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INTEREST: Tatsuki Fujimoto's Look Back 1-shot Gets Changed Post-Publication to Avoid "Promoting


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Kyo Hisagi



Joined: 01 Jul 2017
Posts: 255
PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 4:15 am Reply with quote
But it completely changes the meaning behind this scene. This scene was referencing tragedy at Kyoto Animation... now it's just a regular psycho who kills people just because. Is it insensitive to mention the arson or what? I don't get it.
It just weird to me... what discrimination.
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ZetMoon80



Joined: 29 Nov 2018
Posts: 86
PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 5:01 am Reply with quote
Kyo Hisagi wrote:
But it completely changes the meaning behind this scene. This scene was referencing tragedy at Kyoto Animation... now it's just a regular psycho who kills people just because. Is it insensitive to mention the arson or what? I don't get it.
It just weird to me... what discrimination.


I dunno, it may could open old wounds or something. I don't think that it should be changed anyway, it looks like some kind of censorship to me. It's not like things like that don't happen in real life and the story didn't portrayed the attack as something funny or laughable. I would support censorship in extreme circumstances, but this is not one of those cases. This is just one author's story, and I don't think that Fujimoto was planning on making fun of/making a general statement about schizophrenics.
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Electric Wooloo



Joined: 19 Aug 2020
Posts: 308
PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 5:11 am Reply with quote
Kyo Hisagi wrote:
But it completely changes the meaning behind this scene. This scene was referencing tragedy at Kyoto Animation... now it's just a regular psycho who kills people just because. Is it insensitive to mention the arson or what? I don't get it.
It just weird to me... what discrimination.


It's pretty insensitive to perpetuate the stereotype that schizophrenia makes one more likely to be a murderer. The reality is most of the time it's the person with schizophrenia that gets injured or killed for not being able to process what other people are telling them in the middle of an episode. It also further stigmatizes the already terrible track record Japan has with any sort of mental illness.

If the story isn't about mental illness and isn't going to tackle any of the issues why make the violent person in your story someone with schizophrenia? Just to reference the arson attack? If the one-shot is about mental illness than it shouldn't have been changed, but if the fact that "an attack happens" is the relevant part of the story here than I don't see why the mental state of the perpetrator matters.
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Яeverse



Joined: 16 Jun 2014
Posts: 1135
Location: Indianapolis
PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 6:36 am Reply with quote
Kyo Hisagi wrote:
But it completely changes the meaning behind this scene. This scene was referencing tragedy at Kyoto Animation... .


Are you sure someone would make a amga with such a recent tragedyv

felt semi autobiographical of the authors earlier life and experience and not looking back on it
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Kraz



Joined: 28 Aug 2016
Posts: 23
PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 6:55 am Reply with quote
Kyo Hisagi wrote:
But it completely changes the meaning behind this scene. This scene was referencing tragedy at Kyoto Animation... now it's just a regular psycho who kills people just because. Is it insensitive to mention the arson or what? I don't get it.
It just weird to me... what discrimination.

The scene was probably not even referencing the tragedy at Kyoto Animation in the first place, as there is no element even close to it except a single -quite generic- line of dialogue.
And even the line of dialogue quoted by ann about plagiarism is coming after the dialogue where the killer think the victim is the one insulting him (the killer has mental issues and is hearing voices, it's stated multiple times before the scene)

The who or why the killer did this is unimportant in the story, I guess it was kind of a justification to attack an art school (I'm really not sure how you even plagiarism background arts)

I understand how the line may remind people of the KyoAni tragedy, ANN do not mention some of the unhappy comments seems linked to the release date (19th July, KyoAni attack was the 18th July 2 years ago...)
But it was at best a little reference (I still think the plagiarism accusation is common enough it's the first thing the mangaka thought to fill up the dialogue realistically), and if you remove the mental illness it will only become worse, it's like it's becoming the real motive, and this is probably not intended if they prefer to change it.

So it make sense to change the line alongside the more serious mental illness cliché.
It's frightening how any little correction or modification is now seen by many as a kind of censorship, like you automatically delivered something perfect and any alteration is inherently bad.
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ZetMoon80



Joined: 29 Nov 2018
Posts: 86
PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 8:23 am Reply with quote
Kraz wrote:
It's frightening how any little correction or modification is now seen by many as a kind of censorship, like you automatically delivered something perfect and any alteration is inherently bad.


