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NEWS: Idea Factory CEO: Imageepoch CEO Is Unreachable




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Jajanken



Joined: 23 Jun 2014
Posts: 680
PostPosted: Fri Apr 03, 2015 7:12 pm Reply with quote
Woah scary. I hope he's just relaxing and not involved in anything bad.
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leafy sea dragon



Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 7163
Location: Another Kingdom
PostPosted: Fri Apr 03, 2015 8:43 pm Reply with quote
Wow, this sounds pretty troubling. That's not the behavior I'd expect from a legitimate company. There is clearly plenty we're not being told, and apparently Idea Factory's CEO is not being told either.
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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 6253
Location: Katy, Texas, USA
PostPosted: Fri Apr 03, 2015 8:45 pm Reply with quote
I think I remember hearing about this on Siliconera. I hope the CEO if Imageepoch is OK and will be found. Sad
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Hoppy800



Joined: 09 Aug 2013
Posts: 3331
PostPosted: Fri Apr 03, 2015 9:08 pm Reply with quote
Hopefully he didn't get kidnapped, you know how it is, a CEO, financial trouble, if you follow the money or paper trail, it often leads to current or past shady deals sometimes with organized crime. Hopefully it isn't a shareholder or someone else who is affiliated or has connections to the Yakuza.
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dark_bozu



Joined: 03 Sep 2012
Posts: 208
PostPosted: Sat Apr 04, 2015 1:38 am Reply with quote
Hoppy800 wrote:
Hopefully he didn't get kidnapped, you know how it is, a CEO, financial trouble, if you follow the money or paper trail, it often leads to current or past shady deals sometimes with organized crime. Hopefully it isn't a shareholder or someone else who is affiliated or has connections to the Yakuza.

I think that suicide is more realistic in this kind of situation. But I hope this is not the case.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14758
PostPosted: Sat Apr 04, 2015 2:54 am Reply with quote
Nah, this kind of thing seems to still happen in Japan even with legit businesses. Especially during the lean years of the Great Recession - we tend to only notice the successes but don't see how bad it really got for the industry in Japan:

  • The bad economy is finally affecting the anime industry. A production company that has been around for decades has abruptly closed down. I don't know for sure if they've gone bankrupt, but their office stands empty and their phones have been cut off, and those indications alone are pretty good signs that the they are no longer operating. I've been calling their president for months about a late payment for the work I did for them back in summer. All my messages have gone unanswered. I was complaining about this matter to my friend earlier today, and then I got a phone call from another friend of mine who is desperately searching for the whereabouts of this company's president. He told me he went to their office to discuss the situation, but no one seemed to be in the office aside from couple of guys in suits wandering around the entrance, obviously looking for the same man. Fortunately for me, the amount they owe me isn't all that much. However, the fact that I knew their president personally has left a bad taste in my mouth. I hope he comes out and deals with this mess like a grown man.

  • Our conversation shifted to another animation studio that recently went out of business. This other studio was closed around the fall of last year, if I remember correctly. The closure was very abrupt. I know the studio's president hadn't anticipate it because right before it happened, I met a young artist who was planning to come to Tokyo (he was from another part of Japan) and one of the places he interviewed was that studio. The artist told me they were looking to hire new recruits. Fortunately for him, he was hired by a different
    company and was unaffected by the mess that followed soon after. When I heard the place had shut down operations, I simply thought the bad economy had finally caught up with this industry. But from what I heard through various rumors, the disgruntled employees basically loaded everything in a truck and drove off while the president was away. It was a day of rebellion. They refused to work for the "tyrant" any longer, and took all the furnishings and equipment with them and became refugees. Oh, they did leave the president's desk behind in the otherwise empty office (how thoughtful of them ).
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leafy sea dragon



Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 7163
Location: Another Kingdom
PostPosted: Sat Apr 04, 2015 4:12 am Reply with quote
Both of those incidents sound like acts of incredible irresponsibility on the part of the people at the companies that vanished. How are they even legal?
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Hameyadea



Joined: 23 Jun 2014
Posts: 3679
PostPosted: Sat Apr 04, 2015 3:36 pm Reply with quote
The story reminds me of Ruri's Talent Agency President from Durarara!! x2 Shō and how he suddenly disappeared.
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Hoppy800



Joined: 09 Aug 2013
Posts: 3331
PostPosted: Sat Apr 04, 2015 4:58 pm Reply with quote
The employees taught the president a lesson there. Sometimes corporate tyranny can lead to the loss of everything in the long run. I bet the employees sold off some of the works in the studio on auction sites.
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Banken



Joined: 29 May 2007
Posts: 1280
PostPosted: Sat Apr 04, 2015 10:19 pm Reply with quote
He either decided to run away or killed himself.
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Primus



Joined: 01 Mar 2006
Posts: 2759
Location: Toronto
PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2015 7:19 am Reply with quote
Unless there's a missing persons report filed, I'd assume he's laying low to avoid debt collectors. It looks like his company has shut down, so naturally there must be someone he owes money to.
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