[KineJapan] Adaptation in the tabloids

[Yuki Nakayama]

Dear Aaron,

I commented on your FB post about this too, but wanted to respond here as
well and add a bit more. This space feels a bit more appropriate than FB to
talk about this shocking incident.

I have been following it closely since the mangaka (Ashihara Hinako) posted
on X (twitter). As someone who works on Japanese TV and who interviews TV
writers for research, this hits me deeply. I am keeping a close eye on how
the industry responds. I will be talking to my industry contacts next time
I'm in Japan about this. I have refrained from emailing them right now
since everyone is probably still pretty shaken by this incident.

My initial thoughts are that this incident was caused in part by a contract
issue. The Japanese TV industry did not have a regular practice of having
contracts, especially for writers. Akimoto Yasushi told me directly. No
matter how big / famous they are as a writer, contracts are still
relatively a new practice. Even NHK didn't have contracts until the 2000s
from what I have heard. I am sure many people remember the news a few years
ago that Yoshimoto and Johnny's (now Smile-up) did not have contracts with
many of their talento. Ashihara-san and/or Shogakukan probably signed some
contract for the adaptation rights with NTV, but it could have been very
bare bones. So the "promises" by the network could have been just verbal
that the mangaka placed trust in. The number of authors coming forward with
their own stories I think speaks to this too. I will need to look into
whether this is because of Japanese laws or if TV networks do not allow /
want specific provisions in the contract to essentially do whatever they
want with the source material. Hopefully my contacts that have experience
working in the legal departments at networks can give me helpful insights
on this.

I am also hoping that in addition to an internal investigation by NTV,
BPO's human rights committee or the broadcasting ethics will do some kind
of investigation on this matter and do a press conference about it as a
starting point for the industry to make major structural changes so that
this doesn't happen again.

I have more thoughts, but I don't think it's the right time yet because I
am still processing this too. I have read some of “Sekushi Tanaka-san” and
was looking forward to reading more so I am devastated by the news. I
cannot fathom the devastation and disappointment Ashihara san felt in the
way her work was treated. Condolences to her family and to her fans.

To everyone on this mailing list: I hope everyone is safe and please lean
on your support systems. This type of news can impact all of us in ways we
might not even be aware of.

Best,
Yuki



On Sat, Feb 3, 2024 at 10:54 PM Gerow Aaron via KineJapan <
kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:

> It may surprise some, but the tabloids in Japan are now full of debates
> about adaptation. What started this was an incident in which the author of
> the manga “Sekushi Tanaka-san” died at the end of January, apparently of a
> suicide (though the trend in Japanese media is to no longer state if it is
> a suicide; instead words like “kyushi/sudden death” are used). This was
> only a week or so after the same author declared on Twitter/X that they had
> taken over writing the script for some of the last episodes of the TV
> adaptation of the manga, apparently because the adaptation was not true
> enough to the manga. Some pushed back against that announcement and only a
> few days later, the author was found dead.
>
> It was this that started a large debate in the tabloids and weekly
> magazines about adaptations to film and TV of novels and manga, mostly
> revolving around the issue of fidelity and respect to the original and its
> author. Some authors complained of previous bad experiences; some industry
> experts complained of the industry’s over reliance on adapted works. Public
> sentiment seems to be on the side of the original author, so the Japan
> Writers Guild (the screenwriters guild) actually ended up taking down a
> video on their YouTube channel when some complained a screenwriter in the
> video was treating original authors with disrespect.
>
> Perhaps someone should analyze this incident at a later date, but has
> anyone been following this closely?
>
>
> Aaron Gerow
> Alfred W. Griswold Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures and
> Film and Media Studies
> Chair, East Asian Languages and Literatures
> Yale University
> 320 York Street, Room 108
> PO Box 208201
> New Haven, CT 06520-8201
> USA
> Phone: 1-203-432-7082
> Fax: 1-203-432-6729
> e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu
> website: www.aarongerow.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> KineJapan mailing list
> KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu
> https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan
>


-- 
Yuki Nakayama
Ph.D. Candidate
University of Michigan
Film, Television, and Media
yknkym at umich.edu
She/Her/Hers
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/kinejapan/attachments/20240204/cdd494d7/attachment.html>