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INTEREST: Pokémon Adventures Manga Artist Apologizes for Using the Manga to Express Political Opinio


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jellybeanbandit



Joined: 18 Jun 2019
Posts: 107
PostPosted: Mon May 11, 2020 5:30 pm Reply with quote
Japanese creators continue to prove how much more professional and polite they are than their western peers.
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Arale Kurashiki



Joined: 24 Aug 2015
Posts: 750
PostPosted: Mon May 11, 2020 5:45 pm Reply with quote
They did nothing wrong in the first place and the JP fandom obsession with the "purity" of the stuff they read is insane. It's a screencap of a comic.
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tygerchickchibi



Joined: 29 Sep 2006
Posts: 1448
PostPosted: Mon May 11, 2020 6:05 pm Reply with quote
Well,

Not that he did anything particularly incorrect, but I hope he can still express how he feels as a citizen of his country.

This was honestly a non-issue.
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Beatdigga



Joined: 26 Oct 2003
Posts: 4364
Location: New York
PostPosted: Mon May 11, 2020 9:07 pm Reply with quote
jellybeanbandit wrote:
Japanese creators continue to prove how much more professional and polite they are than their western peers.


You mean apologizing rather than going after the fans? Yeah that is professional.
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Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4570
PostPosted: Mon May 11, 2020 9:35 pm Reply with quote
I was expecting some sort of spicy political take when I opened the article, but that...is the most low-key "controversy" I think I've ever heard. If only all political fights were over a two-year retirement difference for public servants. Laughing
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Rentwo



Joined: 05 Oct 2019
Posts: 184
PostPosted: Mon May 11, 2020 10:28 pm Reply with quote
tygerchickchibi wrote:
Not that he did anything particularly incorrect, but I hope he can still express how he feels as a citizen of his country.


I don't usually have a problem with artists expressing political views on their personal time, but it feels wrong to try to mix it in with their work. Especially something like Pokemon which isn't political or have anything to do with this to begin with. You can also argue these aren't even the mangaka's characters to begin with since this manga is based on an established video game series so the mangaka is putting words in Game Freak's characters mouths they may or may not approve of. At the end of the day stuff like this just alienates and upsets your fanbase so it makes no sense from a business point of view to do stuff like this.

Top Gun wrote:
I was expecting some sort of spicy political take when I opened the article, but that...is the most low-key "controversy" I think I've ever heard. If only all political fights were over a two-year retirement difference for public servants. Laughing


One difference is as far as I'm aware retirement is mandatory in Japan, unlike America. I think it's considered unconstitutional here and can be classified as age-based discrimination in some areas. So changing this law and policy is more of a big deal there to keep people around in certain jobs longer where as here they could just choose not to retire when they hit retirement age. But the sitting political party always try to make laws and polices that benefit them so it's a pretty standard 'controversy' all things considered. Although a 2 year difference does seem fairly small in the grand scheme of things.
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Arale Kurashiki



Joined: 24 Aug 2015
Posts: 750
PostPosted: Tue May 12, 2020 12:38 am Reply with quote
He just posted screencaps from the existing comic that was vaguely relevant to what he was saying. that's hardly "putting words in their mouth". also IP law is stupid
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Vent



Joined: 22 Aug 2009
Posts: 318
PostPosted: Tue May 12, 2020 12:45 am Reply with quote
"Pokemon isn't political" is a hell of a thing to say when the latest game features an energy crisis and a bleached coral Pokemon, along with all of other the environmentalist themes throughout the series.
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yusuke19



Joined: 26 Feb 2008
Posts: 14
PostPosted: Tue May 12, 2020 1:08 am Reply with quote
jellybeanbandit wrote:
Japanese creators continue to prove how much more professional and polite they are than their western peers.


Trolls and a-holes attack western Peers for having a opinion, get surprised when you get attacked back!? Its like they deserve it

Also Japanese also are not polite my friend in Japan says its just as bad there as the west.

Go outside
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Horsefellow



Joined: 01 Jan 2020
Posts: 262
PostPosted: Tue May 12, 2020 4:08 am Reply with quote
Vent wrote:
"Pokemon isn't political" is a hell of a thing to say when the latest game features an energy crisis and a bleached coral Pokemon, along with all of other the environmentalist themes throughout the series.