Maybe censorship was not the best word to be used, but I still don't think that it was utterly necessary to change the dialogue. I don't know if Fujimoto was alluding to the Kyo incident or if he simply wanted to show a dangerous deranged guy (since he's a fan of horror films and stuff). The thing is that I don't think that the scene was made with malice or that he was trying to give an accurate depiction of schizophrenics. It's a piece of fiction, not an essay or a pamphlet. No one will read it and say "I see, so that's how every schizophrenic acts". Not every paranoid episode means to go out and kill people...ok, so what? My issue is not with the modification in itself, but the reason behind the modification that didn't even came from the author's decision. Why a piece of fiction would need to be altered based on conjectures and similarities that some people on the internet commented and got offended with? Why do they expect that Fujimoto doesn't "misinform" about mental illnesses like he was an expert on the matter to begin with?
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Changeman



Joined: 06 Jun 2018
Posts: 220
PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 8:49 am Reply with quote
Complaints about the changes are strong on japanese twitter. I am really surprised by these attitudes that will only harm the company and are taken by themselves. What's the point of changing now after two weeks when the work was highly rated by the vast majority of people?

I hope the complaints make them realize that freedom of expression should not be taken lightly.
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SHD



Joined: 05 Apr 2015
Posts: 1752
PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 9:26 am Reply with quote
ZetMoon80 wrote:
he simply wanted to show a dangerous deranged guy (since he's a fan of horror films and stuff)
...
No one will read it and say "I see, so that's how every schizophrenic acts".

No, people will say "I see, so he's mentally ill, makes sense that he does something like that." Most people out there have little to no idea what mental conditions are like in reality, their knowledge of it is based on what they see in media. And if media keeps reinforcing that yes, having a mental illness does indeed mean being dangerous to others, if media keeps using mental illness as a shorthand for "deranged and dangerous" then that does, in fact, keep reinforcing stereotypes that seriously affect the lives of people living with such conditions.
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JoelBurger





PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 11:12 am Reply with quote
SHD wrote:
No, people will say "I see, so he's mentally ill, makes sense that he does something like that." Most people out there have little to no idea what mental conditions are like in reality, their knowledge of it is based on what they see in media. And if media keeps reinforcing that yes, having a mental illness does indeed mean being dangerous to others, if media keeps using mental illness as a shorthand for "deranged and dangerous" then that does, in fact, keep reinforcing stereotypes that seriously affect the lives of people living with such conditions.


The KyoAni arsonist was also a mentally ill man who proved to be dangerous. Should the topic of an actual mass murder never be broached or sanitized because it "reinforces stereotypes"?
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MagicPolly



Joined: 26 Nov 2020
Posts: 1568
PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 11:33 am Reply with quote
JoelBurger wrote:
SHD wrote:
No, people will say "I see, so he's mentally ill, makes sense that he does something like that." Most people out there have little to no idea what mental conditions are like in reality, their knowledge of it is based on what they see in media. And if media keeps reinforcing that yes, having a mental illness does indeed mean being dangerous to others, if media keeps using mental illness as a shorthand for "deranged and dangerous" then that does, in fact, keep reinforcing stereotypes that seriously affect the lives of people living with such conditions.


The KyoAni arsonist was also a mentally ill man who proved to be dangerous. Should the topic of an actual mass murder never be broached or sanitized because it "reinforces stereotypes"?

You can't compare real news to fiction. With fiction, you're able to write it so that the stereotypes aren't there to begin with. This has nothing to do with pretending that people with mental illnesses never do anything wrong, but not reinforcing those stereotypes in fiction.
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SHD



Joined: 05 Apr 2015
Posts: 1752
PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 11:54 am Reply with quote
JoelBurger wrote:
SHD wrote:
No, people will say "I see, so he's mentally ill, makes sense that he does something like that." Most people out there have little to no idea what mental conditions are like in reality, their knowledge of it is based on what they see in media. And if media keeps reinforcing that yes, having a mental illness does indeed mean being dangerous to others, if media keeps using mental illness as a shorthand for "deranged and dangerous" then that does, in fact, keep reinforcing stereotypes that seriously affect the lives of people living with such conditions.


The KyoAni arsonist was also a mentally ill man who proved to be dangerous. Should the topic of an actual mass murder never be broached or sanitized because it "reinforces stereotypes"?

It was one dangerous person from tens of thousands of people who are either harmless or are only dangerous to themselves, but whose lives are severely affected by negative stereotypes about their condition.

Also, it would be one thing if this story was about the KyoAni arsonist, but it's not, so...
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El Hermano



Joined: 24 Feb 2019
Posts: 450
Location: Texas
PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 12:12 pm Reply with quote
This change does not really change much in terms of mental illness. The attacker still comes off as mentally unhinged, specifically having some kind of persecution complex or something if he feels he's being "looked down upon" by a piece of media. All they really do is just avoid directly saying the attacker was hearing voices or having an episode. It's still an unhinged person clearly going through something in their rampage.

