This Week in Anime
The Tribulations of Fan Anime
by Steve Jones & Christopher Farris,
The new Berserk animation has been disavowed, but is this the only case of publishers coming down hard on fan creations? Steve and Chris dive into the world of doujin to find out.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.
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Chris
Steve, it's amazing that all our antics here on TWIA still haven't prompted us to be disowned by our distant Kadokawa overlords. It may seem like we've tried everything, but there's at least one option left. One thing you can do that will get you disavowed by a major publisher.
Making your own anime.
Steve, it's amazing that all our antics here on TWIA still haven't prompted us to be disowned by our distant Kadokawa overlords. It may seem like we've tried everything, but there's at least one option left. One thing you can do that will get you disavowed by a major publisher.
Making your own anime.
Steve
I have yet to graduate from stick figures, so I will need more practice before we can go that route. Still, as is often the case when we look for topics to discuss, we put our ears to the ground to locate who got yelled at the loudest this week. It's hard to outdo a scolding written in no fewer than five languages of legalese.
I have yet to graduate from stick figures, so I will need more practice before we can go that route. Still, as is often the case when we look for topics to discuss, we put our ears to the ground to locate who got yelled at the loudest this week. It's hard to outdo a scolding written in no fewer than five languages of legalese.
This might seem like a pretty simple case on its face. Studio Eclypse doesn't have any rights to Berserk, with The Black Swordsman specifically being pitched as a "fan-animation project". This sort of thing is ripe for C&Ds, depending on how zealous the publisher is.
Notably, what Hakusensha put out was simply this disavowing statement, clarifying the unofficial, unsanctioned nature of the project, and it doesn't look like any other further legal actions or takedowns have occurred yet.
Notably, what Hakusensha put out was simply this disavowing statement, clarifying the unofficial, unsanctioned nature of the project, and it doesn't look like any other further legal actions or takedowns have occurred yet.
Right, and Studio Eclypse themselves have yet to officially respond, so it's possible little to nothing will come from this. Or the whole thing might get canned. What is interesting to think about right now is what differentiates this particular project from the bevy of other fanworks out there. It's not as cut-and-dry as one might think.
Of course, fan creations and animations have a rich history in the anime and manga industry. It's a key part of the scene, with many creators having their origins in creating things in an unofficial capacity. Doujin creators have gathered for over 100 Comikets, hawking a whole bunch of unauthorized fan comics and material.
Doujin works are a huge thing now, but they had humble beginnings. The word "doujin" can be translated to "same person," which refers to the self-published nature of the works, i.e. you could have a single person doing everything from the drafting to the selling. The first Comiket had only 32 circles of doujin creators. Now that number is in the tens of thousands. That's a lot of paper.
It is also not strictly "legal" when it comes to works based on copyrighted material. Rather, the explanation goes that publishers and creators consciously look the other way at all the infringing works being sold. Probably because coming down on doujin would not be a good way to endear themselves to fans, and also because a lot of those creators remember they came from the same humble origins!
It's a fascinating little (or large) grey area! And what I find especially fascinating is the apparent unity among most major Japanese publishers. Nothing legal is stopping any of them from enforcing their copyrights, but they mutually choose not to. There's a weird symbiosis there, and I'd love to know if each publisher arrived at that conclusion on their own, or if there's some unofficial pact between them to maintain the status quo.
It's not that there aren't some lines. One of the more prominent limits from a recent franchise comes courtesy of Uma Musume, which respectfully asks doujin creators to refrain from "Harmful Representations" in their horsing around with the characters. This is apparently on account of the multilayered corporate ownership of the racehorses who are being allowed to be anthropomorphized for the franchise.
Even I was given that particular line of legalese when they sent me a review copy of the Uma Musume Party Dash game last month. As if I would ever besmirch the good name of Gold Ship.
Even I was given that particular line of legalese when they sent me a review copy of the Uma Musume Party Dash game last month. As if I would ever besmirch the good name of Gold Ship.
