Comments on: The Fractale Scandal And Its Implications

By: J Sensei

J Sensei — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 11:06:09 +0000

I realize this is a late reply but, to Kylaran: I did question, as I wrote this post, if I should cite the production committee specifically, but there was one point of ignorance where I didn’t want to tread: I have no idea if the director’s part of that committee or not. That prevented me from venturing there.

But.

Matters of bureaucracy aren’t really the problem here. The attitude itself is very much the problem at the root of the issue. An attitude that says “this is too good for Americans to watch” and blaming an American company for not being able to control internet piracy is entirely consistent with the tone the director has pushed. In other words, he echoes it and it echoes him, so I did not bother to drown the story in issues of process.

I really feel no shame at all to sticking to what I know and not making wild speculation about what I don’t. I know what the director said, and I know what the company collectively did, and how they further relate, this I do not know.

You’re right, though – this is a culture blog. It’s not my job to miss the forest by staring too much at one tree. Nor is it my desire to point out how I didn’t say Yamamoto decided the show couldn’t air, but rather, that he decided to hold a particular position – and whether that position influenced matters, I did not speculate. But that is too fine a point; it’s the attitude I take issue with more than any specific person or group of persons.

By: japanese melbourne

japanese melbourne — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 04:25:26 +0000

to be honest, i heard a lot of japanese traditional stories and new thing such as slang words from my japanese friends, but i never know about this one, i will ask more detail about it.

By: J Sensei

J Sensei — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 15:08:13 +0000

I think you have an excellent point. When pirates are more consistent than the legits, legitimate business can only suffer. As Toyota likes to say, it’s a lot easier to keep a customer than to create a new one. Losses may never be recouped. But if a Japanese company thinks American business is pure cashing in, and individual creators think that it’s sullying the craft, we will continue to see “kodomo mitai” (childish) outbreaks like this.

I’ll always pick the cool professionalism when push comes to shove.

By: J Sensei

J Sensei — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 14:32:10 +0000

Oversight? ^^ Seriously, this doesn’t sound like a well planned thing here. More like a fit of pique. If it has already blown over without my being on top of it, all the better.

By: Mina

Mina — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 02:47:02 +0000

Erm, if it is truly not legally viewable in the USA, why is it on hulu?

By: cyshtoph

cyshtoph — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 23:28:02 +0000

Now, isn’t it ironic? Now Americans know how the rest of the world felt when American anime industry started streaming anime for their viewers only. They started taking down most popular fansub sites that provided subs and scans in English with no regards that some shows were licensed in USA only, and in dubbed version too.

It’s funny how both them and the Japanese doesn’t want to let people from across the globe pay them for what they want to pay.. and it would only require designing one universal system of payment for online content. Thank to those ‘tantrums’, as you’ve called them, obnoxious activists (or pirates) such as horriblesubs (in opposition to Crunchyroll) will always be present. It’s becoming a serious matter. Most likely it will be game poorly played, just like last.fm has shown.

By: Yumeka

Yumeka — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:33:14 +0000

I agree that the people who want to watch Fractale legitimately shouldn’t be punished because of what some pirates choose to do. The companies want to stop illegal methods of downloading the show by taking away fans’ only legal method of watching it? That really makes no sense.

Cloning Miyazaki elements doesn’t hamper my enjoyment of Fractale since I enjoy Miyazaki’s work, but I agree that the show isn’t as “cliche-free” as I thought it would be.

By: Kylaran

Kylaran — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 13:40:00 +0000

I can see why this is a culture blog because it seems like you know very little about the animation industry.

Every single blame you pin on Yamamoto should be placed on the Fractale Production Committee, which most likely consists of the members hired by the corporate sponsors of the animation. What the producer(s) of a show do is that they contact, coordinate, and fund the various branches involved in getting a series out to the public, including but not limited to: anime production, staff selection (depending on the amount of freedom given to the director to choose his own staff), production schedule, client approval, profit/investments, and advertising.

The only thing that Yamamoto is in charge of would most likely be anime production (possibly staff selection); everything else falls in the hands of people with more power than the director. In fact, Yamamoto must work within the borders of the contracts established by the producers, which often include leaving the broadcasting and merchandise rights out of the animation studio’s hands.

I do agree that Yamamoto is not the most humble of directors, but his arrogance is only tangentially related to the actual problem at hand.