Angel Beats!' True Conclusion and Japan's Birth Rate Problem

The Best Anime Here

“Welcome to our channel! In today's video, we cover some of the most shocking news from the world of anime and the entertainment industry in Japan.  First, we discuss the recent massive data breach that has affected Kadokawa. Find out what information was compromised and the possible implications for the anime and manga industry.  Plus, a popular adult film distributor in Japan has announced its upcoming releases, perplexing the public. We tell you all the details about these surprising developments.  Finally, veteran animator Terumi Nishii has taken to social media to express her frustration at what she perceives as unreasonable demands for political correctness in anime production. We analyze her perspective and the community's reactions.  Don't forget to like, subscribe and turn on the little bell to stay up to date with all the latest news from the world of anime and entertainment!  SOCIAL MEDIA:  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebestanimehere0 Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThesAnime FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBestAnimeHere/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_best_anime_here_xd/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBestAnimeHere/featured Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thebestanimehere

Transcript

00:00These are the most relevant news or gossip about what happened during the

00:03month in the world of anime, Manda Japan, or the otaku community.

00:07Mantra, a company dedicated to the research and development of Manda translation technology

00:12using artificial intelligence, has secured significant funding of approximately 7.8 million

00:17yen. Investors include major industry names such as Shueisha, Shogakukan, Kadokawa, Square Enix

00:24Holdings and Empower Partners Fund LP, as well as Tetsuriyo Kukai founder Tsuyoshi Hamagaki.

00:30Mantra Engine, Mantra's cloud-based translation tool, specializes in Manda and vertical scrolling

00:35comics. This platform allows all Manda translation tasks to be performed directly in the browser,

00:41using AI to make the process more efficient and cut work time in half.

00:45Currently, Mantra Engine is used by both domestic and international publishers and

00:49translation companies, translating around 10,000 pages per month, equivalent to about

00:54500 Manda volumes. In case you don't remember, Angel Beats is an original anime that mixes action,

01:00comedy and drama, and follows the story of a group of young people in a kind of school limbo

01:06after death. Towards the final episodes, the characters begin to come to terms with their

01:10past and find peace, allowing them to disappear and graduate from this world. The remaining

01:15members decide to hold a symbolic graduation ceremony, acknowledging the growth and relationships

01:20they have forged. It is revealed that Kanade Tachibana, known as Tenchi, had the heart of

01:25Yuzuru Otanashi, the protagonist. Before he died, Otanashi had donated his heart, and Kanade was the

01:31recipient of it. For this, Kanade had been waiting to thank him, but died before she could do so.

01:36One by one, the characters find peace and disappear. Finally, only Otanashi and Kanade are

01:41left. Otanashi confesses his love to Kanade and asks him to stay with him in that world,

01:45but Kanade reveals that his wish was to thank him and, after doing so, disappears as well. In a

01:51post-credits scene, two figures resembling Otanashi and Kanade are seen in the real world,

01:56suggesting that they have been reborn and reunited, although this is not explicitly confirmed.

02:01Now, surely all of this you already knew, didn't you? But did you know that there is a manga that

02:05explains what happened before this reunion? It's titled Angel Beats!

02:09Spinoff! Tabasura Tenchi-chan and is published by Yuya Sasagiri. While the synopsis writes,

02:15this spinoff focuses on Tachibana Kanade, also known as Tenchi, the heroine of the anime Angel

02:20Beats. During her journey, Tenchi stops in Kanagawa, where she meets a girl full of energy

02:26and joy named Yuri Nakamura. Yuri is surprised to learn that the purpose of Tenchi's journey is to

02:31find a boy who appears in her dreams, although she knows neither his name nor his face. Despite

02:36Yuri's initial disbelief, Tenchi is firmly convinced of this boy's existence and her

02:41search leads her to travel all over Japan, visiting places such as Fukuoka, Kagawa,

02:46Yamanashi, Osaka, and Okinawa. It is clear that the person Kanade is looking for is Otanashi,

02:52so this manga is set chronologically between the rebirth of the two and their eventual reunion.

02:57It's definitely a must-read for Angel Beats fans who were left wanting more,

03:01since it also shows the other characters and what became of them after they were reborn.

