Forum - View topicINTEREST: Digimon Tamers 20th Anniversary Stage Show Features 'Cancel Culture' Villain
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JoelBurger
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Honestly, even ignoring the absolute disaster that is Tamers 2021, the drama CD included on the 15th anniversary box set was already pretty terrible. There was basically no way we were ever going to get a decent Tamers continuation. |
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icomeanon6
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Posts: 115 |
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So, I've seen some remarks here regarding Our War Game and Y2K, and there's a huge distinction between what Our War Game was saying about its subject matter and what Konaka's doing here. Our War Game did not say or imply anything in support of conspiracy theories. At all. There are conspiracy theories out there about Y2K, but there's no connection between them and Our War Game. There's really nothing in the movie that any group of appreciable size would find politically objectionable or dishonest.
Our War Game was (in part) about the fragile nature of computer-enabled critical infrastructure that is all connected to the same internet, and its vulnerability to bugs and cyber attacks, which is... 100% factual. It's an undisputed reality and more relevant today than it was in 2000 when the movie came out. It's topical and educational, and if there's a political element (nuclear disarmament comes to mind), it's not remotely a fringe one. Konaka's Tamers sequel script is an entirely different animal. The topic is backlash against the proliferation of dangerous conspiracy theories. The moral is that private platforms shouldn't be allowed to boot people who are spreading demonstrable falsehoods to sow doubt in the medical establishment during the biggest health crisis in a hundred years. Tl;dr: Saying that Digimon has been "political" before isn't relevant to what's so outrageously caustic about Konaka's stunt here. I think Digimon is at it's best when it's saying truthful things about serious issues through compelling stories, but this is not that. Last edited by icomeanon6 on Wed Aug 04, 2021 7:12 pm; edited 4 times in total |
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor
Posts: 3014 Location: Email for assistance only |
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Thread cleaned up.
Please do not spam this thread with links to a bunch of conspiracy theory ideologues. I'm not having the ANN forum become a hotspot for crazy misinformation campaigns. That stuff is a hydra and no one here has the time and energy to keep lopping off heads in hopes of protecting people from going down a rabbit hole to radicalization. |
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luisedgarf
Posts: 667 Location: Guadalajara, Mexico |
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No offense intented, but ANN must have thought twice before bringing up a controversial topic like this.
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Megiddo
Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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That's really the moral? I guess I'll have to track down the fansub of this thing. |
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor
Posts: 3014 Location: Email for assistance only |
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What you're suggesting is censorship of the media in favor of avoiding difficult topics because it brings weirdos out of the woodwork. Reality is real even when it's inconvenient and I disagree with the idea of simply pretending things aren't happening because one person might show up to yell on a soapbox. |
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harminia
Posts: 2038 Location: australia |
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Oh man.. This is just... disappointing. I'm a fan of some of Konaka's work (Ghost Hound, Bubblegum Crisis 2040, Lain) and while I'm not surprised he'd have strong views I thought maybe he'd be more critical, rather than being someone who believes in conspiracy theories. Yet somehow I also feel like this is not unexpected. idk I have mixed feelings, but overall I'm just sad. I really loved some of his work, and had been planning on rewatching/finishing/starting some of it soon but now I have a bad taste in my mouth (even knowing he worked on a bunch as part of a collective).
I think Digimon isn't necessarily a bad outlet to discuss issues within the digital/internet space, but this? It feels like satire. It feels like something the South Park crew would come up with, in that we're meant to laugh at the character who honestly believes creating a character called Political Correctness whose attack is Cancel Culture is a great idea. Like, this is just embarrassing and cringeworthy. The problem with his posts is that some of them sound almost rational enough (and downplay the craziness of the points his "sources" say) that someone reading them could be like "hm, that makes sense" and that's so so dangerous. I don't know how far he went in his digifes play but if he started touting conspiracy theories in it, that's pretty awful, especially as, even though the series is 20 years old, it's still a kids show that easily influenced kids could see. While older fans would generally have more of a critical mind and can handle theories like this being shoved in their face, kids won't question it's validity.
