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Adam Arnold
Site Admin
Joined: 28 Sep 2004
Location: Seven Seas
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 Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 2:56 am Post subject: Nymphet Cancellation: Prez Jason DeAngelis Speaks |
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| Quote: | This is my second statement regarding NYMPHET, where I’ll explain my reasoning behind the decision to cancel the title.
But first, here’s a general timeline:
On Thursday, May 24th, in response to the growing online debates about our upcoming release of NYMPHET, we posted an open letter on our site explaining my views on the title and my decision to hold the title until further notice. As I mentioned in that first letter, my intention was to discuss the title in more detail with various vendors, while keeping an eye on the growing debate. My initial goal was to find a solution that would make everyone happy. (A lofty goal that may be impossible to achieve.)
On Friday, May 25th, I was in constant communication with my distributor about this issue. One of the major book chains had already refused to take the title, and another was unsure and wanted to evaluate it some more. In the meantime, on an almost hourly basis, I was getting notification that one vendor after another was canceling their orders on NYMPHET.
On Tuesday, May 29th, Anime News Network posted my first letter, triggering even further debate online. I was then contacted by various online publications to comment on the controversy. Later that day, I decided to cancel the title once and for all, after six days of research and reflection.
My purpose in detailing the above timeline is to address criticism that we decided to cancel the title merely one day after posting my first letter. This is not true; we posted the letter on Thursday night on Gomanga.com, then sent it to Anime News Network on Friday morning, whereupon they posted it on the following Tuesday. In the meantime, I performed my due diligence in carefully evaluating the whole situation over the course of six days.
There are various reasons I decided to “pull the plug” on NYMPHET, sooner rather than later.
First off, to give more context, if you’re not familiar with the behind-the-scenes process of licensing manga from Japan, it has reached a point of being so highly competitive among US publishers, that most of us, including Seven Seas, tend to place offers on titles while they’re still being serialized in the weekly magazines, often before they are ever collected into tankoubon (ie. graphic novels). If not, the license may very well get snatched up by the competition. In the case of NYMPHET, we placed an offer on it soon after the first volume of the tankoubon was released in Japan, with an option to license the rest of the series later on.
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 much so, that I now have to retract some of what I said in my first letter where I tried to defend the content, because certain scenes in the subsequent volumes are indefensible and inappropriate, in my opinion. (If there is blame to be cast, I’ll accept blame on our license acquisition and evaluation process. If you were to add up the large number of licenses we acquire, and the total number of volumes per series, it would come to literally hundreds of volumes that we would need to read and review in order to stay on top of all the content and make sure that it is appropriate. In this case, NYMPHET fell through the cracks in our review process.)
So, my primary reason for canceling NYMPHET is due to my recent realization that later volumes in the series can not be considered appropriate for the US market by any reasonable standard. For those of you who have been defending the title and have expressed anger about its cancellation, as a fan, I understand your frustration. But, at this point, I can only assume that you have not seen certain segments later in the series, just as I hadn’t, which very clearly cross the line, and which I can no longer stand by or support in good conscience.
Here are some other concerns and criticisms that I would like to address, in the form of question/answer:
Isn’t this a case of Seven Seas caving in to pressure? Why not show some backbone and give the fans what they want instead of just being swayed by a vocal minority?
On the contrary, it was quite clear to me that there were actually two sides to this debate, both very vocal, passionate, and angry. It got to the point where it became a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” type of scenario, where no matter what choice I made, one side or the other would resent me for it. So, I tried my best to make the decision independent of any “peer pressure” and instead based it on the following questions which I asked myself:
1) Are we really doing people a service if so many of them find the material so utterly offensive?
My conclusion: We’re not in this business to offend people. If only a few unreasonable people happened to be offended, I would take what they say with a grain of salt. But if a seemingly growing number of reasonable-minded people are offended, the responsible course is to give serious consideration to their gripes. As I outlined above, when I delved deeper into the series and its subsequent volumes, I realized that my initial position was wrong and that some of the content is indeed objectionable, and not something that I can further rationalize or justify.
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.
4) What do the vendors think?
My conclusion: As I mentioned above, they began dropping their orders left and right, so their opinion on this matter became pretty clear cut.
By choosing not to release NYMPHET, aren’t you guilty of the very thing that you claim to be against: censorship?
Not at all. The term “censorship” actually implies the government stepping in and forcefully silencing free speech. However, in my first letter, I intentionally used the term “censorship” in quotation marks, because in the manga community, “censoring” a manga specifically connotes altering artwork or text. This is a practice we’re opposed to at Seven Seas, so given the choice between altering the work or not publishing at all, we choose the latter. This is not an act of censorship, but a principled and voluntary choice.
Doesn’t this suggest that you will cancel other risqué or borderline titles that some people may find offensive?