03:05One of the world's largest anime media and production companies, Kadokawa, has suffered

03:10a major data breach after ransom demands from a Russian hacker group, Black Suit,

03:14were not met on July 1, 2024. According to the record and FNN, Kadokawa experienced a

03:20massive data breach after the deadline set by Black Suit expired. This group claims to have

03:251.5 terabytes of data related to Kadokawa, which they threatened to release on July 1.

03:30After the deadline expired, data allegedly originating from the Kadokawa group was made

03:35public, including contracts of streamers who had worked with Kadokawa, employee data from Duango,

03:41a subsidiary of Kadokawa, and, notably, information about students at Group N High

03:46School, one of Japan's largest schools with nearly 28,000 students both face-to-face and online.

03:52Kadokawa Duango Educational Institute founded the school in 2016, Kadokawa immediately responded

03:58to the leak, issuing its deep apologies for the great concern and inconvenience this has

04:02caused to all involved. Kadokawa says it is currently investigating the authenticity of

04:07the leak in collaboration with a specialized external organization and expects the results

04:11by the end of July. A popular adult film distributor in Japan has announced its

04:16upcoming releases that have left the public perplexed. These new productions use artificial

04:20intelligence to change the faces of the actresses, making them look more like the characters they are

04:25cosplaying and, at the same time, hide their identity. This technological innovation has

04:30generated confusion and anger among consumers who are aware of the plight of porn actresses

04:35in Japan. The industry has been shaken by new laws seeking to regularize activities

04:39and working conditions, which has led to a decline in work and income for many of these

04:44professionals. With the advent of productions that use AI to modify faces, job opportunities

04:49for human actresses are further reduced, exacerbating the existing crisis. Snowbreak

04:54Containment Zone, the gacha RPG shooter from Amazing CSUN Game, has experienced ups and

04:59downs since its global launch last winter. However, in May 2024, the number of concurrent

05:05players of the title increased by nearly three times compared to the initial post-launch figures.

05:09In an interview with the producer of Snowbreak's Japanese division, he talked about this recent

05:14boost from the developer's side and what factors led to this sudden increase, commenting on the

05:18game's recent performance. The producer noted that Snowbreak's recent surge in popularity is

05:23significant and well-reflected in the figures. Sales have increased and the number of daily

05:28active users has grown by more than 50% on average. According to the producer, the biggest

05:33contributing factor to this was the management and development team's effort to gear the game

05:37towards fan service, i.e. giving players what they want. To give context, Snowbreak Containment Zone

05:43recently updated its age rating to M slash Peggy 16 and has been actively releasing sexy and

05:48revealing character skins. The developers have also regularly implemented new character voice

05:53lines and intimate interactions. Recently, an anonymous person has criticized the Japanese

05:58government's current efforts to combat the birth crisis, suggesting a controversial measure

06:03punishing those who do not wish to have children, especially single men over the age of 30. A leaked

06:08document reveals that the author proposes to track and apply penalties to single people who

06:13do not want to get married and have children. In the paper, the author argues the need to combat

06:17late marriages, citing a strong correlation between the number of children and age at first marriage.

06:23The younger the age at first marriage, the more children one has, and the older the age at first

06:28marriage, the lower the number of children. The author suggests that childless couples often marry

06:32later in life and that people who wish to have children give up because of their relatively

06:36older age. The paper proposes two solutions to combat late marriages, encouraging people to marry

06:42at a younger age and accepting late marriages by taking steps to reduce their negative effects.

06:47The author points out that the first option is politically taboo and difficult to implement,

06:51while the second is easier to realize because the desire to marry decreases with age.

06:56The paper also criticizes current government support for parenting, arguing that postnatal

07:00measures, such as daycare attendance and free tuition, are ineffective in combating birth

07:05decline. Instead, he suggests that directly supporting people who want to have children but

07:10cannot would be more effective, although it is not being adequately funded. The proposal to punish

07:15unmarried people over 30 who do not wish to marry presents several feasibility and ethical problems,

07:20individual rights, the proposal goes against individual rights and personal freedoms.

07:25Imposing punishment for personal decisions such as marital status is a violation of privacy and

07:30basic human rights. Social acceptance, it is unlikely that such a drastic and coercive measure

07:36would be accepted by Japanese society, which is known to value privacy and respect for personal

07:41decisions. Effectiveness, it is not clear that such coercive measures would have a positive

07:46impact on the birth rate. They are more likely to generate resentment and resistance.