This was a good read, thanks for posting it! |
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cookiemanstah
Posts: 546 |
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Does Konaka being a “weirdo” betray the fact this site has often praised his work? I’m not sure how much this site is into cancel culture itself, but it has retained positive sentiments of some anime even long after their creators were exposed for being crooked. Last edited by cookiemanstah on Wed Aug 04, 2021 7:43 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Top Gun
Posts: 4755 |
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Ah yes I am sure you can personally vouch for the opinions of all of Japan. |
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor
Posts: 3014 Location: Email for assistance only |
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I wasn't referring to Konaka in that statement. He hasn't shown up in the forums here now, has he? Also I swear to god, "this site." You mean reviewers. Projects he was a part of have received positive reviews. People make good things and then sometimes those same people change, or do something that causes fans to disavow them. Tamers, Lain, and Technolyze meant/mean things to people for reasons that have nothing to do with this recent stage play or Konaka's blog posts. Is there an actual thematic connection between Kenshin and what its creator was found to have in his possession? No, Kenshin was not an actual vehicle for child exploitation imagery or apologism. Still, some people cannot disassociate Kenshin with Watanuki so they'd rather have nothing to do with it anymore or spend money on things they think will financially support him. Individuals may feel similarly about Konaka's works now, or not. The reviews we have here of his work take into account the product as a whole and I don't think it betrays anything to state that Konaka wrote compelling television while also acknowledging that in the time since he's adopted an outlook on how the world works that is not aligned with reality and actively damages the individuals who fall victim to it. Last edited by ANN_Lynzee on Wed Aug 04, 2021 7:56 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Scias
Posts: 44 |
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Conservatives and religious fundamentalists have been trying to get almost all kinds of media banned(films, music albums, video games, tv shows, books etc) for decades now, what planet are you living on? Even in the 60s, religious fundie groups wanted the Beatles banned from having their albums sold or their music played on radio in the US because Lennon once claimed that The Beatles were "More popular than Jesus" Again, what planet are you from? This isn't anything new, quit acting like this suddenly became a 'thing' only 5-8 years ago. Fundies and conservatives have tried to ban damn near everything they don't like for decades, nearly a century |
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AmpersandsUnited
Posts: 633 |
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Except at no point do any of the characters rant about conspiracy theories or vaccines. They talk about being silenced for going against the grain or speaking out against the majority and being forced into conformity and facism where free thought is eliminated. Anyone trying to connect that to not being able to rant about Pizzagate or pee tapes are making huge leaps in logic and putting words in the characters mouths.
If American kids shows can be used to push political messages, why not Japanese kids shows? If She-Ra can punch The Patriarchy then Terriormon can punch Political Correctness. Maybe politics don't belong in kids media. Maybe they do. All I know is this is the landscape people pushed for with media so they shouldn't complain when they find themselves on the opposite end of the situation. Is the issue actually putting politics in media, or is it putting the wrong politics in media? |
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TsukasaElkKite
Posts: 4005 |
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Ugh. It makes me mad that he drank the cool-aid and believes in garbage conspiracy theories.
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Kusakabe
Posts: 106 |
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I mean. He's not completely wrong. There's allot of entitled bullying going on on the internet based on personal beliefs and privileges. I think cancel culture sucks - a consequence should fit the crime and allot of the social justice i see people dealing out doesn't add up to me and with so many people dealing it out? I always hope these people have a support system at home. In any case, I definitely think he's entitled to his soap box even I'm not 100% in agreement.
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Meowtain Duwu
Posts: 166 Location: United States |
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The biggest problem I see here is that Konaka supports and is pushing dangerous conspiracy theories, particularly ones in relation to COVID-19, that have the potential to at least seriously hurt people, in his blog posts which are open to the public. He can cry “cancel culture” all he wants; so many people have seen through his obvious ruse. What he’s doing is nothing short of disgusting and embarrassing.
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