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Illustrator Sadamoto Yoshiyuki (Evangelion, FLCL) made several controversial tweets regarding comfort women issue.
- Thread starter sinonobu
- Start date
What do you think about his penis comments in the OP?
"If the statue was of an extremely beautiful comfort woman and a lai dai han (half Korean, half Vietnamese) gathered around a boiling pot and eating a bunch of soliders' penises. While indecent, it might feel a bit conceptually stimulating."
The thing about "eating boiled soldier's penises" strikes me as him saying it'd be a more interesting statue if it was a woman getting revenge for what happened by boiling and eating the soldier's dicks. Which is a horrible and fucking ridiculous, insensitive thing to say in its own right, but doesn't strike me as participating in the revisionist history narrative around the situation (the opposite, if anything).
That's really not what I (and I believe the other two posters you quoted) am trying to do at all. Ease off the gas, dude.
That's really not what I (and I believe the other two posters you quoted) am trying to do at all. Ease off the gas, dude.
Did you miss the part where he literally calls it Korean propaganda?
"That dirty girl statue (statue of peace). That movie that burns and stomps a photo of the Emperor. It's the way of that country's (Korea's) propaganda."
It plays into my original reading of his comments: he seems to demand art stimulate thought of its own merits, rather than through external context. He wants the scupture itself to make you feel disgust or rage, rather than requiring familiarity with history to interpret the work.
I see what he's getting at, but I also don't really agree that it's necessary in this case.
He refers to her as キッタネー少女 , "kittane otome." Literally "dirty (vulgar) girl." He's referring to the symbol of rape victims as a "dirty woman." On the wikipedia article for the statue of peace, literally every other nation on the planet calls it the "statue of Peace" except japan. Japan calls it the "Comfort woman statue" because they won't recognize their WWII atrocities. So Japan already has their own region specific term for the statue. Yet he doesn't use it. Instead, he uses "dirty girl" to describe it.
There is no possible way to spin that as not being a comment meant to denigrate rape victims and skirt blame.
It's literally half of the first tweet, which is fully expanded in the second tweet. I don't need to defend someone to be looking at the full context of what he's saying through a shotty machine translation. I think he's arguing in the second half that the statue would be more thought-provoking if it elicited a different reaction. I think he's clearly being tone-deaf though, and could well be the shitstain you claim him to be. I don't even know how to interpret the first bit because it's written with so little context, though it definitely seems antagonistic.
I'm literally working off of two tweets, and I hardly know anything about him other than that he's the Character Designer for FLCL and Evangelion.
I took 4 years of japanese in college, I'm too rusty to actually translate the whole message but I can tell you that he does use the term "Dirty girl" to refer to the statue.
Thank you, this is incredibly helpful and provides a lot of context. I'd agree with what you said.
Yeah, like pop idols, the most sexually liberated of all female performers. I'm already tired of this dude.
Also, the context of him calling the statue "boring:"
This is a political statue. It's placed right outside of the Japanese Embassy in Korea. It's supposed to be a symbol of the average "comfort girl," sitting and glaring at the embassy silently, waiting for recognition.
This work isn't boring at all, it's actually a pretty daring, provocative work. That's precisely why Japan apparently hates it, because it's aimed at them.
His "recommendation" for how to make this "boring work" interesting is to instead have the "dirty girl" sit around a boiling pot eating Japanese Soldiers severed penises, like some sort of monster.
The person bundled up with warm clothes in the middle of that pic is the statue. Apparently locals take care of it symbolically, and it's a national landmark. The building you see in front of her is the Japanese Embassy.
This is a political statue. It's placed right outside of the Japanese Embassy in Korea. It's supposed to be a symbol of the average "comfort girl," sitting and glaring at the embassy silently, waiting for recognition.
This work isn't boring at all, it's actually a pretty daring, provocative work. That's precisely why Japan apparently hates it, because it's aimed at them.