The running/galloping joke I've seen is that fans toe this line lest they suffer the wrath of the yakuza who are no doubt involved in the real horse racing scene. That's not a deterrent available to most IPs, but if it works, it works.
And that's also not to say there hasn't been legal action pursued in the past. Probably the most notable case involved erotic Pokémon doujinshi, which marked the first time anyone had been arrested for being a doujin artist.
And that's also not to say there hasn't been legal action pursued in the past. Probably the most notable case involved erotic Pokémon doujinshi, which marked the first time anyone had been arrested for being a doujin artist.
Wild to think that there was a moment, however brief, when they thought they might be able to clamp down on Pokémon porn. Or maybe it's just that the Pokémon people at the time didn't want unofficial creators stepping on Toshihiro Ono's toes when it came to horny Pokémon manga.
If you know, you know.
If you know, you know.
The case caused quite a stir at the time, but fans of all franchises have only grown hornier and more prolific in the ensuing 25 years. And, to be clear, despite the popular conception, not all doujinshi is pornographic. Comiket is not exclusively a den of sin. But quite a lot of it is.
Right, the thrust of the conflict that got us here isn't that publishers and license-holders could take umbrage for fan-made content being saucy, but for it being made without legal permission. Comiket's creators may get by with its primarily paper-based output, but other mediums aren't always so lucky. For instance, speaking of the people behind Pokémon, Nintendo is infamously litigious when it comes to fan games based on its properties.
My "favorite" example is the fangame Another Metroid 2 Remake getting DMCA'd right before Nintendo came out with their own Metroid II remake. You can't blame Nintendo in this particular instance, but it still feels a tad vindictive.
It's to the point where the players and fans interested in these games are trying to look the other way and keep them on the down-low until they can be finished and released, lest some big outlet report on the games and bring the Big N's hammer down.
It's an odd comparison too, because the infringing doujin at Comiket are being sold for money while these fan game projects are typically distributed-for-free affairs, yet one gets the authorities sicced on them far more often than the other.
It's an odd comparison too, because the infringing doujin at Comiket are being sold for money while these fan game projects are typically distributed-for-free affairs, yet one gets the authorities sicced on them far more often than the other.
This is where I think economies of scale come into play. As large as Comiket is, it's a biannual gathering at a single physical location. Circles arrive with a set number of copies to hawk. Once those are sold, that might be it. Some do online distribution too, of course, but not all of them, and even then, it is a much smaller operation than an Amazon storefront. They're not really "infringing" on the copyright holder's original market as much as they're filling in gaps. But a free game advertised/written about on major sites to millions of people has a more cosmopolitan outreach, and that's more likely to catch the attention of publishers negatively.
The internet contributes to increased visibility for these sorts of projects, and the litigation that results. So it's a double-edged sword and an element that's been a part of the weeb community for quite a while now. Fan comics, games, and animations have been distributed across the web for decades, becoming pretty foundational to the culture.
Imagine what the fandom would look like if Crypton more strongly contested how animators used Hatsune Miku.
Imagine what the fandom would look like if Crypton more strongly contested how animators used Hatsune Miku.
Weeaboo culture—at least when I was indoctrinated into it—was inseparable from doujin culture. There simply was not one without the other. No nerd-dominated space survives without heavy fan input. What separates anime/manga from its neighbors is the amount and degree of sophistication in doujinshi. These aren't just pieces of fan art or songs inspired by stuff. These are often complete one-shots, serials, albums, animations, and more. Individuals might put these together alone but they're a part of a thriving community.
To me, nothing embodies that spirit like Touhou. The main, official games are produced by a one-man team and his bottomless glasses of booze. But ZUN's famously accommodating approach towards fan creations works with the series's dedicated following to produce a mountain of faithful unofficial spin-offs. So much of the stuff in this fandom comes from the various fan comics, videos, and remixes (which themselves get remixed), and the scene of the fan games is so robust you can buy them on Steam or pick them up at Target for your Nintendo Switch.
