Konaka Comments on Tamers 2021 Content

[Vande]

Kind of a whole lot of nothing. "Sorry, you guys over there weren't supposed to see any of that. I'm not sorry about using characters from a children's cartoon to complain about my favorite conspiracy theorists getting deplatformed, though. Also I'm deleting any critical comments, peace."

What a joke.

This, very much this. If he wants to spout this theories, he has the right to do so (and nope I do not agree with his conspiracy theories). But putting it in Tamers, a series generally for kids, was 100% a joke. Of course people in the West were gonna hear about this. It's the frickin Internet.

While I was not a Tamers fan in general, I will continue to enjoy Tamers for what it was. Which wasn't this whole debacle!

 

[merlinsama]

Kind of a whole lot of nothing. "Sorry, you guys over there weren't supposed to see any of that. I'm not sorry about using characters from a children's cartoon to complain about my favorite conspiracy theorists getting deplatformed, though. Also I'm deleting any critical comments, peace."

That's pretty much the nail on the head. He's free to have his beliefs, but puppeting them through children's show characters demonstrates a severe inability to unplug.

Throwing some policy in your game or show is almost the norm nowadays, its just that its usually done by left leaning people. At least we have diverse cringe now

 

[Roy130390]

I'll never understand why people get so outraged by stuff like this. Creators of different political and social views have always put their stuff in their creations. Sure, some more subtle than others, but it only seems to be a problem when it isn't supporting the point of view of the person complaining. Many will claim that this isn't the case and that they just don't want any kind of influence or view involved, but most of said people are lying and only say that when it's stuff that triggers them.

Honestly, the way I see it if people react negatively as in fighting the guy, harassing and attacking him they are pretty much proving his point. All I saw was a cringe, obscure narration that I can't take seriously but hey, that's me.

Oh, and tamers and Lain are awesome.

 

[RyummaSama]

It really is a punch in the gut that he used Tamers as a mouthpiece for his gross conspiracy theorist opinions, especially since the series itself was very devoid of politics. Although in retrospect, this doesn't seem to be that farfetched for him. Even if including your opinions is a must, there are definitely more tactful ways to do that. Like besides the fact that the script is so heavy-handed in its presentation, it also just sucks in general.

You really have to separate the artist from the work in this case, and luckily since Digimon is a multimedia franchise it's pretty easy to do that.

 

[Bartz]

There's only two things I'll say on this:

Firstly, no matter how much you love something, that doesn't mean you have to excuse it either. The artist behind the work you enjoy is still human, and as such they can make decisions that you do not agree with, and that's OK to criticize. You don't ignore problems because you love something as that's just being blind to the issue, you face it head on and try and tackle it so things can improve. So I'll never agree with the notion that people who are criticizing Konaka for this aren't fans of Tamers, they are, that's why they're bothered by this.

Secondly, my biggest issue, as said before, is where and how he chose to share his views. This event was meant to be a place where they gave the continuation for Tamers that fans wanted to see, and instead of doing so he used it as a means to push his views instead of furthering the story in the way fans were hoping. That was not what this was meant to be, and seeing how it has negativity impacted the fanbase it's extremely sad how things turned out due to it. This should've been an exciting event, but instead it's just left a bitter taste.

And no, I'm not saying this because he disagrees with my views or anything of the sort as my views are irrelevant to this point, I'm saying this because Digimon has never been the place for such a platform. The series has tackled mature issues, but not on the topics that were brought up here and especially not with a lack of nuance. If Konaka wants to share his views, there are much better places to do it and the fact he chose this as the place is the most disappointing thing about this to me. It won't change how I feel about Tamers or his contributions to it, but it does change the respect I had for him as a writer.

 

[KoushiroIZZYIzumi]

When the pandemic started, I stopped opening Twitter for about a year.
I also stopped watching CNN/US, which I had subscribed to on cable to see what was really going on.
And I've been reading what independent alternative journalists are gathering from open sources, referring to links as I go.

And....

I was frustrated by the exclusion of alternative journalists from the major platforms, and by the fact that the counter perspective was hidden.

Well, those snippets pretty much tell me all I need to know about his thought process. To me, it's like he's saying, "I don't like what I'm hearing from a regular news organization so I'll just go ahead and stop watching it and find someone that spews something that is compatible with what I believe in".



Ever since Wikileaks, I feel that the word "journalism" has been thrown around too loosely these days.


His earlier work on Tamers may have been inspired by conspiracy theories before (which at least one has been verified) but it seems this latest act was just done in poor taste.

