Seiyuu (voice actor) Discussion

[Nachtwandler]

Let's see if it lasts any long this time.

[Sheba]

Unfortunately, Ai Kayano is facing internet backdraft from chinese twitter, and the usual offendotrons more than happy to go after any figure loved by anime fans, after some CN netizens dug up and found she visited the Yasukuni Shrine and made comments about the atmosphere. CCP hounds are pushing various Chinese gacha game publishers to remove her. If any fans of Genshin Impact wanted to hear Kayanon one day in the game, for example, it's not looking good.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Sheba

Unfortunately, Ai Kayano is facing internet backdraft from chinese twitter, and the usual offendotrons more than happy to go after any figure loved by anime fans, after some CN netizens dug up and found she visited the Yasukuni Shrine and made comments about the atmosphere. CCP hounds are pushing various Chinese gacha game publishers to remove her. If any fans of Genshin Impact wanted to hear Kayanon one day in the game, for example, it's not looking good.

That sucks. Kayanon doesn't deserve that .

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by Frontier

That sucks. Kayanon doesn't deserve that .

To be honest, any public figure who visits Yasakuni and then talks about it knows exactly the statement they’re making.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

To be honest, any public figure who visits Yasakuni and then talks about it knows exactly the statement they’re making.

Not everything is politics. Not everyone is a neurotic living some cold war fantasy.

Or it is because it's in vogue to make everything so with warped imputations but then these people should accept the world they create as a result.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Sheba

Unfortunately, Ai Kayano is facing internet backdraft from chinese twitter, and the usual offendotrons more than happy to go after any figure loved by anime fans, after some CN netizens dug up and found she visited the Yasukuni Shrine and made comments about the atmosphere. CCP hounds are pushing various Chinese gacha game publishers to remove her. If any fans of Genshin Impact wanted to hear Kayanon one day in the game, for example, it's not looking good.

I did a Google search, to find out what exactly she said/wrote, and was surprised to learn that the matter occurred as far back as February (SCMP article, dated Feb 16, 2021). It only exploded in my news feeds now because Platinum — one of the characters she voiced in Arknights — had just been muted, in response to the vehement pressure from Chinese censors.

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

To be honest, any public figure who visits Yasakuni and then talks about it knows exactly the statement they’re making.

I'm with Cosmic Eagle on this point. I doubt that Ai Kayano fully understood the implications of describing a visit to the Yasukuni Shrine as "refreshing" and "comfortable". As one interviewee in SCMP article I linked above explained, "there is a trend among young people in Japan now to visit old temples and shrines around the country and to admire the spiritual and natural world more than perhaps their parents’ generations did".

And given the general lack of awareness among young Japanese today about the true extent of their country's wartime atrocities, I also highly doubt she would have known why the Yasukuni Shrine remains a painful reminder of Japan's unwillingness to face up squarely to its ugly past.

That said, the SCMP article also highlighted that some Chinese also said their compatriots were over-reacting, and were quoted as such on The Global Times.

In any case, I'm of the view that South Korea and China have both lost sight of the original bone of contention: The objection to Yasukuni Shrine is technically because of the 14 "Class A" war criminals interred there. I suspect that even if the 14 individuals were removed from the shrine and interred somewhere else, nationalistic Koreans and Chinese would still object to the shrine. It's become a convenient issue that Beijing and Seoul can use to stir up nationalist feelings against a common enemy.

And to be clear, the Japanese nationalists are also to blame, but there's little chance their views will ever change in my lifetime. So, in a way, Japan reaps what it sows.

[Guardian Enzo]

I don't think any even moderately aware adult in Japan doesn't know the significance of Yasakuni. It's a huge news story over and over again over the years, and regardless of whether you think it should or not, it represents something very specific. Any public figure who goes there and publicizes their visit knows what they're doing. It would be like an American celebrity wearing a confederate flag pin at an event and then claiming they did it because they liked the design.

[TinyRedLeaf]

I understand your objection, but I don't think it's fair to compare Japanese public opinion towards the Yasukuni Shrine, with what Americans feel today about the Confederacy and what it stood for.

Americans today, on balance, harbour less love for its Confederate and slave-labour past than the Japanese have for their war dead dating back to the Meiji Era. For many Japanese, a visit to Yasukuni Shrine is akin to Americans paying respects to their war dead in Arlington.

Yes, Yasukuni is tainted, and the Japanese are not unaware of this. But if a Japanese truly wished to honour his ancestors among the war dead enshrined there, where else could he or she go? There isn't an alternative.

So, unfortunately, it's an intractable issue. I understand the hurt feelings on both sides, and it angers me even more that the Japanese persist in whitewashing their sordid past, but more anger is not going to get any of us closer to a long-term solution.

[Guardian Enzo]

None of which has any bearing, really, on the question of whether Kayano was aware of the statement she was making when she went.

FTR I also think you're vastly understating the percentage of the population that holds the Confederacy up as some kind of icon of a better time, where things were different than they are now (I won't elaborate). 47% voted for a candidate who does, and I think most of them agree with him. And further FTR, polling in Japan has consistently shown the majority of the (generally very conservative) Japanese public thinks it's a bad idea for prominent figures to visit Yasakuni, because of the message it sends.