I wouldn't call environmentalism political. I mean, what's the opposing side of that debate? Being a Captain Planet style villain who revels in pollution and gleefully dumps his trash into the lake every week to poison all the ducks and fish? Telling people to recycle or not pollute is about as safe of a message as saying war is bad, or crime doesn't pay, or to say no to drugs. Much different than telling people how to vote in an election or something.
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Vent



Joined: 22 Aug 2009
Posts: 318
PostPosted: Tue May 12, 2020 6:27 am Reply with quote
Horsefellow wrote:

I wouldn't call environmentalism political. I mean, what's the opposing side of that debate? Being a Captain Planet style villain who revels in pollution and gleefully dumps his trash into the lake every week to poison all the ducks and fish? Telling people to recycle or not pollute is about as safe of a message as saying war is bad, or crime doesn't pay, or to say no to drugs. Much different than telling people how to vote in an election or something.


There are people who are explicitly anti-environmentalist, yes. Whether it's that they believe that humanity isn't impacting the environment that much or just don't care, or they have money invested in things that hurt the environment and don't want to lose any by having to change their practices.

Like the direct answer to "what's the opposing side" is the very large part of the population that believes global warming is some kind of scam perpetrated by an enemy political party.

It's 100% political and it's a theme that appears all over in Pokemon - though, granted, this particular law doesn't have anything to do with it. Maybe the next Pokemon game will have a storyline involving some crooked old people in a corrupt justice system trying to maintain power just a little bit longer to try and fight off any kind of younger progressive alternative.
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omiya



Joined: 21 Sep 2011
Posts: 1825
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2020 1:58 am Reply with quote
Top Gun wrote:
I was expecting some sort of spicy political take when I opened the article, but that...is the most low-key "controversy" I think I've ever heard. If only all political fights were over a two-year retirement difference for public servants. Laughing


This issue is a big issue in Japan, as the ANN article stated, and in articles like:
"Japanese celebrities lead protest tweets over Abe's legal change attempt"
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200511/p2g/00m/0na/017000c

Kaori Hikita even set the preamble of the Japanese constitution to music as part of the protest.

https://twitter.com/hikitakaori/status/1260088228377358336

【 日本国憲法をうたう 】

わたしにとっての愛国心です。
もうこれが最後の作品になってもいい。
必要な方へ届くよう、どうぞ広めてください。

#検察庁法改正に抗議します

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gncqvSlVRm4
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Fluwm



Joined: 28 Jul 2009
Posts: 887
PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2020 4:07 pm Reply with quote
Horsefellow wrote:
Vent wrote:
"Pokemon isn't political" is a hell of a thing to say when the latest game features an energy crisis and a bleached coral Pokemon, along with all of other the environmentalist themes throughout the series.


I wouldn't call environmentalism political. I mean, what's the opposing side of that debate? Being a Captain Planet style villain who revels in pollution and gleefully dumps his trash into the lake every week to poison all the ducks and fish? Telling people to recycle or not pollute is about as safe of a message as saying war is bad, or crime doesn't pay, or to say no to drugs. Much different than telling people how to vote in an election or something.


I am utterly baffled at how someone can be old enough to write in coherent, complete sentences yet be so totally and utterly ignorant of the world they live in.
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Agent355



Joined: 12 Dec 2008
Posts: 5113
Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready...
PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2020 6:13 pm Reply with quote
Forcing people to retire at 63 is pretty darned ageist. Why don’t they just have term limits, regardless of age? ...but I live in a country with lifetime appointment Supreme Court justices, so I’m not in a place to talk.
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TarsTarkas



Joined: 20 Dec 2007
Posts: 5823
Location: Virginia, United States
PostPosted: Thu May 14, 2020 1:19 pm Reply with quote
Overtly political messages shouldn't be in Pokeman. It is for the most part a children's anime. (I said for the most part, it can be enjoyed by adults too)

Bland environmental messages are not overtly political. (Only when you get into arguments about balancing the needs of the environment versus the needs of maintaining humanity, does it get that way.)

Overtly political messages shouldn't be in children's anime or cartoons. Many consider it a form of brainwashing and secretly trying to get one past the children's parents.
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