His "recommendation" for how to make this "boring work" interesting is to instead have the "dirty girl" sit around a boiling pot eating Japanese Soldiers severed penises, like some sort of monster.
The person bundled up with warm clothes in the middle of that pic is the statue. Apparently locals take care of it symbolically, and it's a national landmark. The building you see in front of her is the Japanese Embassy.
Also, the context of him calling the statue "boring:"
This is a political statue. It's placed right outside of the Japanese Embassy in Korea. It's supposed to be a symbol of the average "comfort girl," sitting and glaring at the embassy silently, waiting for recognition.
This work isn't boring at all, it's actually a pretty daring, provocative work. That's precisely why Japan apparently hates it, because it's aimed at them.
His "recommendation" for how to make this "boring work" interesting is to instead have the "dirty girl" sit around a boiling pot eating Japanese Soldiers severed penises, like some sort of monster.
The person bundled up with warm clothes in the middle of that pic is the statue. Apparently locals take care of it symbolically, and it's a national landmark. The building you see in front of her is the Japanese Embassy.
Again, thank you.
Exactly this.Also, the context of him calling the statue "boring:"
This is a political statue. It's placed right outside of the Japanese Embassy in Korea. It's supposed to be a symbol of the average "comfort girl," sitting and glaring at the embassy silently, waiting for recognition.
This work isn't boring at all, it's actually a pretty daring, provocative work. That's precisely why Japan apparently hates it, because it's aimed at them.
His "recommendation" for how to make this "boring work" interesting is to instead have the "dirty girl" sit around a boiling pot eating Japanese Soldiers severed penises, like some sort of monster.
The person bundled up with warm clothes in the middle of that pic is the statue. Apparently locals take care of it symbolically, and it's a national landmark. The building you see in front of her is the Japanese Embassy.
This guy attacking the statue for being artistically boring is about as transparent as white nationalists defending Confederate statues for having artistic value. Neither of them will outright say that they're denying war crimes or perpetuating KKK values, but it's obvious that they are.
I mean, it just keeps getting worse the deeper you read into it. His "interesting" example explicitly includes a "very attractive woman," implying the symbol of rape isn't "attractive."
Like, this is a shockingly disgusting series of tweets. Not even dog whistling, he's yelling it through a megaphone. This is like neo nazi, KKK type rhetoric.
OP, you see how hard people cape for Dragon Quest. FE ain't gonna get even a second's notice, imho..
Yup, alright. I can see how powerful this is. While I have heard about the statue, I didn't know this much about it until today. Thank you for taking the time to compile all of this together, I appreciate it.Also, the context of him calling the statue "boring:"
This is a political statue. It's placed right outside of the Japanese Embassy in Korea. It's supposed to be a symbol of the average "comfort girl," sitting and glaring at the embassy silently, waiting for recognition.
This work isn't boring at all, it's actually a pretty daring, provocative work. That's precisely why Japan apparently hates it, because it's aimed at them.
His "recommendation" for how to make this "boring work" interesting is to instead have the "dirty girl" sit around a boiling pot eating Japanese Soldiers severed penises, like some sort of monster.
The person bundled up with warm clothes in the middle of that pic is the statue. Apparently locals take care of it symbolically, and it's a national landmark. The building you see in front of her is the Japanese Embassy.
No problem, I didn't know about any of this until this topic either. The more I read up on it, the more disgusting the quote became. It was so disgusting in fact that I seriously couldn't even parse it at first.
I still can't get over that backpedal. Something like "I can't be racist! I, uh, enjoyed Female Slaves' Revenge!" would be more believable and it's still steeped in gross fetishism
Yeah, you've definitely furthered my understanding of the situation.
He knows what he was saying and the context involved. Later claiming it was merely art critique is just shamelessly claiming thinly veiled plausible deniability.
Dude lacks empathy and that makes him less of an artist in my eyes.
Dude lacks empathy and that makes him less of an artist in my eyes.