[Kakurin]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

In any case, I'm of the view that South Korea and China have both lost sight of the original bone of contention: The objection to Yasukuni Shrine is technically because of the 14 "Class A" war criminals interred there. I suspect that even if the 14 individuals were removed from the shrine and interred somewhere else, nationalistic Koreans and Chinese would still object to the shrine. It's become a convenient issue that Beijing and Seoul can use to stir up nationalist feelings against a common enemy.

While the last sentence has some truth, the issue with the Yasukuni Shrine is not only the fact that war criminals are honoured there as martyrs. The bigger issue is that the whole institution is right-wing revisionist. The museum operated by the shrine tells the story of Japan's involvement in World War 2 using the right-wing fairy tale of Japan being forced into the war by Western imperialism and aggression. It celebrates Japanese military victories, portrays Japanese conquests as liberating the peoples of Asia from Western imperialism and makes no mention of the countless atrocities committed by the Japanese. Therefore, as long as the shrine doesn't clearly distance itself from those right-wing narratives but rather promotes them publicly, the Chinese and Koreans have a point of criticizing the institution regardless of the war criminals.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Kakurin

The issue with the Yasukuni Shrine is not only the fact that war criminals are honoured there as martyrs. The bigger issue is that the whole institution is right-wing revisionist. The museum operated by the shrine tells the story of Japan's involvement in World War 2 using the right-wing fairy tale of Japan being forced into the war by Western imperialism and aggression. It celebrates Japanese military victories, portrays Japanese conquests as liberating the peoples of Asia from Western imperialism and makes no mention of the countless atrocities committed by the Japanese. Therefore, as long as the shrine doesn't clearly distance itself from those right-wing narratives but rather promotes them publicly, the Chinese and Koreans have a point of criticizing the institution regardless of the war criminals.

Yes, absolutely. I would go further and add that the revisionism goes beyond the museum, and into the wider society. It's not just the Yasukuni Shrine that enrages China and South Korea, but also the history textbooks, for example, and what they say and don't say about the true extent of Japanese war-time atrocities in Asia.

Altogether, I believe there's a great deal of ignorance in Japan over why symbols of their country's military past continue to rankle with their neighbours. But, sure, I'm willing to stand corrected if polls show otherwise.

In the end, though, we're speculating about Ai Kayano's motives. Whatever they may be, I think it would be sad if the only lesson she and other public figures learn from this is that China is too important a market to offend.

[SeijiSensei]

Seems like a good time to mention my single favorite anime episode of 2018, GeGeGe no Kitarou episode 20, where 13-yo Mana-chan describes World War II as "the Americans invaded and we lost." Much of the episode is set in Papua New Guinea where manga-ka Mizuki Shigeru was sent after being drafted.

TL;DR…

 

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So I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Kayano had a less than complete understanding of the politics involved.

[serenade_beta]

I don't think personally that Kayano knew about it or the consequences her actions would cause. She has a lot of roles in Chinese games and this is important revenue. Only a person of great extremes would go out of her way to ruin her own career just to say she visited some place.

I personally think that her agency should have been more aware of her actions, and either stopped her from visiting or at least not state publicly that she visited the shrine. Or at least I believe that is one of the responsibilities of the agency, who manages her career.

I would say that there is still a chance for recovery, though it will probably not go public. Their agency will hopefully work or submit a plea and hopefully reach some kind of agreement or apology that the government will accept.

[Homura7]

Nothing new, just your typical butthurt CCP nationalists digging something to scream at no matter the ulterior reason. They are a big nation with a really fragile government, and I may also add, hypersensitive.

As for Ai Kayano, this "controversy" won't have any effect on her, all the opposite in fact. There are already calls, from Chinese players no less, to boycott until they put her back. There's a certain irony in a Chinese company hiring Japanese seyuu because there's a lack of talent in their own country

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by Void

There are already calls, from Chinese players no less, to boycott until they put her back.

Yeah, that's gonna definitely convince the government!

[Homura7]

L

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

Yeah, that's gonna definitely convince the government!

Who gives a shit, they can go drown themselves in their own arrogance for all I care. Between that and South Park, that party should be tagged: "fragile, handle with care"

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by Void

L

Who gives a shit, they can go drown themselves in their own arrogance for all I care. Between that and South Park, that party should be tagged: "fragile, handle with care"

Huh, you mentioned it like it would make a difference with Kayano's situation, but uh... okay.

[judasmartel]

Yet another Japanese VA in Ayana Taketatsu is being canceled by CN right now for... posing behind the flag of Imperial Japan.

There were some talks about China needing to build their own VA industry if they're just gonna cancel every Japanese VA who "steps out of line". From my very little experience of listening to Chinese VOs, they have the tools and personnel to do it but it's not gonna big enough to compete with the Japanese VA industry for a while.

[Homura7]

Originally Posted by judasmartel

Yet another Japanese VA in Ayana Taketatsu is being canceled by CN right now for... posing behind the flag of Imperial Japan.

That was just shitposting, you know.

[judasmartel]

Originally Posted by Void

That was just shitposting, you know.

Shitpost or not, my point still stands that China should just build their own VA industry separate from Japan or anybody if they're just gonna cancel anyone who does anything they don't like. They have the personnel and tools to do it but they're not gonna compete with the JP VA industry any time soon, which is why they still hire Japanese VAs for their anime-style games.