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mewpudding101 wrote:

I read this column this morning, and it really struck a chord. Very good response to the final question.

Japan's show biz online is even worse... Since I've been on a few TV shows, I have a few followers on Twitter, but the mention I mentioned possible racism existing in Japan NOPE NOPE
Yeah, that was pretty bad.

Anyway, I doubt Vic's going to go anywhere soon, but yeah, online petitions aren't a good thing to do in this situation. As it has been said before, write an eloquent letter on why you don't think it would be good to have him in "such and such role" or something along those lines.

But honestly, I don't see how an actor's personality/views mixes in with his acting skill. For example, I personally dislike Hiroshi Kamiya's actions as a person, but he's a skilled actor. I see no reason to boycott him just because he as a PERSON has done/thinks stuff I don't agree with.

An example of discrimination/racism in Japan would have to do with the indigenous Ainu. Of course, not all are discriminated against.

Kadmos1 wrote:

mewpudding101 wrote:

Japan's show biz online is even worse... Since I've been on a few TV shows, I have a few followers on Twitter, but the mention I mentioned possible racism existing in Japan NOPE NOPE
Yeah, that was pretty bad.

Anyway, I doubt Vic's going to go anywhere soon, but yeah, online petitions aren't a good thing to do in this situation. As it has been said before, write an eloquent letter on why you don't think it would be good to have him in "such and such role" or something along those lines.

But honestly, I don't see how an actor's personality/views mixes in with his acting skill. For example, I personally dislike Hiroshi Kamiya's actions as a person, but he's a skilled actor. I see no reason to boycott him just because he as a PERSON has done/thinks stuff I don't agree with.

An example of discrimination/racism in Japan would have to do with the indigenous Ainu. Of course, not all are discriminated against.

Or this pictures explain the situation in Japan:

mdo7, your comic strip picture can be applied for foreigners going to foreign countries in general.

Kadmos1 wrote:

mdo7, your comic strip picture can be applied for foreigners going to foreign countries in general.

Yes true, but since you and GokuMew brought up racism in Japan, I thought why not bring up the comic strip I found on the web, and based on what I heard from expats that lived in Japan the comic strip matched some of the expats stories.

Assuming the anime in question is Free! Eternal Summer, which is what I also immediately supposed, I have another issue with the question. Mandy described it as a 'really niche show' which she feels needs her support in order to see more, similar anime. Mandy, you need to come out from under your rock more often.

Very well said about the petition issue, Justin.

Cutiebunny wrote:

The key word was "responsible".

Well, that's wonderful of you to provide a completely objective and not at all vague qualifier to your statement. Rolling Eyes

Anyone who's worked retail or food service can no doubt provide MANY examples of "responsible" adults who go nuts for stupid or out of place reasons. (To me, if you pay your bills and don't need someone else to "parent" you after the age of 25 you're a "responsible" adult) Now, whether or not you think he has MATURITY issues, that's a different question, but I'm just gonna fall over laughing if a bunch of anime fans are gonna take a person to task over maturity issues.

Touma wrote:

This is especially true because there will be people who say that they will not buy the release but actually do buy it. The type of people who want to hurt somebody because he has a different opinion are not the type of people who deny themselves something that they want. In my opinion.

What's worse, especially if you look at the petition, I'll put down money RIGHT NOW that there's a bunch of people who are "boycotting" this anime that had ABSOLUTELY NO INTENT TO PURCHASE IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. I'm sure there are some people who will actually follow through who were waiting with dollars in hand. But I'm CERTAIN there's also people just whining.

To me, if you ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY have to make a statement, buy the thing and then RETURN it (either for refund, or if you want to be more indignant, for no money back), with a message that you're returning the product because of Vic. This proves that you're ready and totally willing to buy it, but you don't want it with him in there. Otherwise, just buy the original Japanese BD (Japan & US have same region) and STFU.

I would like to comment on "bad guests burning bridges". This absolutely happened to one of the smaller conventions I helped staff. Since I was running legal negotiations at the time, I had access to all the emails sent to our head staff. After the convention took place, we were alerted that one of our panel guests had made ableist and racist comments during the panel which made more than a few of our attendees uncomfortable (we got more than one email about that particular issue). If that had been it, we would have likely contacted the panel guests to find out what had been said and made a judgement call about whether or not to invite them back (chances are they would not have been, as the people running the show were very proud about and invested in making a very inclusive convention).

However, one of the emails mentioned that the panel guests threw CDs into the audience, and cut one of the guests (who was writing the email) on the ear. Obviously, these guests were never invited back to host another panel at our convention.

Touma wrote:

In the election you vote for a specific individual or piece of legislation. There is no doubt about what your vote means.

In New Zealand we don't have "propositions". Well, there are referendums - our closest equivalent - but they are rare. You vote for a local candidate and a political party and that's it.

Even then, it is unknown why you voted for that candidate or party. Maybe it was a protest vote. Maybe you hated one particular policy from another candidate or party so went with his/her opponent. Maybe you didn't care about policies at all and just went with the leader you liked and trusted the most.

