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Old 2007-04-30, 02:28   Link #70
Kaioshin Sama
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Join Date: May 2004
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kj1980 View Post
I believe it isn't bogus. There are Japanese overtones that need to be taken into consideration.

Written: "We [Kyoto Animation] decided that Director Yamamoto hasn't reached the capacity to direct yet"

Hidden overtone that I feel (of course, it could be wrong): "Director Yamamoto came to us and after a lengthy discussion he asked to be taken off the position as a director of the pressure and that he had much more to learn"

Rationale: Falling under pressure is shown as a weakness in Japanese society. Hence rather putting the blame on one person, the company takes its place an euphemizes the wording that a staff change is being made.

Being an animator is one thing, being a director is another. Just because you can make (draw) anime doesn't mean you can make (direct) one. Becoming a director includes whole different level of responsibility - one that includes being and coordinating schedules, overseeing the progress of the series in its entireity, keeping within acceptable limits of the budget, and being one of the members to appease to the shows' sponsors. Seeing his track records, the closest relevant job description is being an 演出 (unit director) who directs and oversees the progress of the anime from the storyboard process. He may have the ability to do some of the responsibilities of a director, but perhaps he may not have had much experience when it comes to budget and making outside communication with sponsors and the like?

Well, that's my speculation so I could be off by 180 degrees.
Ohhhh.... The translation I got was "Has reached his limits", which seemed kind of like a humiliating statement. Your interpretation makes it seem more like the company has taken the burden of fault off of Yasuhiro and stated, "We made a mistake, Yasuhiro is not the director we have in mind for the series after all. We put him in the chair too early and apologize". I have heard of the importance of saving face in Japanese business culture (An infamous example is what Nintendo did to Gunpei Yokoi after the Virtual Boy fiasco. They kept him visibly on staff, but didn't allow him to make any more important decisions or didn't take his recommendations into consideration. Essentially what this did was make it look as if nothing had gone exceptionally wrong externally and allow him to save face. In reality however, Yokoi was devasted by the failure of the Virtual Boy and people at Nintendo had lost faith in him. He was finished as far as his career with Nintendo was concerned.) and this interpretation seems more in line with the traditional practice rather than trying to pin the blame on him like I interpreted it. A company as a whole can absorb more damage than a single person essentially.

Last edited by Kaioshin Sama; 2007-04-30 at 02:38.
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