No, as long as they do not cross that line that NYMPHET clearly does, we will not cancel titles at the drop of a hat. As I’ve attempted to demonstrate here, my decision on this issue was carefully measured and considered. This means that titles from our yuri line and upcoming ???? line (to be announced) are in no danger of cancellation, and are here to stay.
I am very disappointed that you have canceled NYMPHET and will never buy from your company again.
I’m sorry to hear that and sorry to disappoint all you sincere manga fans out there who have been waiting for this title, but I believe I’ve given rational and justified reasons for my decision. Hopefully, some of our excellent upcoming releases will change your mind. If not, I respect your freedom of choice to spend your dollars elsewhere, but my goal is to publish manga and other content that is so good you simply can’t pass it up.
Jason DeAngelis
President
Seven Seas
May 31, 2007 |
_________________
- Adam Arnold
Forum Administrator
Seven Seas Entertainment |
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crankydragon
Jellyfish
Joined: 29 May 2007
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 3:17 am Post subject: |
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Well... I don't *like* it. But thank you for taking the time to explain it so thoroughly and carefully.
I suspected the vendors were scampering ... I'll go back and review the pages you speak of but I don't recall anything over the line compared with printed fiction freely available in your typical B&N or Borders (where they leave the Naked Lady Coffeetable Books on the aisle tables near the children's section O.o ). I still view the series as a tamed down version of Lolita with all the mixed emotions from characters one might expect in complicated situations. I wonder if anyone has noticed the last few Negima volumes or some of the events coming up in 16 or 17... ... ... ... funny how that works.
Again, thanks for the explanation.... but I'm depressed that angry mobs can still scare ideas and print into oblivion when there are *actual* problems they should be focusing on. My opinion of ANN and their part in this hasn't improved.
Last edited by crankydragon on Thu May 31, 2007 3:50 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Bisuketto
Tadpole
Joined: 30 May 2007
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 3:20 am Post subject: |
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| He's talking about the scene with Rin and the teacher locked in the gym storage room if I recall correctly. |
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crankydragon
Jellyfish
Joined: 29 May 2007
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 3:48 am Post subject: |
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Well... I'm off to sleep, I'll take a look at the specific pages and edit this in the morning. I don't figure that was a deciding piece of the rationale anyway (from a business perspective -- its all the orders being back-canceled that would get my attention).
People who have read Faulkner, Steinbeck, Vonnegut, or some other American classics know there's some nasty happenings described in the classics (incest, rape, pedo-whatever, slaughter, etc.)
My cynicism comes from knowing the kinds of books many vendors have no problem at all selling or displaying in their brick'n'mortar stores. My local B&N has "naked people coffeetable books" piled on a huge table next to the children's section and the restrooms. They have the Dummie's Guide to Sex on an endcap next to the comic books (yes, it has explicit pics).
oh the hypocrisy 
(right, I'm ranting repetitively instead of going to read the problematic sections mentioned ... the funny thing is that the only thing I remember hitting my "disturbing" nerve was the use of the "pedo-bear" as Rin's plushie --- I thought that was lame pandering)
NEXT MORNING EDIT: I've reviewed the pages he points out... I disagree that it "crosses any line" when taken in context of what happens before and what happens after. Its the pivot point at which she really moves from wanting to torture him to having a crush on him. Without it, the following scene involving the teacher's love interest (his fellow teacher) would make have far less impact (the stairway scene). It also drives the teacher's suspicion that Rin is being abused in some way at home.
<shrug> ah well..... I consider it a win for the "burn the books" crowd who seemed to be learning that the best way to punt a book is before it even reaches the shelf.
Last edited by crankydragon on Thu May 31, 2007 10:18 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Washi
Tadpole
Joined: 03 May 2007
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 5:15 am Post subject: |
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>>As I outlined above, when I delved deeper into the series and its subsequent volumes, I realized that my initial position was wrong and that some of the content is indeed objectionable, and not something that I can further rationalize or justify.
I figured this was the case ever since your first letter, as your defense of the title seemed surprisingly oblivious to the actual content. I recently flicked through the later volumes myself and conceed that you were probably wise not to release it, and I was very surprised after seeing the later content, that you had licensed it at all. Now it's making sense.
It's still a shame, and I don't find the content in the other volumes objectionable. Depressing, but probably for the best. |
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Washi
Tadpole
Joined: 03 May 2007
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 5:21 am Post subject: |
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| crankydragon wrote: | | the funny thing is that the only thing I remember hitting my "disturbing" nerve was the use of the "pedo-bear" as Rin's plushie --- I thought that was lame pandering) |
If you're referring to the 4chan meme, then it has nothing to do with that teddy bear. Not sure how you say it's lame pandering. :S |
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Lordshade
Jellyfish
Joined: 28 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 5:57 am Post subject: |
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| Washi wrote: | | crankydragon wrote: | | the funny thing is that the only thing I remember hitting my "disturbing" nerve was the use of the "pedo-bear" as Rin's plushie --- I thought that was lame pandering) |
If you're referring to the 4chan meme, then it has nothing to do with that teddy bear. Not sure how you say it's lame pandering. :S |
Yes, since this is a Japanese title, the 4chan bit doesn't really work.