What's more noticeable is the change about plagiarism. Perhaps the 'mental discrimination' excuse is just that, an excuse. It does feel like the plagiarism is the bigger issue due to it's similarities to the KyoAni incident and probably caused some people to call it in poor taste. Now instead of a unhinged person getting revenge for plagarism, it's just a random unhinged guy out to kill people indiscriminately. I don't really see how it makes them come off as any less mentally ill. The plagiarism certainly seems like the key change here.


MagicPolly wrote:
You can't compare real news to fiction. With fiction, you're able to write it so that the stereotypes aren't there to begin with. This has nothing to do with pretending that people with mental illnesses never do anything wrong, but not reinforcing those stereotypes in fiction.


This kind of mindset is why a lot of western media feels sanitized or artificial, because they have to go down a checklist to ensure that nothing could possibly be interpreted by bad faith actors looking for something to complain about and thinking that any character that just so happens to have a certain gender, racial, sexual, or mental characteristic is a laser-pointed statement on a subject . It ends up hurting creativity because it makes everything very predictable and homogenized once you understand what's off limits and what's acceptable to do with certain characters and characteristics. To me, fiction shouldn't be barred from depicting reality.
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KitKat1721



Joined: 03 Feb 2015
Posts: 952
PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 1:07 pm Reply with quote
I'm never someone who's in the "mwah this is CENSORSHIP!!" camp when it comes to creatives/editors making a decision to change something. Oftentimes that's not what it is, but people really love to cling to that word to the point where its sort of lost its meaning in online spheres.

That being said, I'm personally not a fan of this change because this clearly was a very personal one-shot (not even a mainline series or anything) and those allusions to the KyoAni tragedy are clear as day. Its a gut punch reminding you that those people were artists who have spent years working on their craft, and the story really celebrated that journey an artist takes even when its ugly (feeling inadequate, the tides of passion/inspiration, the monotonous hard work, etc...). And all those years were stolen in a moment.

Editing the killer's motive to be just generally misanthropy rather than a personal grudge of someone stealing his work (echoing lines said by the arson) loses some of that correlation, and considering how purposeful it is, I can't say I agree with it. Usually when there's edits like this, its for minor or even accidental things that can cause readers to focus on the wrong thing, or they're made being some things just haven't aged well (like the whole name controversy in MHA, updating certain character designs in Shaman King, the 2019 Fruits Basket anime removing all instances of smoking, etc...). This on the other hand kind of defangs what is clearly a very personal choice in a personal story.
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JoelBurger





PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 2:30 pm Reply with quote
SHD wrote:

It was one dangerous person from tens of thousands of people who are either harmless or are only dangerous to themselves, but whose lives are severely affected by negative stereotypes about their condition.

Also, it would be one thing if this story was about the KyoAni arsonist, but it's not, so...


And yet it still happened. And regardless of what some people here may think, it is incredibly obvious that Fujimoto was drawing deliberate parallels to the KyoAni arson, from what the killer says to the nature of what happened to the name of Kyomoto. All Fujimoto is doing is drawing on real life to tell a story - which is no more a condemnation of the thousands of people with mental illness, than Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue was a condemnation of otaku for drawing inspiration from the Otaku Murderer. And thankfully so far Kon's work has escaped sanitization.

Though in a way this adds another layer to Fujimoto's exploration of artistry in the one-shot: that you can do the crushing work of making art, all the repetition, long hours, and sacrifices involved, and still have people tamper with it after the fact.
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Kraz



Joined: 28 Aug 2016
Posts: 23
PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 3:49 pm Reply with quote
Because obviously, the editors -who knows way better the mangaka and his intent- butchered his story without his consent (of course it's impossible they asked him), and the author has not made any comment about this.

Or maybe, just maybe, you interpreted it wrong ?
Only some tweets talked about the similarities between the manga and the KyoAni tragedy, apart from the few panels with the killer, I also feel like there is nothing even close to relatable.

The focus is clearly the Fujino and Kyomoto relation, and the grief and feeling of responsibility in the death of Kyomoto by Fujino.
She's the one who made Fujino leave her room, she was the one talking about improving their skill, which lead her later to go to an art school instead of working together on the serialization, etc...

Fujino clearly believe she's responsible for her death because of all she did, even in the what-if story she imagine they never met before she saves her...

I could go on and on, but the fact remain you can change the way she died at her school, it would have zero impact on the story, if the killer or the way she died had any kind of importance, that's weird to have 0 page to emphasize it.

In the end, you can also make changes to make sure the right feelings are conveyed.
I'm NOT saying my interpretation is the correct one, but damn open your mind and stop believing you're the author.
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