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NEWS: Seven Seas Heads Speak on Nymphet Aftermath


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mactruck79



Joined: 10 Jul 2005
Posts: 3
Location: Flyover, IA
PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2007 11:48 am Reply with quote
Who was asking the questions here? Web journalism will never gain traction as a legitimate form of reporting until reporters learn to stop asking absurdly slanted questions (if you can even call it that) like the last one: "I am very disappointed that you have canceled Nymphet and will never buy from your company again."

Report the news objectively and save your opinions for a separate article.
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief


Joined: 28 Jul 2003
Posts: 1684
Location: Los Angeles, CA
PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2007 11:54 am Reply with quote
mactruck79 wrote:
Who was asking the questions here? Web journalism will never gain traction as a legitimate form of reporting until reporters learn to stop asking absurdly slanted questions (if you can even call it that) like the last one: "I am very disappointed that you have canceled Nymphet and will never buy from your company again."

Report the news objectively and save your opinions for a separate article.


Dude, that's a Q&A written by the guy in his letter. There's no interview here, no questions being asked, simply a statement. Chill out.
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LydiaDianne



Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 5634
Location: Southern California
PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2007 12:07 pm Reply with quote
mactruck79 wrote:
Who was asking the questions here? Web journalism will never gain traction as a legitimate form of reporting until reporters learn to stop asking absurdly slanted questions (if you can even call it that) like the last one: "I am very disappointed that you have canceled Nymphet and will never buy from your company again."

Report the news objectively and save your opinions for a separate article.


You obviously haven't read some of the recent threads or even the letter clearly. Those questions were NOT asked by any sort of journalist. Those where asked by US, the forum users.


I personally think that Jason DeAngelis did an excellent job in explaining
why he chose to cancel Nymphet completely. He sucked it up and said that he did not look into the title as completely as he should have and when he did, he could find a way to justify bringing the title over. That, to me was a very brave statement to make. Good for him.


Quote:
2) How will this affect the manga market as a whole? My conclusion: I don't know; I can not predict the future any better than anyone else can, but I certainly acknowledge the possibility, however remote, that the Nymphet release could become a poster child by the mainstream media for everything that is wrong with manga. I love the manga industry and I delight in my job, and I would rather not take the risk of causing problems that could undermine this industry, especially in light of the escalating media scrutiny we have been getting on this title. (After Publisher's Weekly contacted me for an interview on Nymphet, it almost seemed like a matter of time before FOX or CNN picked up the story. Call me paranoid, but it's not outside the realm of possibility…)

3) How would this affect our company image on the whole? My conclusion: If the controversy continues to escalate further, it could reflect very poorly on Seven Seas in the eyes of not only those who oppose Nymphet within the manga community, but in the eyes of practically anyone who does not understand manga. Since we plan to release a variety of popular, mainstream titles that are geared not only towards young adults, teens, tweens, and children, the risk that this one title could sabotage the rest of our library did not seem like a sound business decision to me. Also, if our public image became severely compromised, it would surely jeopardize our ability to get further licenses from Japanese publishers.


And it was a business decision. Not just for Seven Seas but for the anime/manga industry as a whole. Yes, he said he doesn't know the future. BUT when you have Publisher's Weekly calling about said controversial title, well, that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish. Plus the fact that it COULD hurt his company in the long run. People do not understand our hobby. Period. Many already think that it is porn and widespread public discussion over the release of this title would not help, IMO.

Why should he take the chance that this ONE title could perhaps destroy his company.

I think the entire letter and explanation was well written and well thought out.

And the people who are saying that they will not buy from Seven Seas ever again are being childish.
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H.A. Senidal



Joined: 30 May 2007
Posts: 14
PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2007 12:12 pm Reply with quote
Yep, this was a good thing for Mr. DeAngelis to do. How many business executives do you know who explain their decisions? Also, how many do you know who are honest? Here he is revealing he didn't review the tile as carefully as he should have and listing the reasons why the release was canceled. Gutsy, he is.

Ah well, life goes on, and so will the debate.
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pat_payne



Joined: 28 Jul 2006
Posts: 179
PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2007 12:27 pm Reply with quote
I appreciated and was heartened by Mr. DeAngelis' reply. I was one of those decrying the release of this title, because I felt that it was inappropriate. It's a bonny thing to see someone walk away froma title that had a guaranteed fanbase because his conscience said "stop. This isn't right."

I also (a little bit of self-congratulation here, bear with me) also feel vindicated that the same arguments that many of us on the "Nymphet should not be released" side used were cited by him as one of the rationales for axing the title. This manga could have given all otaku a black eye we did not need in wider society. He acknowledged that, and implied that releasing the manga could even cause his company's unwitting suicide.

