Forum - View topicNEWS: Dragon Quest Composer Koichi Sugiyama Passes Away at 90
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Punch Drunk Marc
Posts: 1744 |
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Rest in peace
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BonusStage
 Posts: 307 |
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The universal mourning and positive retrospective among Japanese fans compared to the English speaking ones is certainly eye-opening. Maybe it's just a loud minority I'm just now noticing, but I never once ever heard Sugiyama be described as "controversial" so this caught me off guard.
If that really was a big issue for you then I'm afraid you might not be happy to hear that a lot of Japanese creators share those views, even those still working on Dragon Quest. Akira Toriyama is still very much alive and his style will almost always be associated with the franchise, much like Sugiyama's music. You'll find it a bit hard to not give money to people whose hold views and opinions you might disagree with, no matter what side of any issue you might be on. You appear to be a fan of Kamen Rider so I'm sure I don't need to tell you about the numerous writers, actors, and storylines that expressed similar views on Japanese history, race, gender, and sexuality issues like Sugiyama had. They're not exactly uncommon to find in Japan. |
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Touma55
Posts: 231 |
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It's not like I said people people couldn't say what they want, heck I literally said that they could I just find it to be in poor taste at this time, so I don't really see a problem with what I said. There are better times to say stuff like this imo, but I guess some people don't have much respect for the dead. And yeah words are just words, but as I said it still think it is shitty. Sorry for having a bit of decency and voicing my opinion. If what I said bothered someone then I apologize, but as I said I find respect for the recently deceased important so I can get a bit heated sometimes. I best get out of here since I don't want to argue with anyone and I am almost positive more people are just gonna shit all over the guy. |
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AiddonValentine
Posts: 2227 |
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Exactly, if the guy didn't want people excoriating him after death, he shouldn't have been a war crimes denying bigot. The man donated to anti-LGBT organizations as well as ultra-nationalist ones, it wasn't just words that were the problem. My degree is in history, and honesty is paramount in that field because not doing so it just whitewashing. As someone who has studied Imperial Japan including the atrocities they committed, claiming the Nanjing Massacre, comfort women, and Unit 731 didn't happen is the height of appalling. Shigeru Mizuki SERVED in World War II as well as having a brother convicted of war crimes and when Japan tried to whitewash its war crimes, he made sure they couldn't. Osamu Tezuka and Shotaro Ishinomori were lifelong pacifists whose works condemned fascism, ultranationalism, and imperialism, and Akira Kurosawa was not hesitant to show his disgust over being forced to make propaganda films. Sugiyama had no excuses, he was just a coward who attacked those more vulnerable than him. |
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bleachj0j
 Posts: 925 |
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The people defending what he said as just words are acting like he just said those things in private. When he advocated for those very beliefs on television openly. It's amazing how people will dismiss shitty parts of person's life because of artistic contributions. You can acknowledge his massive impart of a iconic franchise while also being aware he was a shitty person.
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Mamono Hunter Yo Bro
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Sugiyama is dead and he took his politics with him. People who previously had issues with playing the games or enjoying the soundtracks can now do so without worries of him receiving royalties. Chastising him is an empty gesture at this point. What happened to the posts by Tony K.? Banned for thoughtcrimes? Is this another Theron Martin situation?
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ATastySub
Past ANN Contributor
 Posts: 650 |
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“Took his policies with him” isn’t how it works. He left a legacy of both his music and his bigotry and therefore will be remembered for both. Especially since his politics outlive him thanks to his donations to groups that continue to espouse them. While Square-Enix pushed for his legacy to be the music they have a financial interest in, Sugiyama the person spent far more time cementing his political one. As for your conspiracy rambling you have no actual idea of what you’re talking about, and invoking Theron here is not helping your argument. |
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MFrontier
Posts: 11494 |
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I may disagree with his views, but still...RIP Sugiyama-san.
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 2948 Location: Email for assistance only |
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1. Some heavy-handed mod intervention lead to anyone voicing an opinion about the content of this article, including the political elements, having their post removed. Those posts were restored.
2. It's odd to suggest that this action constitutes a "thought crime." Discussion between mods and staff about what happened is ongoing. No mods are being "banned." 3. Theron has talked about stepping down as a reviewer himself on these forums. I'm not sure where you got your conspiracy reading on the situation, but you're embarrassing yourself. |
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Vent
 Posts: 318 |
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Hey if you want to bring things back to anime, remember how Yoshiyuki Tomino made Gundam: Reconguista in G, and how that anime was a takedown aimed at the ultra-nationalists in Japan who want to rearm the country and resume being an imperialist power?
Well, Sugiyama was one of those people. He was a board member for the "Japan Institute of National Fundamentals", which is a think-tank for Nippon Kagi, the Japanese political party that wants to strip the articles preventing having an active military and enforcing human rights from the Japanese constitution. The people whitewashing Japanese history books. The people pushing to make Japanese children salute the Imperial flag every day. The people who want a runback of World War II. The people who think the natural order of the world is that Japan should have control of whatever it wants. So, no, nothing this old bastard said was ever "just words". He actively worked to make it a reality with other likeminded old bastards. If you're wondering why people can't just let his death go without commenting on it, it's because of all the attempts to downplay the harm he did in favor of of gushing about some video game music he made thirty years ago. |
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Octorockandroll
Posts: 66 |
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Yet another good reason to love Gundam, even if G-Reco has its own problems. |
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Tripple-A
 Posts: 383 Location: Hamburg, Germany |
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He may have been a bad person, but he was a great composer nonetheless, so this is a HUGE blow for the whole Dragon Quest franchise :/
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tsog
Posts: 232 |
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I just heard about this person and his views for the first time today, so I don't have strong feelings to pontificate on his views. But I have to muse, why do we have to respect the dead when, I'm sure, respect would have been more preferable to people when they were alive than when they are dead? Posing the question a different way, should the mere fact of being dead make one more respected? |
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strawberry_milk
 Posts: 88 |
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That's not what's happening. His behavior is being discussed as an example of how not to be yourself. That his death has served to highlight this is arguably a good thing. And frankly, unless you're a close friend or family to whom this is perhaps a sensitive time, what does anyone else here care in an anonymous public forum where the mods themselves have decided it's ok to talk about this. Being self righteous is the empty gesture. |
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johnnysasaki
Posts: 928 |
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if I recall,the late writer of Highschool of the Dead supposedly had similar political views,to the point that Saya's parent belong to an ultranationalist group (with certain views that are usually controversial in Japan,so the anime adaptation removed that aspect of them,where they just seem to be a couple of hard ass parents) |
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