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NEWS: Let Me Fix You Anime Delayed After Grooming Allegations of Buta Productions Co-Founder FAR


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Hellsoldier



Joined: 21 Jun 2013
Posts: 1152
Location: Porto,Portugal,Europe,Earth,Sol
PostPosted: Tue May 05, 2026 8:58 am Reply with quote
Well, time to get another staffer. Right call. Better to delay it than to have the production tainted by this.
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AiddonValentine



Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 2949
PostPosted: Tue May 05, 2026 10:45 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Buta Productions described the accusations as "partial, misleading and malicious."


What's awkward about this is that everyone has left the company, so this is basically just FAR going "I will fight these accusations!" Good luck with that, buddy
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OtomeGay



Joined: 14 Oct 2021
Posts: 263
PostPosted: Tue May 05, 2026 12:39 pm Reply with quote
The right move, and completely understandable. I hope the victim is able to get some peace, and it's good to see that pretty much all Buta Productions members besides FAR have left. Wishing all former staff the best of luck with jobs, and that the mangaka and anime staff are able to find a new studio.
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Atelier



Joined: 05 Jun 2022
Posts: 45
PostPosted: Tue May 05, 2026 1:02 pm Reply with quote
the article should make it more obvious, that the Butapro statements all come from FAR himself. I have already seen someone misunderstand that.
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PipimiOden



Joined: 26 Mar 2022
Posts: 238
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
PostPosted: Tue May 05, 2026 1:34 pm Reply with quote
Most of the employees left ButaPro and formed Ponbleu for fulfilling prior obligations with clients. no announcements on any projects at this time though
https://x.com/ponbleu/status/2051716735254876336
https://bsky.app/profile/ponbleu.bsky.social/post/3ml4qqxbdl226
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Tempest
I Run this place.
ANN Publisher


Joined: 29 Dec 2001
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PostPosted: Tue May 05, 2026 3:12 pm Reply with quote
Atelier wrote:
the article should make it more obvious, that the Butapro statements all come from FAR himself. I have already seen someone misunderstand that.


That's an assumption.
It's a bloody obvious assumption, but it's still an assumption.
Journalists can't publish assumptions in the news.

We publish the facts as we know them, and allow our readers to connect the dots. We also can't be too leading, that's bad journalism. It's also a good way to get sued.

-t
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dough364



Joined: 05 May 2026
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Tue May 05, 2026 4:19 pm Reply with quote
Even in the days following getting exposed, Fede continues to crawl his way back to drag his entire company down with him using the entire representation of the studio to address the allegations. What a slimey piece of work.
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Kan2Screm



Joined: 08 May 2025
Posts: 60
Location: Portugal
PostPosted: Wed May 06, 2026 2:37 pm Reply with quote
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Zistoryx



Joined: 06 May 2026
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Wed May 06, 2026 2:45 pm Reply with quote
Tempest wrote:
Atelier wrote:
the article should make it more obvious, that the Butapro statements all come from FAR himself. I have already seen someone misunderstand that.


That's an assumption.
It's a bloody obvious assumption, but it's still an assumption.
Journalists can't publish assumptions in the news.

We publish the facts as we know them, and allow our readers to connect the dots. We also can't be too leading, that's bad journalism. It's also a good way to get sued.

-t


Congratulations.
Thanks to your reporting, this is where we are at now.

https://x.com/maryco02_/status/2052085642377474394

You couldn't even bother to update the fact that ButaPro former staff and employees created their own collective and stood in immediate solidarity with the victim and condemned FAR's actions. Where are the "facts as we know"? You couldn't do that much.
Those facts only apply to the one-sided coverage you did from Fede's own side? Which, based on the article's changes, you clearly had no clue who you were talking with when you were getting a word from "ButaPro". You water down journalism to its below-minimum standards. The way your team handled a news piece about something of this severity and sensibility quite simply enabled a situation in which the victim felt that she'd need to back down.
I will hold you and the editors involved with this reporting accountable for doing irresponsible journalism and essentially platforming an alleged groomer to spread their side of the story, pushing an ambiguously worded article, and not even bothering with basic journalistic deontology. Although I am sure you will feign you did.
I hope the consequences of your actions will be seared into your brains, forever.


Last edited by Zistoryx on Wed May 06, 2026 6:45 pm; edited 2 times in total
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ThatGuyInTheHoodie



Joined: 12 Mar 2026
Posts: 15
PostPosted: Wed May 06, 2026 5:50 pm Reply with quote
Kan2Screm wrote:


I feel like people who lie about sexual abuse should be punished with whatever punishment they were seeking from an innocent person. It just makes things harder for real victims to come forward.
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 02 May 2011
Posts: 3267
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PostPosted: Wed May 06, 2026 6:29 pm Reply with quote
Zistoryx wrote:

I will hold you and the editorial involved with this reporting accountable for doing irresponsible journalism and essentially platforming an alleged groomer to spread their side of the story, pushing an ambiguously worded article, and not even bothering with basic journalistic deontology. Although I am sure you will feign you did.
I hope the consequences of your actions will be seared into your brains, forever.


ANN Editorial (interviews, reviews, features, etc) is in no way involved with this or any newsroom reporting. I hope this is a conflation of journalism terms, but as I often end up being a figurehead for everything published here, I want to make it clear that we are separate departments.
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Atelier



Joined: 05 Jun 2022
Posts: 45
PostPosted: Wed May 06, 2026 6:32 pm Reply with quote
ThatGuyInTheHoodie wrote:
Kan2Screm wrote:


I feel like people who lie about sexual abuse should be punished with whatever punishment they were seeking from an innocent person. It just makes things harder for real victims to come forward.


It clearly wasn't a lie. There was enough evidence for everyone to see and there is no way to misinterpret any of it. Heck, in the messages themselves, he admitted multiple times that he is fully aware of what he is doing.

Why they retracted their statement, we can only guess, but this doesn't change the situation.
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Kougeru



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 5803
PostPosted: Wed May 06, 2026 8:32 pm Reply with quote
even though they retracted the statements, the damage is already done and the company is broken up. Aside from that, we saw the evidence and it was solid regardless of any "embellishments".
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Hatless



Joined: 10 Dec 2019
Posts: 37
PostPosted: Wed May 06, 2026 11:11 pm Reply with quote
The

Quote:
I will hold you and the editors involved with this reporting accountable for doing irresponsible journalism and essentially platforming an alleged groomer to spread their side of the story


post coming in exactly eight minutes after the accusation was retracted is marvellous. And then the panic edit hours later.

Quote:
pushing an ambiguously worded article, and not even bothering with basic journalistic deontology. Although I am sure you will feign you did.
I hope the consequences of your actions will be seared into your brains, forever.


Basic journalistic deontology is when you decide who the hero and villain are in advance, I guess.
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Kadmos1



Joined: 08 May 2014
Posts: 13760
Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP
PostPosted: Thu May 07, 2026 12:49 am Reply with quote
Kougeru wrote:
even though they retracted the statements, the damage is already done and the company is broken up. Aside from that, we saw the evidence and it was solid regardless of any "embellishments".

Factoring in speculation, why might Person A retract claims against Person B when there is evidence or proof B admitted to doing what A accused B of? Now, if B threatened A, I could see that leading to a retraction.
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