Touhou itself is a doujin series! It's not just derivative works; it's more about the spirit of amateurism. Half the charm of Touhou is that ZUN can't draw that well, but he does so anyway as the sole member of Team Shanghai Alice. It infuses those games with a ton of personality. The same thing with the 07th Expansion and the When They Cry chronicles. That's all doujin, too, and I don't trust anyone who doesn't love Ryukishi's original Higurashi sprites.
But yeah, Touhou for the longest time was doujin culture to me. It was much bigger than any of its contemporaries, and it frequently dominated the Comiket scene.
But yeah, Touhou for the longest time was doujin culture to me. It was much bigger than any of its contemporaries, and it frequently dominated the Comiket scene.
Truly this art best sells the dissonant horror of Higurashi since I could never believe that these adorable girls and their big, meaty claws would hurt me.
It's a manifestation of passion that's palpable on the screen. You can feel these creators push past their limits and use all of the tools available to them to complete works of art on their own terms. That's what I love.
And that's why I'm also shell-shocked we're in an environment now where big corporations are savvy enough to try to capitalize on (i.e. mooch off) that can-do amateur attitude of the doujin scene.
And that's why I'm also shell-shocked we're in an environment now where big corporations are savvy enough to try to capitalize on (i.e. mooch off) that can-do amateur attitude of the doujin scene.
マクドは大変なものを作っていきました#サムライマック #トリプル肉厚ビーフ pic.twitter.com/Oe45fI5xcn
— マクドナルド (@McDonaldsJapan) August 21, 2024
The sheer irony there is that many of the Touhou music mash-ups I was raised on made liberal use of Japanese Ronald McDonald clips.
It's not like there aren't some nobler applications of this fan-fueled approach going official. Just this past week, I and other Transformers fans had our faces melted off by the 40th Anniversary video from Studio Trigger. Ostensibly a big toy advert like every other piece of the franchise, yes, but the spirit of it shone through due to the love for the series that Trigger, and especially director Akira Amemiya, have always been very, very obvious about.
The video also credits Hayato Sakamoto, a writer for the franchise in Japan who did Transformers doujinshi before going pro!
It's not like there aren't some nobler applications of this fan-fueled approach going official. Just this past week, I and other Transformers fans had our faces melted off by the 40th Anniversary video from Studio Trigger. Ostensibly a big toy advert like every other piece of the franchise, yes, but the spirit of it shone through due to the love for the series that Trigger, and especially director Akira Amemiya, have always been very, very obvious about.
Transformers 40th Anniversary
— 【公式】トランスフォーマー情報局 (@TF_pr) September 13, 2024
Special Movie
大絶賛公開中
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
BUMP OF CHICKEN
×
TRIGGER
×
Transformers… pic.twitter.com/18vmfw1pYA
The video also credits Hayato Sakamoto, a writer for the franchise in Japan who did Transformers doujinshi before going pro!
That is cool. Speaking of Touhou, my go-to example for a doujin-artist-turned-pro is Nio Nakatani. Before she wrote the excellent Bloom Into You, she cut her teeth on a bunch of yuri Touhou doujinshi. Just think of girls in funny hats smooching next time you read/watch something of hers. It all adds up.
This is like finding out that the character designer for Bang Brave Bravern is also a yuri fan artist. Thus explaining the sheer number of distinctively designed ladies in what was otherwise the robot yaoi show.
There's yuri everywhere for those with the eyes to see. And circling back to our original example, Berserk is an especially ontologically interesting example if we're talking about the distinction between official and fan works. One could argue that Berserk as it currently exists is a fan work.
It creates an odd intersection that any legacy project must arrive at. Kentarō Miura tragically passed away in 2021, with Berserk continuing to be drawn by his former studio assistants and supervised by his longtime friend Kouji Mori. It's an arguably respectful way for the story to continue for readers who want to continue paying tribute to Miura.
It's an understandable move when the original creator of a work isn't around to continue it, e.g. any new Astro Boy stuff coming out wasn't made by Osamu Tezuka. Similar to the Berserk situation, there's recently been word that Toyotarō will be picking the Dragon Ball Super manga back up on his own, without the input of Akira Toriyama after his tragic passing earlier this year.