07:50Japan faces a severe birth crisis and an aging population. Birth rates have declined dramatically

07:56in recent decades and the population is aging rapidly. This has led the government to seek

08:00various solutions, although not all have been successful or well-received. The government's

08:05approach so far has been to support families through economic incentives and child care services,

08:10but the results have not been sufficient to reverse the trend. The proposal to punish single

08:14parents reflects a desperation to find radical solutions to a problem that threatens to have

08:19serious long-term economic and social consequences. In summary, although the proposal for punishing

08:24singles over 30 is extreme and probably unfeasible, it underscores the urgency and seriousness of

08:30Japan's birth crisis. It is crucial that more balanced and individual rights-respecting measures

08:35be found and implemented to address this issue. Weekly Logistics News recently published a report

08:40on the concerns of a transportation manager in Shizuoka, Japan, regarding the depiction of trucks

08:46in media such as iSky anime, television series and movies. This manager has pointed out that trucks

08:52are often depicted as causing fatal accidents which could be generating misperceptions and

08:57unwarranted fears towards these vehicles, negatively affecting the image of the logistics industry

09:02despite understanding the importance of creative freedom and storytelling. The manager suggests

09:06that this type of depiction is influencing the formation of fears and aversions towards trucks

09:11and their drivers. He argues that since anime and manga are consumed by a wide audience,

09:16including children, such stories can foster discrimination against trucking organizations.

09:21As an example, he mentions that some wives and parents prevent young people from being

09:26employed in the trucking industry. To counter negative opinions about trucking, Shizuoka's

09:30manager hopes that content creators will consider presenting the trucking industry in a more

09:35positive light. Despite the manager's company's efforts to spread positive information about

09:39drivers and logistics work through social media, he mentioned that combating negative perception

09:44is a huge challenge. Yagakin, the talented author behind the manga Setsuraku No O, has revealed the

09:50income earned from his work through the publisher Shueisha. Through his Twitter account, Yagakin

09:54shared the following information, 11,536,000 yen. I worked at Shonen Jump Plus and I believe the

10:01manuscript fees for Setsuraku No O were approximately this amount. This is for one year and

10:06five months, use that for reference. I exceeded 1,600 pages in total and the color illustrations

10:12were not paid at all. The author mentioned that 11,536,000 yen, about 73,000 dollars,

10:20was earned during one year and five months of work, which equals approximately 17 months. To

10:25better understand whether this income is enough to live on in Japan, let's do some calculations.

10:30Dividing the total income by the months of work results in about 678,000 yen per month,

10:36about 4,300 dollars. Currently, the minimum wage in Tokyo is about 1,113 yen per hour. Assuming a

10:44standard working day of 40 hours per week, this results in a minimum wage of about 178,000 yen per

10:50month, about 1,100 dollars. However, in Japan, income is taxable and Yagakin's high salary would put

10:57him at a high tax rate for which, after taxes, he would be receiving 20 to 30 percent less. In addition

11:03to taxes, manga authors typically incur various costs involving drawing materials and software,

11:09workspace, whether a rented studio, and marketing and promotion. However, a crucial aspect is the

11:15payment of assistants. Manga assistants help in the creation of backgrounds, inking, plotting,

11:20and other aspects of the process, and their salaries are paid by the author himself. For

11:24each assistant, subtract a minimum monthly salary from the author's salary and it won't seem like so

11:29much money, right? Veteran animator Terumi Nishiai has taken to social media to express her frustration

11:35at what she perceives as unreasonable demands for political correctness in anime production.

11:40Nishiai, who has worked as animation director on several animes such as Jujutsu Kaisen Zero,

11:45Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, and Death Note, shared her experience in a series of tweets. Nishiai

11:51recounted an incident in which a foreign client requested that black characters in her work have

11:55defined noses to properly distinguish them from other characters who typically lack nostril detail.

