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NEWS: Police Arrest SKE48 Management Company Executive for Soliciting Minors




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Tempest
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Joined: 29 Dec 2001
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2020 9:29 am Reply with quote
Why is it not surprising that the manager for one of these groups would be sexually into teens?

Unfortunately the more disturbing implication here (for me at least) is, how many of the teens in these groups have been pressured into sexual acts by their managers, and/or groomed until their 18th birthday for "legal" acts after that.

Soliciting an underage teen for money is bad. Pressuring a teen that you have influence over is even worse.
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Blanchimont



Joined: 25 Feb 2012
Posts: 3426
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2020 12:29 pm Reply with quote
Unfortunately, this tends to happen when people hold absolute power over others who are vulnerable. It could be a gymnastics coach, Hollywood casting couch culture, a teacher in charge of a class, or others, where the victims very futures are dangled over their heads.

And not only fear of their futures but the feeling of shame no matter how illogical from outside view is which makes victims struggle to come forward, especially in the case of Japan with its very hierarchical and non-flexible corporate culture coupled with a culture that heavily favors keeping up appearances.

Not sure what can be done except spread awareness so victims don't feel afraid to come forward, to build in some kinds of safeguards, and try to make absolutely clear this kind of thing isn't accepted even in the face of cultural values...
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AnimeFlyz



Joined: 31 Aug 2015
Posts: 363
PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2020 1:28 pm Reply with quote
So am I meant to be surprised to see that Japanese idol groups are sexually exploited by higher ups just like the ones in Korea? And people think anime lewds are the problem when these creeps exist.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2020 2:39 pm Reply with quote
Murder, She wrote:

Police Arrest SKE48 Management Company Executive for Soliciting Minors


Of course he is - he's probably doing the same thing with his idols

Remember that ubiquitous idol x manager theme
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otastorian



Joined: 02 Aug 2018
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Location: otakuhistoryguy.blogspot.com
PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2020 2:55 pm Reply with quote
enurtsol wrote:
Of course he is - he's probably doing the same thing with his idols

Damn, I didn't even realize I hadn't read the article close enough until I read your post. So these were just two random girls, probably scouted to become idols then... Jesus.
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nargun



Joined: 29 Mar 2006
Posts: 924
PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2020 3:14 pm Reply with quote
Tempest wrote:
Why is it not surprising that the manager for one of these groups would be sexually into teens?


These are marginal operations, at best. Takes hundreds of fans -- a thousand, traditionally -- to support a performer as a professional; multiply that by 48 and... Nagoya's better than Niigata, but tens of thousands of fans for a junior league is still pushing it.

So who's going to sign up to run the thing? Someone who's in it for Other Reasons, or someone who can't work out the above and is thus Bad At Their Job.Most likely both.
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Hoppy800



Joined: 09 Aug 2013
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2020 9:07 pm Reply with quote
AnimeFlyz wrote:
So am I meant to be surprised to see that Japanese idol groups are sexually exploited by higher ups just like the ones in Korea? And people think anime lewds are the problem when these creeps exist.


You also have managers dating their young idols even though the rules often say no dating at all.

The tyrants and "moral guardians" missed an opportunity, the idol industry is rife with abuses even from the idols themselves. There would be less backlash as well as defenders of the idol industry's bad practices are few and far between.
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FukuchiChiisaia





PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 9:57 pm Reply with quote
Idol otaku here!

48 family group idol standard is shared with Indonesian JKT48, Thailand BNK48, Philipines MNL48, etc. No dating, no male friends on social media, etc. JKT48 is already run for almost 10 years, yet there's zero scandal about the management.

JKT48 management always make parents also full in control as well, there are often parents and management meeting addressing a various concern about the industry, fans, etc. Even fans themselves often criticize the management openly and the management will heard that.

I believe, the problem is rather the management and entertainment industry itself, where creeps can join the management without any proper tight control.
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