What drives me nuts is when Japan insists on removing similar statues from other countries because they feel it's an affront to them. There was a case a few years ago over a comfort woman statue in California or on the west coast a few years ago where a Japanese city was going to pull out of being a sister city over it.
Damn, Sadamoto. Those are some fucking vile comments. And his defense - if you even want to call it that - is absolutely pathetic.
Yes, Sugiyama is well-known for being a war-crime denying, nationalistic, LGBT-hating piece of utter shit. I love Dragon Quest, and I've loved his music for years, but it's borderline impossible to touch anything DQ-related without immediately thinking about him and what he stands for.
Yes, Sugiyama is well-known for being a war-crime denying, nationalistic, LGBT-hating piece of utter shit. I love Dragon Quest, and I've loved his music for years, but it's borderline impossible to touch anything DQ-related without immediately thinking about him and what he stands for.
Just to show how utterly unsympathetic a lot of the Japanese are regarding this issue:
"In 1993, following multiple testimonies, the Kono Statement (named after then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono) was issued by Japanese Government confirming that coercion was involved in seizing the comfort women.[110] In 1999, the Japanese historian Kazuko Watanabe complained about a lack of sisterhood among Japanese women, citing a survey showing 50% of Japanese women did not believe in the stories of the "comfort women", charging that many Japanese simply regard other Asians as "others" whose feelings do not count.[76] In 2007, the Japanese government issued a response to questions which had been posed to Prime Minister Abe about his position on the issue, concluding that "No evidence was found that the Japanese army or the military officials seized the women by force."[111][112] In 2014, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga formed a team to reexamine the background of the report.[113] The review brought to light coordination between Japan and South Korea in the process of composing the Kono Statement and concluded that, at the request of Seoul, Tokyo stipulated coercion was involved in recruiting the women.[114] After the review, Suga and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated that Japan continues to uphold the Kono Statement. "
This shit kinda fills up all the bars of misogyny, jumps straight into nationalism and doesn't stop until it reaches war crimes.
Fuck, that was a dark read. Fuck you, Sadamoto.
"In 1993, following multiple testimonies, the Kono Statement (named after then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono) was issued by Japanese Government confirming that coercion was involved in seizing the comfort women.[110] In 1999, the Japanese historian Kazuko Watanabe complained about a lack of sisterhood among Japanese women, citing a survey showing 50% of Japanese women did not believe in the stories of the "comfort women", charging that many Japanese simply regard other Asians as "others" whose feelings do not count.[76] In 2007, the Japanese government issued a response to questions which had been posed to Prime Minister Abe about his position on the issue, concluding that "No evidence was found that the Japanese army or the military officials seized the women by force."[111][112] In 2014, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga formed a team to reexamine the background of the report.[113] The review brought to light coordination between Japan and South Korea in the process of composing the Kono Statement and concluded that, at the request of Seoul, Tokyo stipulated coercion was involved in recruiting the women.[114] After the review, Suga and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated that Japan continues to uphold the Kono Statement. "
This shit kinda fills up all the bars of misogyny, jumps straight into nationalism and doesn't stop until it reaches war crimes.
Fuck, that was a dark read. Fuck you, Sadamoto.
So I mentioned I took 4 years of japanese language in college, but i also took a class on japanese art and culture and there is this interesting historical phenomenon where Japan considered themselves the "western" asians after white people made contact with them. You can plot the history of a lot of classical japanese artwork and after white people landed in Japan, their art changed to make themselves look less Japanese in general. Larger, rounder eyes, more Caucasian characteristics. You can see japanese art work where they're supposed to be around other Asian people, and they draw the other Asian people as you might expect, but they'll make the japanese look like Caucasians in the same painting.
This is actually a big part of why Nazi Germany considered the Japanese "Honorary Aryans." They've been culturally tied to this idea that they're separate from other Asian culture for a while, which is really mind blowing.
