Hm, I will admit I jumped to conclusions even while trying to be cautious when I first responded to this thread. Now I think relentlessflame's analysis makes the most sense and I'm inclined to believe this for now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by relentlessflame
If they just took some random guy off the street who really, really wanted to be in showbusiness, pulled this stunt on them, and then turned around and offered them a long-term job in their PR team... I don't know if there'd be the same hurt feelings.
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Personally, I don't like "Punked", that sense of humour, or any shows like it. I find it in bad taste. But it's a very popular style of comedy in the entertainment business around the world today. So when they say their intentions were misunderstood, I can actually buy that. The whole thing reeks to me of a prank that was supposed to be funny, but went wrong due to some poor decisions and some people involved taking it too seriously (and being far too vicious). The organizers likely just wanted to have some sort of "fun" way to introduce their new PR guy, and someone came up with this.
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Let's go with the whole thing is supposed to be funny. Then here's what I'm wondering.
1) Did they really decide to choose Ichiki (not completely unknown) instead of a
very low profile seiyuu
on purpose? The "believable" factor applies with Ichiki but may not apply to a more obscure seiyuu. And if they did, was it just an oversight or did they actually think it would be more funny?
2) Even in a "punked" context, did Taneshima and Kanemoto go overboard? This is akin to "beating a dead horse" -- yes let's say they believe it was rigged and Ichiki never expected to get the job, but did they have to draw out the joke so it becomes...no longer funny and scandalous?
3) If the production team is taken aback by these allegations, let's say they really only intended this to be a prank, was their response appropriate? We're not talking about covering up a vicious incident here, but if they actually believed they acted innocently. I still think even if we give them the benefit of the doubt, their statement (plus taking down the videos) didn't satisfy anyone.
And then, how do I feel about this situation and similar things in the future? Did 2ch go overboard and did we jump too conclusions too quickly? I think that a part of it was the seiyuu felt like they had an obligation to go along with the setup. But they still could've stopped at any time, or offer a word of comfort/encouragement to Ichiki on the radio show. Right now I'm thinking that no one had malicious intent, but people got hurt anyways in the process (as I can give many personal examples of), so an apology is nice even if you didn't intend what you did.