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INTEREST: Yu-Gi-Oh Creator Kazuki Takahashi Apologizes for Political Statements


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Heishi



Joined: 06 Mar 2016
Posts: 1346
PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 6:28 pm Reply with quote
Don't piss off the right wing in Japan. They come after you faster than you can say "Say goodbye to Exodia".

Unless he is himself is conservative, who knows...
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rankothefiremage



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 523
Location: Michigan
PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 6:36 pm Reply with quote
Note the "Liberal Democratic Party" isn't liberal in the way Americans think of it, They're considered a "right wing" party.
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Richmyster84



Joined: 19 Feb 2017
Posts: 193
PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 7:19 pm Reply with quote
rankothefiremage wrote:
Note the "Liberal Democratic Party" isn't liberal in the way Americans think of it, They're considered a "right wing" party.


That was my thought as well. Abe? Liberal? commences laughter
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Lord Geo



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 2666
Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey
PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 7:20 pm Reply with quote
So Takahashi apologizes, but doesn't remove the image? Sounds like a "Sorry, not sorry." to me.
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings



Joined: 04 Jul 2013
Posts: 1031
PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 7:24 pm Reply with quote
lol, watsuki more or less gets away with owning child pornography meanwhile takahashi is forced to apologize over something like this? incredible
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
Posts: 6276
PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 7:53 pm Reply with quote
ThatGuyWhoLikesThings wrote:
lol, watsuki more or less gets away with owning child pornography meanwhile takahashi is forced to apologize over something like this? incredible


I get people are upset over the Watsuki thing but this literally has nothing to doing with breaking of laws.
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jellybeanbandit



Joined: 18 Jun 2019
Posts: 107
PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:02 pm Reply with quote
Heishi wrote:
Unless he is himself is conservative, who knows...


Depends how you interpret his statement? "The current administration is betraying its own country" could also mean he thinks Abe isn't focusing on Japan enough and being to chummy with foreign affairs? Takahashi is Japan First, maybe? Laughing

If Takahashi is a liberal it's definitely not the same as the American kind. The content and themes in Yu-Gi-Oh isn't something you'd find in an American liberal series. He's also very anti-censorship and refuses to let his artwork be censored which led to him giving American distributors the middle finger when they asked to censor some of his card artwork. As a result those cards never released in America. Maybe American political labels aren't the best to try to pigeonhole Japanese people into.
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Uraraka



Joined: 09 Apr 2019
Posts: 10
PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:16 pm Reply with quote
For the record, I read the original Japanese article as well as many of Japanese fans' comments. This is not political conflict between left and right, but the issue lies where some fans upset on the fact that Takahasi made a political comment through his characters' mouth, not by himself, and he respond on that. In fact, Takahashi's apology focuses on using the characters, " I want to deeply apologize to fans for using the characters to express political statements", and not on his political view.
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Gasero



Joined: 24 Jul 2009
Posts: 939
Location: USA
PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:25 pm Reply with quote
It seems like fans are more critical of the use of Yugioh characters to make a political statement, as was said above.

if Takahashi had just released this statement without the character depictions, he may have been cleared.
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Cardcaptor Takato



Joined: 27 Jan 2018
Posts: 5173
PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:32 pm Reply with quote
People mostly found it amusing when 4Kids used Yugioh characters in an anti-drug video back in the day.
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NOGI48



Joined: 14 Feb 2016
Posts: 72
PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 9:08 pm Reply with quote
Hopefully Japan will vote for the people that will make Japan go back being Japan and not a
US influence territory state.
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Kougeru



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 5578
PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 9:52 pm Reply with quote
jellybeanbandit wrote:

He's also very anti-censorship and refuses to let his artwork be censored which led to him giving American distributors the middle finger when they asked to censor some of his card artwork. As a result those cards never released in America. Maybe American political labels aren't the best to try to pigeonhole Japanese people into.


I just wanted to point out that liberals are far more anti-censorship than the right-wing are. MOST calls for censorship in American history have been either a direct push or indirect push from religious conservative organizations.

Anyway, I can understand why people are mad, of either party. It's one thing to have your opinions but they generally should be kept separate from your "work" unless your work literally exists to push that message.
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Tenbyakugon



Joined: 11 Jan 2012
Posts: 797
Location: Ohio, United States
PostPosted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 11:02 pm Reply with quote
Takahasi’s a class act, if you ask me, if he chose to apologize for politicizing such cherished characters of his in Japanese media. He used them as the medium for his message, but at the same time he realizes that that medium was not correct and perhaps too convenient.

American celebrities can really take note.
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ErikaD.D



Joined: 09 Jun 2019
Posts: 660
PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:13 am Reply with quote
rankothefiremage wrote:
Note the "Liberal Democratic Party" isn't liberal in the way Americans think of it, They're considered a "right wing" party.

Should be change name to "Conservative Republican Party". Nowadays many countries are becoming more & more conservative, and some authoritarian.
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AmpersandsUnited



Joined: 22 Mar 2012
Posts: 633
PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:34 am Reply with quote
Tenbyakugon wrote:
Takahasi’s a class act, if you ask me, if he chose to apologize for politicizing such cherished characters of his in Japanese media. He used them as the medium for his message, but at the same time he realizes that that medium was not correct and perhaps too convenient.

American celebrities can really take note.


Most of the Americans who politicize fictional characters aren't the ones who made those characters to begin with, so they don't really care one way or another. They're either the voice actors, the film actors, or a person on the staff of a new reboot version of an old franchise. It makes sense Kazuki Takahashi, the man who created these characters, would have enough respect to realize that what he did was wrong and out of character for them and apologized. The greater focused on creator owned rights in Japan helps prevent their characters from being used in ways they don't approve of as well.
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