Kokoro Connect Bullying Incident

[ivari]

I don't think any site with good sense want to get involved with this. Even Yaraon seems to feign ignorance about the whole incident.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by ivari

I don't think any site with good sense want to get involved with this. Even Yaraon seems to feign ignorance about the whole incident.

They have for a while, but their post on it just went up.

[ivari]

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

They have for a while, but their post on it just went up.

Their latest post about Kokoro Connect Radio's cancellation was made in an innocent surprise tone. They should know full well about the reasons but I don't think they mention it at all.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

And so it begins, the greatest shitstorm of our time.

It's often things like this that bring out the true colors of our idols... and this also teaches the parties involved about dealing with people who act like this behind the camera.

They, especially KitaEri, are lucky. If the Hell Correspondence really existed, one of them would be sent straight to Hell.

Ok...seriously...what's wrong with Eri Kitamura? There's no proof she's related to this at all...

the ones who need to roast in hell if any are the scum in the Internet.

I just hope Riya isn't affected too badly...she's a damned good singer. And isn't even involved in this as well

[Klashikari]

The trainwreck could have been controlled if the production commitee of the anime made the right decisions (either not making it public or/and making public apology right from the get go).
Doing nothing will make people even angrier as the time passes, since they are basically in a "search and destroy" mode.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Actually, when you think about it, the Japanese penchant for pulling pranks on public TV is very common...it's easy to see how they could have overstepped the line then realized it only too late. It's what happens when you have too little self-control.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

Ok...seriously...what's wrong with Eri Kitamura? There's no proof she's related to this at all...

the ones who need to roast in hell if any are the scum in the Internet.

I just hope Riya isn't affected too badly...she's a damned good singer. And isn't even involved in this as well

On a less important note but still something I'm concern about is how this would affect the impression of the two characters those two VAs play. I don't know the VAs well enough to care about them but goddamnit why did they have to pull this crap before what seems to be a big Yui-Aoki episode from the preview!

If the whole Hirano Aya thing taught me anything is that there's a large number of people who can't separate VAs from the characters they voice.... =_=

[Kakkou]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

I just hope Riya isn't affected too badly...she's a damned good singer. And isn't even involved in this as well

Riya's probably safe, but Eufonius' name as a whole is likely tarnished by Kikuchi being such a douchebag.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Kakkou

Riya's probably safe, but Eufonius' name as a whole is likely tarnished by Kikuchi being such a douchebag.

Well you know....for bands, the most public face is the vocalist. In most minds, the vocalist IS the band....

[Nico87]

What I'm worrying about is what will happen to the franchise now. The 17 eps are supposed to cover the first four novels, and if they made Kokoro Connect knowing that they'd make a second season aswell, stuff might get weird.

* They try to end the franchise with episode 17 with an abrupt (and shit) ending that wasn't really supposed to be there.

* They wait for proper sales figures which will probably not be very high compared to their initial expectancies, leaving us with a possible open ending in episode 17 with nothing else coming in the future if they decide to not do a second season.

* Nothing changes at all <- the best but least likely outcome in my opinion.

[s07195]

Originally Posted by Nico87

What I'm worrying about is what will happen to the franchise now. The 17 eps are supposed to cover the first four novels, and if they made Kokoro Connect knowing that they'd make a second season aswell, stuff might get weird.

* They try to end the franchise with episode 17 with an abrupt (and shit) ending that wasn't really supposed to be there.

* They wait for proper sales figures which will probably not be very high compared to their initial expectancies, leaving us with a possible open ending in episode 17 with nothing else coming in the future if they decide to not do a second season.

* Nothing changes at all <- the least likely outcome in my opinion.

I don't think they will change plans even if there was a second season in mind, as the original novel end of the fourth novel was a good place to end the anime as well.

A season 2 is probably not likely, even without this incident. There are 2 arcs left to animate and 2 compilations of short stories, so it's not exactly fitting for a second season in the first place.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by Nico87

What I'm worrying about is what will happen to the franchise now. The 17 eps are supposed to cover the first four novels, and if they made Kokoro Connect knowing that they'd make a second season aswell, stuff might get weird.

* They try to end the franchise with episode 17 with an abrupt (and shit) ending that wasn't really supposed to be there.

* They wait for proper sales figures which will probably not be very high compared to their initial expectancies, leaving us with a possible open ending in episode 17 with nothing else coming in the future if they decide to not do a second season.

* Nothing changes at all <- the least likely outcome in my opinion.

Volume 4 is a good place to stop, and it's not just my opinion- pretty much anyone who had read the LN would tell you that.

I wouldn't be surprise if that was the plan in the beginning; after all not every show gets a proper conclusion like Shana- most of them probably ends up like FMP, stuck in limbo.

[Nico87]

Oh, that's good to know. Kokoro is gonna be the first anime I import that's not a box set!

[sudolicious]

Originally Posted by Sheba

even went so far as create a fake character

Actually had to laugh out loud at this, now te people at the station are staring at me with a strange gaze ;_;

I'm surprised this incident got so huge, yeah it's fucked up for the seiyu himself, but who cares? It's not like they tried to shove down hidden advertising our throats or anything else, heck, the VA in question wasn't even that popular IIRC.