 

[xyzt]

It really is a punch in the gut that he used Tamers as a mouthpiece for his gross conspiracy theorist opinions, especially since the series itself was very devoid of politics.

I wouldn't really say Tamers was devoid of politics since Hypnos' existence as a secret govt surveillance agency that was kept unknown to the public was clearly political. In episode 41-42 I think privacy concerns were even brought in that news press coverage that was playing in the background. But it was more grounded and nuanced, and also wasnt something children were going to notice. It sure wasn't as in your face and lacking in subtlety like in this case. Honestly the character drama before yamaki burst in was decent and frankly it would have been better if this and 2018 audio drama were more just character dramas instead of trying to make it an action scene against a new enemy and pushing them as some pilot for a sequel that as Konaka himself stated was canceled.

 

[Chudix]

I have finally watched Digimon Tamers 2021, it's cringe in some parts, but the reaction to this is totally overblown and ridiculous and I don't think Konaka has done anything wrong.

 

[Mon-Ohma]

Just as well I never bothered reading the script anyway.

I was never really a hardcore Tamers fanatic, and at the end of the day Konaka is still an average human with the average human flaws.

 

[totentanz]

While Konaka's actual opinions are controversial to say the least, The script itself isn't really. In fact, I think it comes off as pretty middle of the road. Yamaki sounds like an insane man, whether he's right or wrong about what he's saying can't be taken seriously because he's unhinged.

I definitely don't agree with Konaka's personal blog posts, but the Tamers 2021 script doesn't strike me as actually pushing his personal opinions seriously. It reminds me of Schwarzwald in Big O, not totally wrong but unhinged and destructive nevertheless. If Konaka is trying to convince us that the world really is at the mercy of internet cancel culture and PC-ness, Yamaki certainly makes for a poor messenger. As far as the script goes, I think it treated the topic with about as much seriousness as the original Tamers did anything. Hypnos was already a big old government conspiracy trope, this isn't really any different.

I think the weakness of the script really is that it doesn't actually go into any detail as to what the great evil is. It makes baseless statements about internet culture and censorship, drops "Digital reform bill" with no further context and then Jian is like "Okay crazy pops, moving on...". If Yamaki is supposed to be taken seriously at all it's pretty much a blunder.

I don't think feeding children conspiracy theories was his goal and I won't judge him as if that's what he did because it just doesn't come off that way in context.

His personal opinions he can keep to his blog and I'll happily ignore them.

 

[DL22003]

I have finally watched Digimon Tamers 2021, it's cringe in some parts, but the reaction to this is totally overblown and ridiculous and I don't think Konaka has done anything wrong.

Yeah. Before seeing the video I thought what he had written was way worse, but it just was cringy, and was as subtle as taking a sledge hammer to the face. In the end of the day, if he wanted to write about it and get it "out of his system" he could've done it a way that could be better integrated into the plot without sounding so out of place.

 

[Grimmon]

I just watched and it was all kinds of odd. Why...did he need to be so specific and literal? It was a disservice to the story.
How does this kind of approach serve a writer? He could really just explore the themes he is concerned about throughout the story in a way that makes sense in-universe without any real-world references. The script was a really poor first episode (if it was meant as a first episode) either way... (And it was a continuation of the audio drama which was terrible either way.) There were still lots of fun places they could have gone though so it's a pity he used the story to serve his ideas instead of the other way around. His 'apology' doesn't make his reasoning any clearer either... Oh, well!

 

[Unknown Neo]

He knows why we don't like it but he's not changing. ...That figures and just might be the best we'll get. ...Oh well.

 

[Cipher]

Okay. I've been a Digimon fan for most of my life. I'm especially a big fan of Tamers, due to it handling heavy subject matter better than many anime targeted at older audiences. And honestly, this whole debacle has been nothing but embarrassing from the start. And this "sorry you got offended by my rightoid conspiracy nonsense, except I'm not actually sorry" non-apology doesn't help. At all.

Cipher - I edited this because I kind of got too heated, but Christ. This shit hurt.

 

[Youkomon]

Konaka did nothing wrong.

And no, I will not elaborate.

You are right.

 

[Grimmon]

I think the weakness of the script really is that it doesn't actually go into any detail as to what the great evil is. It makes baseless statements about internet culture and censorship, drops "Digital reform bill" with no further context and then Jian is like "Okay crazy pops, moving on...". If Yamaki is supposed to be taken seriously at all it's pretty much a blunder.

