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INTEREST: Digimon Tamers 20th Anniversary Stage Show Features 'Cancel Culture' Villain

Some people have to realize that Japan doesn't exist in it's own cultural bubble. Konaka himself is admittedly influence by American culture wars. It's people projecting their world view on the entire country that it's a paradise of people who hate Shonen Jump Weekly's and political correctness.

DavetheUsher wrote:

Personally the first thing I thought of when I heard "conforming to a single value system" is the rising pressure to get Japan to conform to western sensibilities, or how Japanese artists often get harassed or banned from Twitter for what they draw.

That was the first thing I thought of as well. A good friend of mine shut down her Twitter account because people kept harassing her for posting art they didn't agree with. That kind of bs is really starting to piss me off and I really wish it would stop already.

It isn't just from "leftists". A Japanese artist who did the designs for the Phoenix Wright games got harassed by some "karens" on her Twitter account because they found out she used to work on some yaoi doujinis in the past and went all "Won't anybody please think the children!" mode on her because they got paranoid of their kids seeing LGBT content in a Phoenix Wright game.

That's not exactly what happened. The people who harassed her for making BL doujinshi had done so because radfems had convinced them that BL/yaoi "fetishizes gay men" because they were written by women.

It should also be pointed out that Konaka himself says in his response to overseas fans that this audio drama was all on him and Toei had no involvement in it and that a Tamers sequel was planned but then scrapped at some point, which makes it seem like Toei took a look at Konaka's script and went yikes and opted to go with Ghost Game instead.

Some people have to realize that Japan doesn't exist in it's own cultural bubble. Konaka himself is admittedly influence by American culture wars. It's people projecting their world view on the entire country that it's a paradise of people who hate Shonen Jump Weekly's and political correctness. So I'm not sure why to some he's immune to takes on things he's said by American fans. Anyway, Konka basically took the most non-evasive approach to this.

That's not exactly what happened. The people who harassed her for making BL doujinshi had done so because radfems had convinced them that BL/yaoi "fetishizes gay men" because they were written by women.

That's a tangent to the actual thread, but I still want to say it: it IS a fetish though. Clearly. Not only because the vast majority of BL content is either straight up porn or very much sexual in nature, but as far as I'm aware the vast majority of authors are straight women. You can't seriosly look at those two points and just come to the conclusion that Yaoi is some sort of inclusive expression of homossexuality in Japan. I may be wrong on this, but as far as I'm aware homossexuality is not celebrated in Japan at all, meaning that it's very much backwards when it comes to how many people are in the closet, gay pride and whatnot. The only circumstance in which such content seems to be acceptable is titillating content for women.
I don't know the extent of the harassament this artist suffered for being into BL, and I would argue harassment in and of itself is of course wrong, especially since the work she's doing now doesn't even have anything to do with it. But it's not a reach or political hysteria at all to call BL for what it is: porn (or at the very least fanservice) for women. Why so many heterossexual women enjoy gay porn between two men is indeed odd, though I suppose it's for the same reason a lot of straight men enjoy lesbian content.
Now, I'm not saying Yaoi is inherently wrong or that it shouldn't exist. I'm just saying criticism to it is valid as any other.

DavetheUsher wrote:

Is it "political"? I guess being against "PC culture" could be considered political in a way in America these days, but a lot of anime and manga creators are like that. They're very heavy into freedom of expression and against censorship. Like all the creators and industry folk who recently spoke out against the Kadokawa CEO saying manga should censor stuff for Apple and Google. Considering Digimon is one of those franchises that got hit with huge censorship and changes in the American dub and it's still happening to this day (Cyber Sleuth 2 removed Sistermon Noir) I think it's pretty fitting. Digimon was never 'politically correct' by western standards so it's Konaka's known for writing about the dangers of the internet and its affect on culture, so talking about censorship and cancel culture seems only natural

Except that most of the loudest voices whining against "cancel culture" are really saying "I want the freedom to act like a massive **** without facing any societal ramifications for it." Speech without consequence has always been a complete myth. "Freedom of speech" only guarantees that a government cannot censor what you are trying to say. It does not guarantee you a private platform to say something, or that anyone has to take you seriously, or that you won't be ostracized if what you're saying is really shitty. That goes double for anti-vax bullshit that actively puts people's lives in danger.

KefkaesqueXIII wrote:

"I know writers who use subtext, and they're all cowards."

Ah, a person of culture I see.

Censoring media in some ways is fascist. I understand wanting to only promote truth and facts, and "protecting our youth," but doing so can also push a single values system. If people have bad opinions, let them have them. As long as it's not public defamation or slander, I don't think we as a society should be censoring people or ideas.

NeoBasch wrote:

Censoring media in some ways is fascist. I understand wanting to only promote truth and facts, and "protecting our youth," but doing so can also push a single values system. If people have bad opinions, let them have them. As long as it's not public defamation or slander, I don't think we as a society should be censoring people or ideas.

You have to be kidding me. Not all perspectives are equally valid. Scientific facts are not equal to conspiracy theory propaganda. Suppressing lies and misinformation is not fascism. In fact fascism is only able to spread because of the uncheck spread of lies and misinformation. If you are sincerely against fascism you shouldn't be supporting the very thing that enables fascism in the first place.

On the issue of "free speech".The U.S constitution does not and has never protected all forms of speech. Speech that leads to violence such as shouting fire in a movie theater and "fighting words". Have always been excluded from free speech protections both in the U.S and internationally. Spreading misinformation about a deadly virus that kills thousands of people. Is functionally the same as shouting fire in a movie theater except it kills a thousand times more people. No country protects that kind of dangerous speech nor should it.

You have to be kidding me. Not all perspectives are equally valid. Scientific facts are not equal to conspiracy theory propaganda. Suppressing lies and misinformation is not fascism. In fact fascism is only able to spread because of the uncheck spread of lies and misinformation. If you are sincerely against fascism you shouldn't be supporting the very thing that enables fascism in the first place.