[Horse]

Originally Posted by sudolicious

Actually had to laugh out loud at this, now te people at the station are staring at me with a strange gaze ;_;

I'm surprised this incident got so huge, yeah it's fucked up for the seiyu himself, but who cares? It's not like they tried to shove down hidden advertising our throats or anything else, heck, the VA in question wasn't even that popular IIRC.

... but the stunt was used as part of the promotion, no?

[Sheba]

@sudolicious

It's a huge PR disaster for every parties involved.
I mean will Ichiki get big roles because he have worked his ass off for them or because those casting him do it out of sympathy? And the two other seiyuus who made fun of him, and added salt to the wound, they have shot themselves in the foot as far as their careers goes.
Yamanaka is likely going to pull a karma houdini, him being a producer and all, he is one of the people who makes the call regarding anime projects. The others? They are in for a long ride.

Bottomline, it's callous, petty, tasteless and a colossal waste.

[Klashikari]

Originally Posted by sudolicious

Actually had to laugh out loud at this, now te people at the station are staring at me with a strange gaze ;_;

I'm surprised this incident got so huge, yeah it's fucked up for the seiyu himself, but who cares? It's not like they tried to shove down hidden advertising our throats or anything else, heck, the VA in question wasn't even that popular IIRC.

It absolutely doesn't matter if the seiyuu in question is popular or not: it was a senseless stunt that was completely unecessary, especially if you consider the context.

That "prank" was completely premeditate, since it isn't even about a seiyuu being shot down for not being good enough for a given role: that role was bogus to begin with, going as far as having an audition along with fake sketches etc.
That alone is basically a humiliation by itself, but it goes as far as dragging the said person to public shame, whereas he was working earnestly to get that role, and even cancelled few projects for this.

That's pretty much as if you were trying to get the job you really wanted, went through 2 annoying interviews, and basically got a spot in a staged TV broadcast to realize that everything was a lie, and you are given a street sweeper job instead. If you add the insulting mockery on stage and after the deed with tweets and radio event, I really don't think the magnitude is "exaggerated".

They turned him into a promo monkey, who is asked to go through all over Japan with a damn itasha, for the promotion of a series he even can't take part of it. For that kind of stuff, you would rather use people who are -hired- for that, not a damn VA you don't care.

[Hell_ping]

I think most can agree that the two seiyuus just kissed their careers goodbye (or if not, they'll likely be extras at best). As for the director, he can call the shots all he want, but he will have a black rep on him for the rest of his life.

I know I'm not really one who should say this, but the lack of responsibility I'm seeing here has disillusioned me more and more nowadays. I know that hard work doesn't always give full rewards or even any, but it's like pulling a chair away when someone's trying to sit down. Pretty much every single industry has the survival of the fittest concept going on, but washing dirty linen in open public is just disgusting, and actually harping on it makes it worse. Offering a bogus position would be like "Hi, here's your birthday cake" and smashing it into the birthday kid's face. It's never a pleasant thing. Think of the guy, think of his family, think of his friends. Can you imagine how shameful it will be for Ichiki-san to have to go around to every single interview, and then the interviewers (who may not be the sharpest tools) will say something like, "Oh, so you're the one who got the bogus position in the KC prank last time?" He will probably never be able to try out for another seiyuu audition ever again because of this incident, especially since almost everyone in the anime industry knows about this.

I have nothing to say about the anons. There is a reason why I prefer to use my nick even on imageboards, to make sure I remain responsible for what I say/type. I have to express my regret to Ichiki-san and KitaEri over this incident, that not only are people pricks, but that legions of fans don't even try to find the truth for themselves.

[sudolicious]

Originally Posted by Horse

... but the stunt was used as part of the promotion, no?

No argument here, but why would this offend us/the Japanese audience? We actually could have a good laugh about this as well and move on. I get that the Japanese are especially very sensitive about all sorts of things, but again, how does this negatively effect any of us? That's why I mentioned hidden advertising as one example, I could understand people being annoyed by stuff like the kamogawa incident, but this is something completely different.

Originally Posted by Sheba

And the two other seiyuus who made fun of him, and added salt to the wound, they have shot themselves in the foot as far as their careers goes.

Bottomline, it's callous, petty, tasteless and a colossal waste.

"made fun of him"? They laughed and made a few sassy comments on the show, I wouldn't take this completely serious and don't think they meant any harm by it.

I still agree that it was completely uncalled for and tasteless, but seriously, are all of you and the jap audience saints? Who doesn't enjoy some schadenfreude once in a while, it was a silly prank, no need to get upset. I could've slightly understand if it was a popular seiyu with a strong fan base or if it would affect the show negatively... But well, as I said the audience is probably just a bit over sensitive

[Sheba]

But well, as I said the audience is probably just a bit over sensitive

Nope. We, the more moderate people here, are just manifesting a little empathy. In the context of the seiyuu industry, everyone started small so, popular or not, it's something that should not be done ever. Especially in a society where "public face" is a very big deal.

PS: about the schadenfreude thing. Yes it happens, we all had this moment in our life, but what the two guys did is to make it worse. I dunno about you but this:

Takuma Terashima said that “It was fun seeing a human being break like that”, while Hisako Kanemoto laughed at Ichiki san for not having a role in the anime, and about how he still accepted the promotional manager post in the end, as he doesn’t have a choice. She mocked him, saying something like “Didn’t you want to do this though?(the role) You seemed so enthusiastic about it!”

It just don't sit well with me.