Yup and it was before the west made contact that they thought themselves superior. Aizawa Seishisai new these from 1825 pretty much put them above everyone not Japanese. He stated that Japan was the center of the world and everyone else was below them. A lot of the Nationalist rhetoric comes heavily from his writing about revearing the emperor and the Diet keeps pushing a lot of pre WWII stuff itheetext books.
Fun fact, the emperor's line had Korean DNA in it.
I'm not 100% sure I understand the nuance of whatever he's saying, but it sure seems to be disappointing.
I'm surprised by how little blow-back there is about this online. What happened to the mobs with pitchforks over Shinji x Kaworu in the Netflix release? I guess everyone is taking a day off because who cares about WWII-era war crimes!
I'm surprised by how little blow-back there is about this online. What happened to the mobs with pitchforks over Shinji x Kaworu in the Netflix release? I guess everyone is taking a day off because who cares about WWII-era war crimes!
If you read through the thread, specially the backgrounds provided by Krejlooc (and others), there's basically no chance of misinterpreting his words. He's a shitbird.
More context. He's bitching about this highly controversial art exhibit about censorship that got shut down.
I think this is the piece about burning of the emperor that's also in his tweet.
The man who sent the threat to burn it down got arrested.
Just in case you missed, Sadamoto also pulled "I have black friends" defense 🤣
I think this is the piece about burning of the emperor that's also in his tweet.
The man who sent the threat to burn it down got arrested.
Just in case you missed, Sadamoto also pulled "I have black friends" defense 🤣
OP
OP
Sadamoto simply replying "you guys are going to watch it even if I tell you not to (w)" to "say something for Korean fans who are waiting for Eva" is making me want to boycott the last eva movie as a whole. Which sucks because I know he isn't the only one, and the fact that this has been one of my most anticipated film for quite some time....
Don't you worry! Earlier he tweeted that great people are working on shin Eva and he's not doing any actual work so go watch it in peace. Well gee thanks!
I don't trust Anno either after seeing Shin Godzilla... What a giant right wing nationalist wet dream.
Is this not why Anime is full of characters with blonde, blue round eyes, fair skin and cherubic faces? I always found it weird that japanese anime had art for Caucasian characters. I guessed that's why Japanese anime is popular in the west.
Is there anime with black characters? or brown ones?
This is still an issue in Australia. Australian women and other Europeans (mainly nurses) also got caught up in the fighting in Singapore, Indonesia and other places during WW2 and were captured. There was a brig brouhaha recently because there is a statue in Sydney acknowledging it. Japanese Nationalists protested the construction of the statue.
The Japanese government has still not acknowledged what happened.
More information here: https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/alliesinadversity/prisoners/women
Of course that's just the Australian and European side of things. The things they did to the local women in Korea, China, and South East Asia were nothing short of horrific.
The Japanese government has still not acknowledged what happened.
More information here: https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/alliesinadversity/prisoners/women
Of course that's just the Australian and European side of things. The things they did to the local women in Korea, China, and South East Asia were nothing short of horrific.
I listen to rap music, I'm not rascist. I'm just saying that black people commit a disproportionate portion of crime and should clean up their act.
Things are going really bad between Japan and South Korea this year.
First, it was ruled this year that Korean businesses are not discriminating against Japanese companies for not importing fish from the Fukushima area even though it's now safe.
Korean courts ruled to fine/tax Japanese companies to pay compensation for comfort women.
Japan starts limiting exports to South Korea for technological materials, apparently this could cause shortages world wide for Korean products as Korean imports for this material are 90% from Japan.
Tensions are really bad between the two countries right now.
First, it was ruled this year that Korean businesses are not discriminating against Japanese companies for not importing fish from the Fukushima area even though it's now safe.
Korean courts ruled to fine/tax Japanese companies to pay compensation for comfort women.
Japan starts limiting exports to South Korea for technological materials, apparently this could cause shortages world wide for Korean products as Korean imports for this material are 90% from Japan.