It's an understandable move when the original creator of a work isn't around to continue it, e.g. any new Astro Boy stuff coming out wasn't made by Osamu Tezuka. Similar to the Berserk situation, there's recently been word that Toyotarō will be picking the Dragon Ball Super manga back up on his own, without the input of Akira Toriyama after his tragic passing earlier this year.
These examples are more legitimate than some Joe Schmoe off the street trying his hand at a continuation. In Berserk's case, where it's being spearheaded by friends and colleagues, it's hard to criticize. Moreover, I think these situations emphasize how slippery the concept of "copyright" can be. It's not as simple as a shield meant to protect creators and their creations. It's a complicated set of legal definitions and bindings that more often than not are wielded by estates and corporations to suit their needs.
And that sort of wielding is what happened last week, and what brought us here, with the current powers-that-be behind Berserk feeling the need to disavow the fan animation project that was The Black Swordsman.
Interestingly, while they aren't exactly "Joe Schmoe off the street," Studio Eclypse are fans trying their hands at a continuation of Berserk, after a fashion, since this project nominally seeks to provide an anime adaptation of the manga where they feel the series has been underserved, particularly with the dissatisfaction around the 2016 Berserk anime.
Interestingly, while they aren't exactly "Joe Schmoe off the street," Studio Eclypse are fans trying their hands at a continuation of Berserk, after a fashion, since this project nominally seeks to provide an anime adaptation of the manga where they feel the series has been underserved, particularly with the dissatisfaction around the 2016 Berserk anime.
A grievance held by many, to be fair. But it's also hard to look at the whole situation and not conclude that Eclypse was playing with fire. They've got an open Patreon. The trailers have millions of views. They've received some buzz from the press. These are the flags that seem to attract the interest of legal departments.
I understand that animation, especially at this scale, isn't cheap. Lord knows we call for official anime studios to pay their artists better all the time. Aspects of money and scale can complicate what's already a nebulous legal situation.
There's having passion and pride in your work, but there's also the act of flying too close to the sun.
There's having passion and pride in your work, but there's also the act of flying too close to the sun.
Irrespective of all legal points, I'm also going to be petty here and say: The Black Swordsman Arc? Again? There's so much Berserk besides that and the Golden Age Arc, but fans are so tunnel-visioned on the early volumes. I don't think the manga truly turns transcendent until much further along. Maybe try tackling the stuff that no anime adaptation has gotten to yet. Who knows, the lawyers might have felt less litigious in that case.
I'm also suspect of any project that parades 1:1 comparisons with the manga like that's a good thing anime adaptations should strive for. You're also seemingly preparing the legal department's PowerPoint slides for them.
I'm also suspect of any project that parades 1:1 comparisons with the manga like that's a good thing anime adaptations should strive for. You're also seemingly preparing the legal department's PowerPoint slides for them.
I don't doubt that this crew is a fan of Berserk, but it feels similar to how fan-focused third-party Transformers toy companies will just produce umpteenth sets of Dinobots instead of any deeper-cut characters. It's your animation, do what you want, but when you're putting together something from the very beginning like you're aiming to be a "definitive" adaptation akin to the david production JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, but as a fan-made outing? It can feel a bit iffy.
Love the passion, but it could be applied better elsewhere. And I think that's something the doujin scene does admirably. In a legal/technical sense, much doujinshi is derivative, but spiritually, they can brim with creativity and artistic vision. Whether it's peddling the nastiest of smut, producing intricately arranged remixes of the original music, or just adding some color to fanfic, doujin artists can keep a flame going well past its expiration date.
The good news is that this situation with The Black Swordsman seems to be an outlier—and as mentioned, they haven't even had to formally take anything down as of this writing. Otherwise, we can reasonably presume that the filthy fanworks will keep flowing from Comiket, and our good old Vocaloid and Touhou MVs aren't going anywhere, no matter how many burgers they try to use them to sell.
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