Sorry for responding late to this. The issue here in my opinion is that

a. such a considerable piece of dialogue was dedicated to addressing a real-world issue while pushing a specific political rhetoric in a context where this discussion did not have any reason to occur in the first place, and then went on to have the things Yamaki was talking about manifest as an actual villain.

b. Beyond being tacky/bad writing, it was also very blatant that he used the script as a platform for his ideas, instead of using his ideas as inspiration in a more meaningful manner that would actually benefit the show as the plot progressed. It was like a parody, even if one does not see anything wrong in portraying responsibility and accountability as actual monsters.

Is it something to be upset over and angry about? In my opinion, no, even though for all we know this aspect of the script is why we missed a show that also had good elements in its foundation, so it really is a pity. But I also see a lot of merit in voicing any opposition to it in the sense that it is a valuable discussion to have in public as followers of someone with a big platform/audience whenever they address politics and morality.

 

[BlankShell]

I'm glad he apologized. That said, I still don't think he recognizes the core aspect of his warped beliefs. Regardless of what he's saying (not being political, etc.) he's still posting conspiracy theorist musings and identifying with (rightfully) debunked and deplatformed fringe voices. The "I'm not a researcher" is just icing on that cake; if he's not, he should be listening to the people that are, instead of the ones "just asking questions". Not the least that THIS is the platform he chose to present these views.

I don't think this in any way "ruins" Tamers as a whole (people's perspectives can and should evolve, his just... happened to get worse), and he's always been one voice of many. But it was incredibly disappointing to see, and also pretty disheartening to see people then agree with some of the more false information.

 

[totentanz]

I think the weakness of the script really is that it doesn't actually go into any detail as to what the great evil is. It makes baseless statements about internet culture and censorship, drops "Digital reform bill" with no further context and then Jian is like "Okay crazy pops, moving on...". If Yamaki is supposed to be taken seriously at all it's pretty much a blunder.

Sorry for responding late to this. The issue here in my opinion is that

a. such a considerable piece of dialogue was dedicated to addressing a real-world issue while pushing a specific political rhetoric in a context where this discussion did not have any reason to occur in the first place, and then went on to have the things Yamaki was talking about manifest as an actual villain.

b. Beyond being tacky/bad writing, it was also very blatant that he used the script as a platform for his ideas, instead of using his ideas as inspiration in a more meaningful manner that would actually benefit the show as the plot progressed. It was like a parody, even if one does not see anything wrong in portraying responsibility and accountability as actual monsters.

Is it something to be upset over and angry about? In my opinion, no, even though for all we know this aspect of the script is why we missed a show that also had good elements in its foundation, so it really is a pity. But I also see a lot of merit in voicing any opposition to it in the sense that it is a valuable discussion to have in public as followers of someone with a big platform/audience whenever they address politics and morality.

I'll say this, I think that whatever position anyone may take on what Konaka said, his presentation was absolutely lacking. It's a serious topic presented overly biased and almost comically ranted out by an unhinged individual. Then being made into the villain as an embodiment of these topics to be physically fought was shallow and meaningless. There's no metaphor here, no dissenting opinion, it's blatant and pandering for all the wrong reasons. If he wanted to rant, it felt like he took the Digifest as the wrong time to do it.

I agree that this script is not something to be overly upset about. It really is a pity that it wasn't better and that we may not see anything come of this in the form of a Tamers sequel anymore. It hurts that Konaka has seemingly fallen down this rabbit hole and it hurts more that his writing ability could only churn this 5 min script out. The discussion we're having is sadly more valuable than the script itself. But truly I don't see any malice behind what he wrote.

 

[Bancho]

I've been avoiding looking into the play and kinda caved today and briefly looked it. Tbh, from what I was hearing from others Konaka was just coming off as a cringy baby boomer like the ones you'd see on Facebook but instead of keeping it on a blog like normal cringe old people he decided to go and air his laundry at an event. And yeah, from my brief look at it, it was just as cringe as I expected.
Honestly, Tamers ended in 2002 and is a finished product with all of its characters and concepts owned by the greater franchise as a whole so if Konaka wants to go off on whatever again I'm probably just going to ignore it and not care again. I'm not just going to give some dude the power to ruin a finished product for me; he contributed what he did two decades ago but otherwise he's not relevant to me anymore. Future Tamers sequels, remakes, or adaptations can happen with or without him and may or may not suck as a result but I already have a whole completed Tamers series that I'm not going to pretend is unenjoyable because a dude tried to be fake woke two decades later