Pedobear was based on a 2chan meme called simply "Kuma", a bear that hated large corporations, it was NOT related to lolicon in any way. 4chan later adopted it for that purpose.
I WAS kinda suspecting this issue to come up earlier, based on the later volumes. Watahiya Kawaru actually did say, in an interview, that she was trying to push the standards of what could be printed in a mainstream magazine. So, it would probably be quite a problem here.. |
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Mikeysama
Tadpole
Joined: 31 May 2007
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 6:10 am Post subject: |
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Now then, I'd like to start by saying that while I personally have no problems with the content in this manga, I respect the decision to not publish it here, as that would be asking for trouble. That said, I don't see the need to basically claim that the content has no redeeming qualities, or to claim that we haven't seen the 2nd or 3rd chapter in order to debunk our arguments. I sincerely hope that he's simply trying to save face, because he's really starting to sound like the puritans that argued against the manga in the first place. I do not approve of pedophilia, lets get that out of the way right now, and I don't even have to point out why. But that does not mean that someone who writes about it or draws about it is a pervert. Its fantasy, fiction. I can't really explain it, but somehow I don't make the connection between a little girl in an anime or manga with a little girl in real life, because generally speaking, they're totally different, and I believe this to be the general mindset of people who enjoy manga such as this. Manga is generally written by adults, thus children in a manga are of course going to have adult traits, as no adult can think from the point of view of a child, perhaps thats why I can't make the connection. The manga doesn't take itself to seriously, so why take it seriously like that?
You know, nevermind the fact that the manga was writen by a woman, which I think would have some bearing on weather or not this is acceptable.
For you tl:dr people, my point is, to say this manga is essentially evil is completely absurd, and its insulting to the manga's fans to make such comments, especially given these circumstances. |
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onizukaa2
Barnacle
Joined: 31 May 2007
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 7:05 am Post subject: |
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First off, I'd like to start by Saying you have not lost me as a costumer, SevenSeas, But you have lost my respect. I will still buy your releases, But only because I don't like leaving a series unfinished. If all my series had been finished, You would've lost me as a costumer. Now onto my full opinion.
I believe, like most people, that what you did is Outrageous and Offending. I mean Come on, So what, It had "A" Bad scene in it, Thats like throwing out an entire movie just because the director didn't like how one scene filmed. STUPID.
Now, I'm going to get this straight. This book was directed at teens and the such.... So why care? It's not like we are 10, and shouldn't be learning about sex and Bs like that. We are Older, and Above that. We learn about crap like that Whether we want to or not, So why base it on something like that?
Ok, So the books Directed at teens. So that means Teens are your majority buyers.... Hmmmm.... I think that means that you should ask a teen what he/she thinks, and ask if he/she cares that theres a few so called "Bad" scenes in it. And if they don't, But the stores do, Then they Obviously are hypocritical as* holes who should burn in hell. Like crankydragon said, I've been in book stores where they sell Worse BS than a little Pedophelia, and they put that worse stuff near the children's section, So why do you care what they think? They obviously don't care about children, And i bet if they saw all the Arguments for the series, They would reconsider just because it would be a good chance to make some money.
Anyways, I digress.
SevenSeas, In my collection of manga and light novels, You have a shelf of your own, Thats how much I liked you. Enough to make a shelf for your books. Anyways, I did that because I liked your whole "No censorship" Policy. I mean, I LOVE it. But you know, I think some might agree with me. If it comes down to You Censoring some of the manga, Or us plain out not getting it, We would rather you censor those few pages and release it, Opposed to you getting our hopes up and then canceling it.
But if you could have Published it without censoring, That woulda been great, Because honestly, I doubt theres anything to extreme in that book, Seeing how it's drawn by a female (No offense, It's just that in Manga drawn by male's with "Bad" Content in it, It tends to be worse than when a Female draws it"
anyways, Those are my 2 cents, not that you really care enough to un-cancel Knj. |
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Chibi Flash
Tadpole
Joined: 30 May 2007
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 7:30 am Post subject: |
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While I'm VERY dissapointed that it won't be published AT ALL, I respect that you're pulling the manga for the right reasons.
I admit, I hadn't seen volume 3, and your admitance that neither had you didn't know what happened later in the series is also something thats satisfied me.
If the reasons for canceling the manga had been because of pressure from the fans, then I probably would have followed through and refused to buy any Seven Seas books. However, since this is not the case, I guess I'd best go pre-order He Is My Master now. |
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