BTW, it also shows that while we raised a fuss and did hold his feet somewhat to the fire, don't overestimate the powers of a vocal group on the Internet. His decision was ultimately one of business and his own conscience. We may have pointed him in the direction, but the path he took was essentially his own.
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HitokiriShadow



Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 6251
PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2007 12:28 pm Reply with quote
mactruck79 wrote:
Who was asking the questions here? Web journalism will never gain traction as a legitimate form of reporting until reporters learn to stop asking absurdly slanted questions (if you can even call it that) like the last one: "I am very disappointed that you have canceled Nymphet and will never buy from your company again."


Several people on these forums have actually said that they are boycotting Seven Seas because they canceled Nymphet.

Quote:
Report the news objectively and save your opinions for a separate article.


This is a letter straight from Seven Seas. Every single word is from them and ANN said as much. Not a word of it is ANN's opinions. What else do you want ANN to do?

Personally, I really like that Seven Seas has explained there reasoning behind it. Even if he had seen the upcoming volumes and thought it was okay, the fact that pretty much everyone was canceling their orders meant that Seven Seas was screwed. There was really no chance for them to sell enough to make their money back. And they are still losing money on the license cost and probably the production costs for the first volume which were surely already printed at this point.


Last edited by HitokiriShadow on Thu May 31, 2007 12:30 pm; edited 1 time in total
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rinmackie



Joined: 05 Aug 2006
Posts: 1040
Location: in a van! down by the river!
PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2007 12:28 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
It was not until these past few days, actually, that I personally took the time to delve more closely into the rest of the series and the specific content of the subsequent volumes. Sure, I'd flipped through them before, and what I saw on a cursory glance seemed harmless enough. But this time I sat down and read the series carefully in Japanese, and what I found in volumes two and three were very disturbing.


Excuuse me, you mean you licensed a potentially controversial manga after giving it only "a cursory glance?! If you're going to even consider publishing stuff like this, you should make damn sure you know what's in it! Oh well, maybe now we've finallly stemmed the tide of lolicon publishing. Maybe we can finally shut up about it and move on. Though somehow, I doubt it. Rolling Eyes In the meantime, let's pray that Fox News doesn't get hold of a copy of Negima or Loveless.
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britannicamoore



Joined: 05 Dec 2005
Posts: 2618
Location: Out.
PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2007 12:40 pm Reply with quote
I have to wonder what that person who asked the question in the Answerman column is thinking right now. Also is Answerman even going to post tonight?

Anyway-

After some brief researching it seems like they had quite a bit of time between the time they got the license and before it was put out to look at some of the future volumes. Does this mean if the question hadn't been brought up two weeks ago in a column here this crapfest wouldn't have started?

Probably.

I do like how they gave us a reason but otherwise I'm sticking to what I said before about not purchasing any Seven titles. I feel they could have handle this a lot better- and instead of canceling it outright offering it on their site as an 18+ book. Or they could have published the second letter before they made it look like it never existed on their site.

I don't like the idea that one book could make 1 million (or more) anime fans all look bad. If people don't understand something and want to think negatively thats their business. with each passing day it seems like "something" is coming along to destroy anime/manga in the US.

Do I still want to read this title? Yeah.
It makes me giggle when people suggest scans but at any other time its a huge no no.

I wonder what the next big crisis will be. I'm sure it won't involve murder or rape committed by teens, kids, and adults. Because most people seem to be ok with that in their manga/anime/tv shows. it won['t even be the fat kid who "sucks stuff out of holes" and uses profanity like its a language on its own. Everyone will just laugh the next time Jerry cuts off Tom's tail or high schoolers kill each other on a tv show.

Ah yes, America the land of...contradictions.
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davenfonet



Joined: 09 Apr 2006
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2007 12:45 pm Reply with quote
glad to see that someone in the industry can actually reason this whole siuation out.

It was bad news for all of us if it came out, and its just a little press for them now that it didn't.

i also wonder how much money had to do with all of this, if some major chains, weren't stocking it was there no money to bring it out, and he just saved face by doing it this way?
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kolibri



Joined: 23 Aug 2006
Posts: 712
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2007 12:50 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
It was not until these past few days, actually, that I personally took the time to delve more closely into the rest of the series and the specific content of the subsequent volumes. Sure, I'd flipped through them before, and what I saw on a cursory glance seemed harmless enough. But this time I sat down and read the series carefully in Japanese, and what I found in volumes two and three were very disturbing. (Particularly, pages 129-131 in volume three, which are highly problematic.)

