about that sort of thing even if it weren’t AKB. It’s unprofessional.”
“It’s not an industry where the honest have much future.”
“What do you expect of a Twitter user.”
“That anime was really bad though!”
“AKB is shaming Japan. We don’t need those worthless mass-produced idols.”
“I don’t see what there was to apologise about.”
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But the anime really did suck....
So does the real group...
I thoroughly enjoyed the AKB anime.
yeah, shut up you devil's advocate
I think Akimoto would like to have a word with you...
And besides, he's not the only one who makes idols in masses... There's Mr. Johnny, who is also producing mass-produced male idols.
dun judge them from the outside
judge them by the "inside" haha
the anime will bread lolicons.
Old_Nahs
How will it? Sonata is the only loli of the show.
Sure, after all, being lolicon is a choice right?
I don't see how it's even possible to bread lolicons. There's no reason why to do so, either, unless you intend to deep-fry them and serve them at your local Dahmer Fried Human restaurant.
This is not what I had in mind when they said "stay in the kitchen".
Deep-frying's too good for 'em!
If becoming a lolicon means I have to literally get ear and brainraped by terrible music, I'll pass.
Speaking or writing the truth can get you fired.
It's terrible that that's how things are.
He should have used an anonymous Twitter account (e.g. with fake demographic information) and Tor -- from an Internet cafe, not from home or work.
Nah,... it's all about opinion. If you tell people the truth about something they'll laugh you in the face, because it's easier to believe the nice lies. Hyperinflation coming soon? No, couldn't happen. WWIII follows? How silly. If you keep going you'll be labeled a conspiracy theorist sooner than you manage to say god's in his heaven, everything's alright with the world.
btw, did you know that banks own pretty much all the water in the world?
***shaming the company***
this is what got him in trouble. he dragged the company's name into his personal opinion.
It's not just Japanese companies. Any large company would take disciplinary action on its employees if they were openly critical and named the company in question on a social network.
Haven't you seen the stories of people being fired over comments on facebook? Same thing.
The reaction seems a bit extreme, but disciplinary action shouldn't be surprising. In the end, you're publicly denouncing what your own company is doing; even if it's understood that you don't represent the company, it still speaks of internal discord and general bad press.
It's not just Japan. I work in the film industry in N. America and it'd be the exact same deal. Bad idea all around. You keep it to yourself, or to private channels.
@12:46
Its the other way around. The employee represents the company unless he specifically notes he is not.
If people associate you with a company, and you express an opinion, most people will take this to be the opinion of the company.
Why do you think editorials in newspapers ALWAYS state that the authors opinions do not represent that of the paper?
It doesn't work like that, he's still only one employee. And it still gets the whole company a bad name to say something like this.
He did this to himself.
Its not even that. From a corporate standpoint, the employees represent the company, thus anything they say is taken to be the company's opinion. So this guy saying openly that something the company did was shameful was like the company itself saying it. This is why he got in trouble.
I still think its stupid.
@09:59
An employee does NOT represent the company if he doesn't imply he speaks for the company and/or does so on a non-company related communications channel.
This is what happens when you people like love too much anime..
No, not really. We like good anime.
no. you sucked. your own dick
I wish I could...
In Shigurui, someone can. It made me think of Ouroboros.
Probably a bad analogy here but...
U.S. is to Jersey Shore as Japan is to AKB48(anime)?
get rid of the 3d in the anime and i am happy lol
Fuck all you haters who don't like the anime. U JELLY?
Some people really feel like it's their duty to shit on this show.
The boobs are not big enough for them, I guess.
More that it's just terribly written and has terribly written music. AKB makes reality TV look like true art.
I like small boobs but I dont like the akb48 anime.
I don't give a damn what they have to say about AKB0048.
Anime is first and foremost, entertainment. You are free to acomplish other things along the way, ask the big questions, explore the human condition and all those deep things we all ponder at some point along with making something entertaining. However if you make an Anime, or any form of fiction, that just does those things whilst forgetting to entertain, you have inexorably lost your way and have forgotten the basic foundation of fiction: it is at the end of the day, entertainment.
The biggest question I ask when thinking about Anime is this: did it entertain me? Everything else comes second.
Sure, AKB0048 is not the deepest Anime of the Spring 2012 season, but for me it is the most entertaining, along with Acchi Kocchi and Jormungand.
I am Type B and a man who loves his Moe, and while depth and asking the big questions is by no means bad, it is not absolutely required. I require my fiction to be entertaining first and foremost. AKB0048 did that for me wonderfully, and I require nothing more than that. You are free to disagree, but I will not change what I love regardless of what you say. I loved what I saw, and I don't give a damn if the broadcasters don't like it. I like it, and that's what matters at the end of the day.
Thanks for your post, but you should know: Putting a real and completely valid argument on SanCom is like putting truffles on a McD'ohnalds hamburger patty: a waste of ressources.
Anime is whatever people are willing to pay for it to be. If there is enough demand for non-entertainment anime, then such anime will be made.
the stupidest thing about this anime is its argument
How it can be that shitty japanese poop music is the
salvation for humanity or wathever?
It was in Macross though.
Well lets not mention that it was not another race without any contact with culture that was not war, contrary to the basic plot on AKB where the worlds arbitrary decided to be retarded by choice.
@3rdEye
An analogy is not a direct comparison. What the hell are YOU talking about?
Nice ad hominem. For that, I shall send you to the shadow realm! Prepare to experience the ultimate terror of... yes, we are going to play a card game.
Basically, it's yu-gi-oh for AKB fanboys, except they do music (insert barely contained laughter).
Er...and except it doesn't have the shounen appeal to it or anything shounenish about it. The hell are you even talking about?
And Yugioh might have been good if you are a little kid.
Except Yugioh and 5D's was actually good
“We live in a world where you cannot just say what you want to say.”
well, you're free to do anything as long as u're prepared for it
If manga AKB49 has an anime, i'll watch. But not this shit...
Make AKB49 Anime!
So AKB48 tried to be Idolm@ster and failed?
I still can't understand why so many people dislike this anime. Not liking an anime is one thing, actively hating it (and expressing it) is another.
Is it just because this anime is related to AKB48?
I personally know nothing about that group, but I like this anime. It has all the typical good things you can find in animes, minus sexiness, plus excellent character development. I sincerely wish that there is a 2nd season.
Probably right. When the anime was announced I was wondering would it make readers here more open minded about the idols. Turned out it made readers closed minded about the anime.
I don't get the amount of hate this show gets. It's actually rather good, and better than most if not everything else this season.
Totally agree.
This is one of the best animes I've watched!
I wonder what kind of anime these people like... perhaps Queen’s Blade? Go watch your porn already! Stop bashing good anime.
I also loved this Anime. I was hooked straight from the opening credits. It gave me all the feelings that I had when watching Karate Kid for the first time. It had humour, tension, sadness, action and that feel-good factor towards the end which gave me goosebumps. I was thoroughly entertained and can't wait for next season. (if there is one). :)