12:00She argued that this request would upset the visual balance of the characters and create an

12:05inconsistent level of realism within the series itself. None of the other characters had nostrils,

12:10so if only the black characters had a different level of realism, it would look unbalanced. In

12:15the end, it became a conversation about how it's safer to make the hair colors something like lime

12:19green or purple so you can't tell what race their Nishiai wrote. Nishiai highlighted the cultural gap,

12:24noting that the Japanese approach of indicating race by a simple brown skin tone does not align

12:29with foreign expectations of realism. He emphasized that Japanese animation traditionally does not

12:35prioritize racial representation. He expressed frustration that foreign producers who often lack

12:40a deep appreciation of anime are pushing for these changes. Furthermore, he criticized the idea that

12:45Japanese animation must inform to western notions of political correctness. She argued that anime

12:51thrives on its unique style and that giving in to outside pressures would diminish its appeal,

12:55citing that neither she nor domestic anime fans want such changes. Because of this, I don't feel

13:00any attraction to incorporating political correctness and creating works for a foreign

13:04audience and domestic anime fans don't want that either. If we did that, it would take away the

13:09appeal of anime and we would quickly lose out. So I want to keep doing things by Japanese standards,

13:14Nishiai said. The animator also addressed the broader economic and demographic issues facing

13:19Japan. She emphasized the need to address the country's declining birth rate to revitalize

13:24domestic demand for anime. Even if Japan were to experience a baby boom now, he noted that it would

13:29take at least a decade before the industry could afford to ignore the demands of the overseas

13:33market. He expressed concern about the future, hoping that steps would be taken to ensure freedom

13:38for the next generation of animators. Even if we have a baby boom now, we would still have to adapt

13:43to foreign sensibilities and make changes for at least 10 years, so I personally won't see it in

13:48time. But I hope something can be done for the sake of freedom for the next generation. The

13:51declining birth rate, in other words, economic policy, Nishiai concluded. In recent months,

13:57China has been the scene of intense culture-related controversies, anime, comics and games. In the

14:02wake of proposed bans on clothing that harms the Chinese national spirit and the suspension of

14:07Japanese anime songs and events, many local fans have expressed their concerns and generated heated

14:13debates. Recently, a new controversy erupted on Chinese social media when a fan was kicked out of

14:18an anime convention in Jinan, Shandong, for wearing a Nezuko Kamidou cosplay from Demon Slayer,

14:24Kimetsu no Yaiba and wearing a kimono. A viral video on Weibo shows the incident where event

14:29security argued that wearing a kimono is not allowed, claiming it was a rule imposed by the

14:33organizers and asking for understanding from the affected cosplayer.

14:37Last July 21, popular gravure model and cosplayer Inako revealed her impressive

14:58annual income on Nippon TV's Jiretsu no Dekairu Sedanjo, surprising everyone by

15:04confessing that her income has exceeded ¥100 million, around $642,000, annually for three

15:10consecutive years since 2021. Inako explained that her income comes from various sources,

15:16between 40% and 50% from commercials, 30% from photo book and product sales,

15:21and the remaining 20% from her TV and YouTube appearances. This revelation underscores her

15:26versatility and success in multiple fields of entertainment. Inako now excels not only as a

15:32gravure model, but also as a cosplayer and voice actress, activities that have significantly

15:37expanded her fan base and income opportunities. In 2021, Inako starred on the cover of 15

15:43different magazines. The following year, she appeared on approximately 70 magazine covers,

15:48although Inako revealed that these jobs were almost unpaid, generating controversy.

15:52I almost didn't get paid, and when I did, it was only between ¥50,000 and ¥100,000,

15:58between $320 and $640, she confessed, prompting a flurry of comments on social networks.

16:05Some users expressed disbelief, considering these amounts not insignificant, while others questioned

16:11the need to constantly talk about her income. An entertainment industry representative commented

16:15on Inako's recent statements. On the show, Inako mentioned that she makes her cosplay outfits

16:20herself and has invested a total of ¥20 million in these. She has also previously talked about how

16:26she plucked out all her eyelashes to improve the quality of her cosplay. These details show her

16:31extreme dedication to her art, which has been key to her popularity. Her claim that she works for

16:36almost no pay seems to be a strategy to generate controversy and maintain her relevance in the

16:41public eye. These were the most relevant news of the month, thanks for watching until the end,

16:45don't forget to check the other videos of the channel until next time.

Category

Transcript

Recommended