Tensions are really bad between the two countries right now.
User Banned (permanent): troll account
I know most countries have a dark past.
Злых людей нет на свете, есть только люди несчастливые.
Tran Van Ty, founder Justice for Lai Dai Han and born as result of Korean sexual violence said:
"Today is a historic day for the Lai Dai Han and our mothers who have been through so much at the hands of South Korean soldiers. Since the Government of South Korea refuses to even acknowledge our existence, 50 members of the Lai Dai Han community and I have offered to provide DNA samples to be compared with a database of South Korean soldiers. While today's statue is a historic day for the Lai Dai Han, we will continue to fight for recognition and justice."
Злых людей нет на свете, есть только люди несчастливые.
Tran Van Ty, founder Justice for Lai Dai Han and born as result of Korean sexual violence said:
"Today is a historic day for the Lai Dai Han and our mothers who have been through so much at the hands of South Korean soldiers. Since the Government of South Korea refuses to even acknowledge our existence, 50 members of the Lai Dai Han community and I have offered to provide DNA samples to be compared with a database of South Korean soldiers. While today's statue is a historic day for the Lai Dai Han, we will continue to fight for recognition and justice."
Yes, dude is actively pouring money into revisionist and anti-LGBT causes whenever fans buy Dragon Quest products.
SK Very hate Japan.
I remember watching some modern SK movies that Japan is a bad guy.
The hate is very mutual on both sides. Their own government is ruled by nippon kaigi. The equivalent of American far-right Trumptards. So don't treat us like an idiots by implying Japan isn't innocent in this issue. They aren't exactly victims of hate.
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Not just Korean (it happened all over Asia where they held territory), and they kept them in brothels/harems as slaves. Some were older, most were younger. You can see the pictures in the wiki article. "Comfort women" is essentially their euphemism for sex slaves because they are intentionally trying to soften it by making it seem like the women (girls) were willing participants. It's one thing to realize that many conquering armies did this throughout history, but this term was something adopted to cover the crimes of people who were very much alive at the time and the descendants of whom are very much alive now. They do not want to be held to account for this and they basically want Korea (and China, and the Philippines, and everywhere else) to stop bringing it up.
Perhaps, but I think that also stems heavily from Japan's use as a source for cheap animation labor by the US for years. Disney had a massive impact on Japanese animation.
I'm surprised that people in this thread don't know what comfort women are. The fact that he pivots to being a fan of K-pop makes it even more transparent.
There are actually a fair amount of older anime where just about everyone is obviously Japanese, or where it's multiethnic in a way that's supposed to be natural. I feel like the shift happened more in the '80s where raceless, often white-looking people became more standard.
In the original Devilman, almost every character is black-haired except the half-Caucasian Ryo. If you look at Ashita no Joe, almost every single character is black-haired unless they're drawn with their hair cut really short, then you start getting international fighters later in, and that's when you start seeing different skin colours (often from black Latinos or Southeast Asians) and hair colours (from Caucasians). Gundam didn't often state characters ethnicities but they're clearly supposed to be understood as having them; Lalah Sune is dark-skinned because she's Indian, Ryu Jose is Mexican and possibly of Japanese-African descent, and so on.
There are actually a fair amount of older anime where just about everyone is obviously Japanese, or where it's multiethnic in a way that's supposed to be natural. I feel like the shift happened more in the '80s where raceless, often white-looking people became more standard.
In the original Devilman, almost every character is black-haired except the half-Caucasian Ryo. If you look at Ashita no Joe, almost every single character is black-haired unless they're drawn with their hair cut really short, then you start getting international fighters later in, and that's when you start seeing different skin colours (often from black Latinos or Southeast Asians) and hair colours (from Caucasians). Gundam didn't often state characters ethnicities but they're clearly supposed to be understood as having them; Lalah Sune is dark-skinned because she's Indian, Ryu Jose is Mexican and possibly of Japanese-African descent, and so on.