Translation of the translation: “I’m not really sorry at all and knew exactly what I was going but here’s some bullshit anyways.”

[...] [Scene] Facing plagiarism charges, yaoi author Youka Nitta puts her career on hold. [...]

electric goldfish: I’m not surprised at all. I don’t really think she had a choice. I bet it was her publisher who put the pressure on her to “take a break” for awhile. Honestly, if a short break is all that she is required to do, she is lucky.

She knew what she was doing. It’s just that she’s gotten away with it for so long. I might actually think this is a sincere apology, if it weren’t for that whiny snippet about how no one caught her when she was “growing.” BS.
She’s probably not gone forever though. I also think this is just a forced vacation. Hopefully when she comes back it’ll be with some original artwork.

I’m just going to copy the comment I’ve made elsewhere:

I agree with the line of thinking that Nitta’s work would be normally regarded as quoting/derivative/commentary unless someone was trying to make a big deal out of it to fulfill their own agenda (re: to stir up negative public opinion so they could win a lawsuit or something).

If this was a “problem” that had been going on “for years” and it’s a “serious offense in Japan”, then where was the simple phone call to Nitta (or to her publishers) asking her not to do it?

In the manga world there is a LOT of zeitgeist and borrowing, and one of the great things about Youka Nitta is that she does go beyond the perfunctory and the cliches to tell her own story. She generates ideas and puts in a lot of work, and she earned the fans she has.

As for the grievances of the under-appreciated photographer: who is to say the person who got the credit for the picture is solely responsible for the arranging the shot? Maybe an anonymous intern contributed ideas or provided some feedback. Was the architect of the building recognized? Were the pedestrians in the background recognized: perhaps one random woman’s choice of a turquoise dress provided the splash of color that balanced the shot. What about billboards in the background?

I’m sorry that photographers feel under-appreciated, and it’s great that they’re striving for recognition, but to do it by attacking a great mangaka is not only to unfairly single someone out to ruin their career but to deprive all the people who love her work.

I’ve seen a lot of kneejerk reactions from people who haven’t even seen Nitta’s work in context. Various bloggers just jumped on the scolding bandwagon, eager to get attention by issuing an opinion while the topic was hot, without concern about how they were affecting the life of the person they were ragging on. Where’s the discussion of the ethics of blogging-while-uninformed?

Furthermore, I’ve seen drive-by comments that look suspiciously like they were made by people who have something personal against Nitta. Perhaps they are all from the guy who was hoping to squeeze some $$$ by suing Nitta’s publishers. Give the motive some thought.

well i understand her… I have an account on zedge (for ringtones and wallpepers…) and I use a couple of image that i found for the mobile wallpaper… then i recive a mail for the staff it says: ” we gonna delete this wallpapers ___ because they’re have copright” and something else… welll, I really don’t know about it… I hope that she finish Haru one day…. I really hope….

hmm.. i am still a hard youka niotta fans… and well… i do sympathize with the copyright of the photos but hey it’s not like that she is the only one dong it?? i mean… don’t take it so hard to nitta san… she is undoubtedly a talented artist but that doesn’t mean she’s not allowed to commit a mistake… (plagiarism is not a joke we all know that but well, it is not that she meant it at all) as someone who like to draw, i also use some pictures as my reference so you know… that is something cannot be avoided sometimes specially when someone had been used to itfor quite a long time…

but youka nitta san is really TOP of her genre i’ve never been interested in manga specially yaoi for that matter due to moral issue since i’ve brought in a conservative environment (in a country with such a strict catholic regulations…ya know?) but reading her works… the story itself is enough to capture my interest…

i really just hope that youka nitta san continue to make excellent works such as Haro no Daite Ita(Embracing Love)… i quite understand her sentiments and i really do admire and believe her sincerity which made her decide to stop, she’s a japanese afeter all(yeah… i admire the japanese for their attitude like that…like a samurai) but i really hope she considered us…her fans… i hope she won’t quite after all she is a talented person and that talent should not rot to death…

Just a point of view:

I think her reaction is because Japan seems to be a society where one’s external image, presented to society, must be beautiful, free of issues and problems, etc. And everything dirty, unclean, disgusting, socially unacceptable must be shoved under the “internal image”(your true self) that’s to never be exposed to the rest of society, except for those who really know you.

And of course, there’re permissible venues like BL, yuri, Takarazuka, songs, etc. for one to explore and express these “internal” aspects.

This phenomenon is a social glue because Japan was an agricultural society where there were many people and resources were limited, so everyone had to co-operate in some manner or risk mass chaos. So, they’d to find some way of achieving peace by keeping up an acceptable public image for others to accept and react towards.

However, whether it is still an acceptable method that has few to no lasting repercussions for modern Japan, is up to one to decide. It seems that many middle-class Japanese don’t have to deal with this as much as say… those of a higher status and differing social circle but when one is propelled into fame and popularity, public expectations and perceptions of said person will no longer be the same.

So, because she violated this principle, she is being punished for it. This is because Japanese society(like everywhere else) is breaking down and everyone is feeling extreme pressure to upkeep the traditions and adhere to societal expectations and perceptions. As always, when society finds a target for whatever reasons, its reactions and mentality are harsh and relentless because it is an entity and not a human, thus it lacks empathy and understanding.

And of course, all this is over-simplifying the issue for there’re many types of “internal” and “external” layers including those which you present and reveal to others(depending on your type of and state of relations with them) and those which you’re expected to keep to yourself.

http://neilduckett.com/honne-and-tatemae-and-the-japanese-mind/