The recent announcement of Crunchyroll's new Ellation Studios has kicked something of a hornets nest within anime fandom - the new studio, which launched a trailer for its High Guardian Spice series last week, has been dealing with the backlash from fans concerned that the company is now pushing social justice projects ahead of supporting studios in Japan, going so far as to issue a new statement on the matter, as well as throw fans a bone with a new HTML5 implementation of its outdated Flash system.
While some of us have seen this coming from a distance, working as I do with anime distributors and Japanese publishers, I've been surprised at just how long it's taken other geeky sites and Youtube critics to become aware of the extent of the problem.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITHIN THE FANDOM
My own brush with the social justice brigade, fuelled by my comments and opinions on the Anime Feminist's politicisation of anime and aggressive monetisation, is only the tip of the iceberg. My concerns initially stemmed from professional Feminism Activist Anita Sarkeesian's comments through her Feminist Frequency account posted on September 29th, 2014, stating that:
"Anime is the most disgusting, sexist and misogynistic form of media to ever come out of Japan. Anime defiles women and caters to perverts and losers. Those cartoons are corrupting teenagers and promoting Rape Culture"
While I'm intelligent and grown-up enough to be able to separate people from their associated movements, and don't for one second assume that Anime Feminist agrees with this (would be odd if they did, frankly), it was still enough for me to raise an eyebrow when Anime Feminist was launched. I am aware of more level-headed feminists such as Christina H Summers and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, so While I do consider some of AF's writers to be occasionally divisive and judgemental, they clearly don't share Sarkeesian's extreme view on the medium. However, even raising very moderate concerns on the podcast (over less than 3 minutes) saw a slew of angry and nonsensical bile thrown my way, enough that I simply bowed out of UKA and ignored the online harassment aimed in my direction.
Since I didn't engage on twitter outside of Anime Ltd's Andrew Partridge and his embarrassing and completely unsubstantiated comments, the ire toward myself was redirected toward incumbent Editor-in-Chief Seb Reid. I have to say it's been a wake up call for me. Once slightly concerned with some elements of the community, I've watched from the sidelines as ex-staffers on UKA, one of which quit due to conflicts with co-produced "upcoming project" with Anime Feminist, decided to:
The data was returned when Seb threatened legal action, and I have nothing but admiration and respect for how he's handled some of this behaviour with nothing but dignity and authority. Having seen the screen-grabs of the conversations, he's shown far more restraint than I feel I would have in the same situation.
I've also seen the same mentality on sites such as Anime UK News. One forum member was so upset by MVM's decision to discuss with me the future of anime on DVD that they felt "physically sick". Another stated that they could not watch their FLCL Blu Ray because of the association, stating that they knew it was "silly and stupid" (it is). These people have never met me, will find nothing even vaguely offensive in my 24 year body of online work, but will be driven to comments like this just because they believe a few vocal and nasty elements and whatever their agenda is. Seeking affirmation by espousing hatred speaks to some very deep-seated issues, and honestly I feel very, very sorry for these people. I was actually quite surprised that AUKN linked to the article when they expanded on the topic with other distributors, which given the strength of feeling against me among their own forums was particularly brave and objective.
The saving grace has been the amount of support both Seb and myself have received, both online and privately. The issue was discussed at length on Sakura Anime News, and you can see both sides presented very well there.
THE PROFESSIONAL SPACE
Following Funimation's decision to start appropriating Japanese culture to push a Western left-wing agenda with its dubs (Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid for example), I'm puzzled by Crunchyroll's announcement trailer. It said less about the series it purported to launch and more about the culture it's trying to foster within the company. I would have guessed that Crunchyroll were completely unaware of the damage these agendas have done to other fandoms, had they not disabled comments and voting on the launch trailer. Someone clearly knew what would happen once the trailer was posted and took action to mitigate it, but this only further fuelled the outrage.
THE KATE LETH FACTOR
You only need to look at who appears on that video to understand just how bizarre their corporate decision making has become. Kate Leth, a Canadian comic book writer on series such as Marvel's Patsy Walker, AKA Hellcat, which was cancelled at issue 17, has spent much of her time espousing hatred for all white men on her twitter feed. A few choice cuts:
"Men are cancelled"
"Moral of the story: I hate men"
"Kill all men"
Simultaneously she has published her own comic (Kate or Die) which is highly politicised and often alludes to how bad her own life is, playing up the victim narrative. To see her claiming to be pushing a "diversity" agenda given her history is downright ludicrous. Coupled with the video's "inclusivity" comments, made whilst showcasing a team of entirely white, middle-aged women writers, the trailer becomes comical. The announcement of her hiring was a frequent complaint and infuriated many on Youtube, Twitter and even Crunchyroll's own website.
By showcasing what many consider to be a toxic writer with a history of hate speech against half of the planet, you have to wonder what on Earth Crunchyroll is signalling to its customers by not only hiring her, but actively promoting her on the trailer. Needless to say Crunchyroll closed the thread on its own forum due to the backlash when fans made their feelings known about how their subscription fees were being spent.
This is particularly egregious considering the wealth of actual female talent Ellation has assembled, now overshadowed by one controversial hiring. I have a lot of original artwork from female creatives I hugely admire (Rachta Lin, Victoria Ying, Sweeney Boo and many others) and the idea of a studio supportive women in the industry is a good one.
OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
Other areas of fandom seem to believe that anime fans won't tolerate the "SJW agenda", probably thinking of the very powerful 4Chan community among others. The sad truth is that this poisonous presence has been amongst us for quite some time, and while I welcome people of any faith, sexual orientation, political persuasion or colour to our ranks (so long as they treat others with respect too), those like Kate Leth, that seek only to accept those that "qualify" or meet with their specific approval, are simply toxic and should be resisted.
IN CONCLUSION
I can't imagine what on Earth Crunchyroll is thinking by showcasing this kind of right-think, agenda-driven personality on a trailer about their company. Not only are the Toxic Crusaders already here, they're now running the show. It's hard to see the Crunchyroll trailer as anything other than a beacon to other divisive (note: "divisive" not "diverse", I know this word gets misread frequently) elements to start flocking into the anime arena and I'm afraid it's all going to get a lot worse before it gets better. I am only heartened by the proactive reaction the fandom as a whole has generated (at least where it was measured and reasoned) to this attempt to push certain agendas that demonise some to elevate others.
See my article on Bubblegum Crisis for how to write a show that elevates everyone, regardless of gender, sexuality or race. I doubt High Guardian Spice will be anywhere near as inclusive or timeless. For the sake of the industry, I very much hope to be proven wrong.
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