Forum - View topic

Tales Of The Industry - They Shoot Their Hostages, Don't They?

DmonHiro wrote:

HeeroTX that would solve nothing. The Japanese would still demand that all key chains be recalled from the buyers.

This wasn't about finding a "solution" this was ALL about "face". Obviously someone (not Kazuhiro) took issue with the color of the keychain. Kazuhiro didn't give a crap one way or the other (if he cared, the original answer would've been "correct"), he just didn't want to get chewed out more than he already was. Once everyone can agree on who was at fault (whether that was "Brad" or "the Chinese supplier") Kazuhiro isn't gonna press the issue.

Witness the result once they pressed "YOU were the problem" on Kazuhiro, what got "fixed"? NOTHING, but now Kazuhiro doesn't "help" anymore (obviously he wasn't fired over it). If Brad takes the blame, then Kazuhiro can push a narrative that Americans are incompetent and Brad's bosses can say he won't get anything else of import, and six months later Kazuhiro will appreciate the "help" and no one else in Japan will remember who the hell he is except to laugh at that one screw-up that couldn't tell eggshell from white.

The whole POINT was to give some person who designed mu-sama a target of derision. Since that person (whoever it is) would have ZERO control over Brad's fate (unless it was truly the CEO of the anime company would could then cut off all deals with GENOM in the future, which I HIGHLY doubt), there's no real loss in taking one for the team.

EDIT: For the record, I have basically been in a VERY similar situation and took EXACTLY the course of action I recommended (took the blame for someone else's "fault"). The result is the muckity-muck in Japan probably thought I was an idiot, but "Kazuhiro" has been a great point of contact for years and has helped with numerous deals since then.

thenix wrote:

This could be wrong but it seems like because of the way Japanese society runs (you give the person above you all the respect and never question them, even if they make a blunder) they expect to be treated that way from the US where we try to figure out what's going on and take a team approach to being responsible. Then problems arise and everything breaks down.

No offense, but this seems like a very naive view of American business, where we ALSO have no end of finger-pointing. In my experience, in ALL business, the saying is true "**** flows downhill". You ALWAYS (no matter in Japan, US, etc) give the guy above you respect and expect to deal with crap from above ALL THE TIME.

Heck, I know peers who are toxic as hell and look to cut you at the knees for slights real or imaginary. Sometimes you get good co-workers, sometimes you don't , but you never "blame" the boss or you get screwed on promotions, raises, etc. Now whether Kazuhiro was a "peer" or a "superior" no way to know, but if the Japanese side was strong-arming Brad then he should have asked his "actual" superior how the company should handle it, since otherwise you risk future deals.

Heck, they should have just thrown the Chinese supplier under the bus, since they had their money and wouldn't care anyway.

There was one thing that baffled me about this story, a fundamental mistake if you will that cannot be passed off as simply a side-effect of changing details to protect anonymity. "Genom Corp." already knew what colour "Mu-sama" was supposed to be before the artbox went onto shelves, as they had been given promotional materials and artwork of the mascot. I know this because they used it. I find it difficult to believe that "Brad" was unaware of the artwork's existence because - as the show's marketing manager - he would have been the one to decide which images to use and where they would go. A simple look at the available promotional materials would have told him what colour "Mu-sama" was supposed to be.

I understand where you're coming from, but throwing [enter name here] off the bridge to save "face" doesn't necessarily means that it'll wrap-up the issue all nice and tidy. It might even add fuel to the fire

So is this what animenewsnetwork has become? resorting to posting fanfiction?

Something that confused me in the article was the mention of the slow dub process. What did they mean by "there was barely any art",

posting fanfiction?

A simple look at the available promotional materials would have told him what colour "Mu-sama" was supposed to be.

There's no way to actually know if the following rumour is true or not, but if it is true then it would shed light the real reason why "Brad" was so badly treated by "Kazuhiro".

The rumour goes that "Kazuhiro" didn't really have the legal authority to authorise merchandise in the first place; he impinged on the territory of another Japanese stakeholder, the company which actually did hold the merchandising rights. Assuming that's true, the colour wasn't the issue at all. The false wrong-colour accusation - and the impossible-to-fulfill ultimatum that came with it - were just a smokescreen by "Kazuhiro" to cover up his mistake in treading on the toes of an influential Japanese company.

"Genom Corp." already knew what colour "Mu-sama" was supposed to be before the artbox went onto shelves, as they had been given promotional materials and artwork of the mascot. I know this because they used it. [...]

So is this what animenewsnetwork has become? resorting to posting fanfiction?

The problem with just switching the blame around is that it wouldn't have appeased the people who most objected to the miscolored mascot toy
...
So if the original manga-ka was supremely unhappy with a "counterfeit" mascot being distributed with his/her show, no amount of blame judo could make it better. Recalling the thing directly from consumers *might* have worked, but at what cost (financially for "Genon")?