Therefore, there is vast room for doubt about why you voted the way you did. Figuring out what mattered to voters and what their reasons were is hugely important to politicians and their advisers.

Touma wrote:

Even if you write to the company and tell them why you did not buy it there will still be no definite correlation between the VA and the unsold DVD.

Um, not really. If someone takes the time to write snail mail in this day and age that's a good sign that whatever gripe they have really matters to them. If lots of people do it then a company can reasonably trust in what they are being told.

Of course, whether the company decides to act on the information is entirely up to them.

Touma wrote:

This is especially true because there will be people who say that they will not buy the release but actually do buy it. The type of people who want to hurt somebody because he has a different opinion are not the type of people who deny themselves something that they want. In my opinion.

You're really stretching here.

Touma wrote:

Hate campaigns have no credibility because the individuals who engage in hate campaigns have no personal credibility.

First off, this logically doesn't make any sense. The conclusion does not follow from the premise, which makes a huge assumption. Secondly, such campaigns are usually not done out of hate but out of morally trying to make a difference and take a stand. Rush Limbaugh was boycotted by many advertisers not because such companies just spitefully wanted him off air, but because their customers took umbrage with the disgusting things the man said. They therefore wanted to send a message that it wasn't okay to say those things and get him to apologise.

Once people finally realise the truth which is that hate has little to do with it (outside of a vocal minority), then they won't be so blind to the real reasons these boycott campaigns are set up in the first place.

Zac wrote:

Brent Allison wrote:

Otherwise, can't say I disagree with Justin's response; kudos.

He is specifically referring to internet hate campaigns designed to destroy someone's livelihood - attacking the way they make a living, attempting to influence their employers, trying to deny them the ability to continue - for opinions allegedly expressed.

It is a recent development.

unfortunately i have started to noticed that all too well. its cause of it that lead some of those anime VA to either do non union work or do voiceover for some US cartoon series. which is ashame since those that are doing this probably cant even do voicework for crap which is why i dont bash any VA whether their roles are in a kids series like Tenkai Knights or Doreamon or the normal series like AOT.

So...

I know it hasn't been mentioned before, but I don't understand what the LGBT anime community has this thing about Rin being gay.

As far as I know, none of the characters are? They have strong relationships and it IS a fanservice series, but even so...I really don't get the correlation.

I think the fanbase has been extremely misguided, either way. It's interesting with the POV of how contrasting male characters and female characters are when it comes to same gender friendships.

tygerchickchibi wrote:

I know it hasn't been mentioned before, but I don't understand what the LGBT anime community has this thing about Rin being gay.

Rin acts in a very similar manner to how a typical seme in yaoi acts; aggressive, physical, controlling, demanding. Haruka is the typical uke; physically small(er) and weak(er), passive, quiet, introverted.

This is no accident: do you really think Kyoto Animation didn't know what they were doing? The characters might not be officially gay but they do fulfill the stereotypical roles: all the better to help fangirls write their fanfiction.

dtm42 wrote:

Rin acts in a very similar manner to how a typical seme in yaoi acts; aggressive, physical, controlling, demanding. Haruka is the typical uke; physically small(er) and weak(er), passive, quiet, introverted.

Hmm..maybe it's me but I see this theme typically in a lot of anime shows a lot, so it doesn't really phase me the same way, even though I'm aware this trope happens in yaoi.

dtm42 wrote:

This is no accident: do you really think Kyoto Animation didn't know what they were doing?

What? Why would you assume I didn't think I knew? I saw the full series. I could see exactly HOW the characters could be portrayed as such. But then again, I've already seen yaoi fanfiction of so many other series with popular male leads, such as Gundam Wing, Weib Kreuz, Black Butler...you get it.

But I really don't take a stance unless the creator himself (who wrote the original novels), say that they are. I'm kinda more or less "must be official, otherwise I won't assume that's what it is."

^Yeah that's typically how I feel too. Anime and manga just LOVE to pour on all the subtext between guy characters to get female fan-fic pencils a-drawing...but how often do you actually HAVE these characters self-identify and confirm their sexuality?

It's all really frustrating to me. It feels like a lot of smoke and mirrors for easily excitable fans.

And take a look at and compare it to characters who ARE definitely gay. Tiger and Bunny is real unfortunate culprit of this.

There's all this subtext going on between Kotetsu and Barnaby...but does it GO anywhere? Nope...meanwhile look at how Fire Emblem is represented Confused

tygerchickchibi wrote:

But I really don't take a stance unless the creator himself (who wrote the original novels), say that they are. I'm kinda more or less "must be official, otherwise I won't assume that's what it is."

Why do people automatically default to characters being straight? (Or gay for that matter.) If there's no official word one way or another on matters of sexuality, is it not reasonable to decide based on the evidence provided? That is to say, to look at the behaviour of the characters and how they interact with one another in the actual show and then make an informed judgement.

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