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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well I don't like their music, but still dunno how's that shaming the company..
is it rly that bad :?
I've watched the anime. It's actually pretty good in terms of human interaction. The characters act quite human, including their spite, joy, and anger. I honestly don't know why most anime fans hate it so, it's no worse then half of currently anime.
This anime its not that bad but also not that good (its hard to see and im and AKB48 fan). The problem is that this anime its just a big "AKB48-propaganda" tool. Targeting the normal anime otaku with very basic plots (follow your dreams, friendship, bla bla bla) but based in AKB music, names, events, etc, etc so the otaku fan can get used to this AKB concept and consume the product later.
Breainwash, breainwhas hahahaha.
You're right, it's not great, but I think it's decent. I understand people disliking it, I just don't understand all the hate.
Not enough blood and bewbs...? Honestly I think the anime's decent... Very cliched plot line but the characters are fun to have around...
it's quite enjoyable actually. Not just cute things and syrup everywhere.
The true musician deserving the praise, fame and profit is the person who writes it, which is why pop-music generally sucks. That's why it's called popular music. Because it's marketed by that which appeals to the masses and with it's own popularity, which sounds crazy but is in fact true.
Anyway, the music in this anime sounds very nice. I don't know if this is typical of AKB48 (IRL) though.
I think that actually all songs there are AKB48 songs. I like some of them. And while I never cared about the band, I bothered to look up the members I liked.
That being said, what is really good, funnily is the AKB49 manga... about a trap.
I don't understand the problem...
Well there is a real shocker.
That company came from S-A-T-A-N where no FUN is allowed, much less any form of hentai, lolis, and the likes.
You got it all wrong. Santa (a.k.a. satan) is this red dude that loves fun. He really does. Wherever he is, it's always christmas and everyone's happy.
Now if you're talking about dogs (a.k.a. gods) son, the chess jurist (a.k.a. jesus christ), I hear he is a pain to be around..
But the anime really did suck....
So does the real group...
no. you sucked. your own dick
I wish I could...
In Shigurui, someone can. It made me think of Ouroboros.
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.
Deep-frying's too good for 'em!
This is not what I had in mind when they said "stay in the kitchen".
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.
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.
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.
@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.
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?
This is what happens when you people like love too much anime..
No, not really. We like good anime.
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.
I thoroughly enjoyed the AKB anime.
yeah, shut up you devil's advocate
I did also lol I think the reason he had to say sorry was that his comment showed his company in a bad light more than who or what he was commenting on Japanese or very big on the many are more important than the one..like vulcans..lol
dun judge them from the outside
judge them by the "inside" haha
akb's anime is actually good, it was better than most of this season...
I wouldn't go that far, but it's better than the live version... *shudders*
In terms of actual merits, the anime has few, but for some reason, it's highly entertaining. I'm actually loving it.
I don't understand why everyone hates the AKB48 anime. Whatever your feelings about the actual group, the anime is surprisingly well-done and quite better than some of the trite this season. I can't help but feel like if it was an original concept the anime would be all over this site, considering that most of the cast is sparkly underage lesbian schoolgirls who kick ass and sing J-pop.
I love that kind of stuff, and a lot of people here do too, so I'm kind of sad people are neglecting this anime just because of the AKB label. Seriously, give it a shot!
Maybe their music but not their toons.
Get it? Toons?
Never heard of akb48 till now. I listen to their music and it sounds pretty normal stuff in Japan.
Cute girls, cute music, fun in the sun sunshine stuff.
Now the ANIME on the other hand won't be good because it's based off a singing group. And that's not much to work with.
That's relative. Digimon 01 was based off the tamagotchi pets whose only feature was getting hungry, sleepy and grow up. No more than that. And in the end, digimon turned out to be pretty good.
If you have talent, you can make anything interesting. A book about stones could be very interesting if Kafka writes it.
Indeed.
Great now I want that book...
@Comment by Anonymous
04:12 01/07/2012
What if Kefka wrote it???? hmmm???
XD
It's not just a singing group, it's a production line of multiple singing groups under the akb48 name, with around 64 members split into 4 groups, along with other trainee groups... it'll probably be enough to fill an anime. (already read a somewhat lengthy manga based on them, lol)
... but as a music group, they're nothing special. xD
Gantz_Playboy explain to me about that group that they are consider another version of the Mickey Mouse club mix with American Idol.
Some who graduate from AKB48 ether become idols,Singers,Actresses,Seiyū,AV stars by whatever career path they choose.
It'll be at least as good as the New Kids on the Block cartoon. You can look on youtube for it, but you probably shouldn't.
But the issue now in Japan has with AKB48 one of the members caused a sex scandal that pissed off Otaku fans.