So come on internets, what's on pages 129-131? And can all those people claiming that it's just a harmless comedy still stand by their words after that.

It's really a shame they didn't look more carefully into later volumes of Nymphet - it's ended up costing them a lot of money. Generally though I've been really impressed with how DeAngelis has handled this. His statements have been really passionate but factual, and really honest. Gotta respect that.

rinmackie wrote:
In the meantime, let's pray that Fox News doesn't get hold of a copy of Negima or Loveless.

Let's not go there right now. Just... no.
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Invader_Spooch



Joined: 22 Jul 2003
Posts: 96
PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2007 12:52 pm Reply with quote
Oh get over yourself.

Nymphet was a mediocre niche title that few people actually care about, and wouldn't have grossed enough to make it worth the negative press they'd receive.

Of course it's hypocritical to make a big fuss over this title, as American entertainment has plenty of "questionable subject matter". That doesn't change the fact that the average American John Q doesn't draw the line at children being involved in any way in sexual related activity (be it suggestive or otherwise).

Yes, it seems contradictory, but that's how the public works, and you can't fault Seven Seas for being worried about huge middle America backlash putting his company's life in possible jeopardy.

Oh, and the "sell it online" solution you suggested is questionable at best. 1)How many times has that actually happened? and 2)Are there any sales numbers to back up that doing so would be profitable for a publisher at all?


Last edited by Invader_Spooch on Thu May 31, 2007 12:53 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Iron Chef



Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Posts: 487
Location: Seattle, WA
PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2007 12:52 pm Reply with quote
Sure enough, britannica, we are. Unfortunately, this land isn't quite ready for that sort of (presumably innocent) sexual openness. If you've ever seen the movie "This Film Is Not Yet Rated," you'll know that any sort of sexual content will get graded much more harshly than violence. It's just the way it is, and I'm not exactly sure how to change that.

Given the climate we're in, I think Seven Seas made the right choice. It'll hork off some fans for sure, but in the long run, they'll still be in biz to license something like this later on if the Collective Mind decides stuff like Kodomo no Jikan is all right for sale.
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HitokiriShadow



Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 6251
PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2007 12:52 pm Reply with quote
rinmackie wrote:
Quote:
It was not until these past few days, actually, that I personally took the time to delve more closely into the rest of the series and the specific content of the subsequent volumes. Sure, I'd flipped through them before, and what I saw on a cursory glance seemed harmless enough. But this time I sat down and read the series carefully in Japanese, and what I found in volumes two and three were very disturbing.


Excuuse me, you mean you licensed a potentially controversial manga after giving it only "a cursory glance?! If you're going to even consider publishing stuff like this, you should make damn sure you know what's in it!


Learn to read better. He looked through the entire first volume. Its the subsequent volumes that were not out at the time it was licensed that he only glanced through until recently.
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jgreen



Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 1325
Location: St. Louis, MO
PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2007 12:55 pm Reply with quote
kolibri wrote:
So come on internets, what's on pages 129-131? And can all those people claiming that it's just a harmless comedy still stand by their words after that.


God help me, I'm actually curious what the hell is on those pages as well, considering how uncomfortable some of the other Nymphet pages I've seen were. Anyone care to share? Being "work safe" about it would be appreciated...
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DKL



Joined: 08 May 2005
Posts: 1962
Location: California, USA
PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2007 12:57 pm Reply with quote
HitokiriShadow wrote:
rinmackie wrote:
Quote:
It was not until these past few days, actually, that I personally took the time to delve more closely into the rest of the series and the specific content of the subsequent volumes. Sure, I'd flipped through them before, and what I saw on a cursory glance seemed harmless enough. But this time I sat down and read the series carefully in Japanese, and what I found in volumes two and three were very disturbing.


Excuuse me, you mean you licensed a potentially controversial manga after giving it only "a cursory glance?! If you're going to even consider publishing stuff like this, you should make damn sure you know what's in it!


Learn to read better. He looked through the entire first volume. Its the subsequent volumes that were not out at the time it was licensed that he only glanced through until recently.


But the thing is... why is it that he only looked through the rest of the stuff AFTER making what was a considerably well-informed delay announcement?

(you can argue that he was only given the stuff in the short period of time between the delay thing and the cancellation... but I'd find it a little hard to believe that he couldn't have had this stuff sooner)

That's the part that's weird; it's like he was setting himself up here...

What he should've done was go through more of the stuff BEFORE making the delay announcement (which, had that happened, would've probably just been a cancellation announcement, given his current stance); this way, he could've avoided having to make any statement retractments and whatnot.

Well, that and he could've also avoided having that "what's going on here?" look slapped across his face.
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