No content, but I have to have a mini-rant after events I have witnessed. You see, yesterday was an international holiday known as April Fool's Day, where many people ranging from individuals, to small groups of people, and all the way up to internationally known companies, decide to have some fun. This is achieved in a number of ways I won't even begin to list, but a rule I've known since I was a kid using the internet in the early 90s with BBSs and AOL on a 2400 baud modem, is to generally be wary of anything you see. I've never been a fan of the holiday myself hence why I've never done a joke of my own for it, but I'm also aware that it's not going away anytime ever, so I generally avoid using the internet and even going out in public if I can help it. It was a lot easier for me to do that this year as I work overnights (yes I very recently got a job, no that does not mean I immediately have the ability to start comparisons again), so I was asleep during many of the daylight hours. However various things I have seen posted from yesterday were quite appalling and make me feel the need to rant here about it.
Yesterday, going around the Sailor Moon Online Community was a fake press release announcing Funimation's acquisition of the Sailor Moon anime, as well as a partnership with the members of Miss Dream who hold degrees and certifications (which are real, I might add) in relation to the Japanese language. My issue isn't that this joke was made, any other of the 364 days of the year I would, but as stated above, I throw almost anything out the window that happens April 1st. My issue is the level of hateful immaturity that a lot of people handled the joke. I'm not talking about people who were a tad annoyed, I'm talking about people who made comments such as MD staff deserving to have flaming bags of shit thrown at them and direct comparisons to death and disease, and that's just selections from two places where the joke was a topic of conversation.
I'm just at a loss for words here. What is wrong with all of you to take this joke on a day where it was pretty much expected to happen so seriously that such ignorance just takes over? I'm surprised that MD was the only place to even bother with such a prank, and would've been more surprised had no one done such a joke. When everything is said and done, Sailor Moon is just a franchise started by one person and is run by a select set of companies, nothing more. I understand that SM can feel to be more than that to people, hell, I also have reasons why it means a lot to me, but the poking of a license being signed on a day that is known to have loads of false things running around is not the end of the world. We haven't had a license for six years or so, yet y'all managed to survive. Given events worldwide and the manga launch here, it's more apparent than ever that it is only a matter of time. This joke will do nothing to change that fact. If anything, I should be the one most angry over any of y'all, since I've been hoping Funimation would pick up the franchise for nearly six years now, the majority of y'all didn't jump on that bandwagon until last year or so.
Overall, the words and actions of people's reactions to that joke yesterday almost made me feel ashamed to be a Sailor Moon fan for the first time in my life, which is a statement I don't make lightly. I'm very open about how much I love the franchise and deal with criticism that comes with it at times. I'm almost ashamed because I don't want to be associated with the behavior I saw. It's petty, juvenile, and downright disrespectful for no reason.
To add, moving to a different subject still dealing with the joke but away from the people, it would appear a group of people is claiming the joke went too far due to how the fake PR was worded. And even go on as to claim that they are assisting Funimation in taking action. So let's bring back some memories and have a modern day Anti-SOS-like mini rant here (only by me this time and not Bob), that I guess could also be considered a semi-extension of an editorial I wrote last year. Fun all around! Let me tear this part by making a few points:
1) If Funimation, Kodansha, or any other potential company, felt that what was done was over the line, I very highly doubt they would enlist the help of a small fansite. They are big companies with their own legal teams to do their work, and could easily find and contact those associated with that joke. It only takes a quick Google search to find the original site it was posted on, and from there their legal teams can easily obtain the necessary information to contact whoever they need to. Them using a fansite to do such a thing is a joke, and what makes this even funnier, is the fact that one of the criticisms of the fake PR was the mention of Funimation teaming with the Miss Dream fansite. Contradiction much?
2) Curious to Funimation's thoughts, I posted on their facebook page under a link someone had posted to the fake PR. I mentioned my association with Miss Dream (I am a part of their staff even though I had minimal involvement in the joke, I just knew it was happening), and outright asked if the company had an issue with it, and requested to be contacted if they did so we could make amends. Funimation does watch and respond to comments there, as of yet I have not gotten a response. I will update if I do.
3) I also went to Funimation's forums. I found a thread where the fake PR was linked and quoted. All that happened was a moderator locking the thread when the day changed from the 1st to the 2nd.
So yeah, I'm done for now.
April 2nd, 2011
Dan - Rant about the fallout of April Fool's Day
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