The Wakayama Prefectural Police revealed on May 8, 2024 that Your Name. movie producer Koichiro Itou has been referred to prosecutors for additional violation of Child Prostitution & Pornography law in Japan, after it came to light that he had paid an underage girl for sexual intercourse.
The latest case involved a 17-year-old high school girl from Yokohama. Investigators believe Itou knew the girl was a minor when he paid her 30,000 yen for having sexual intercourse at his residence in December 2023.
He is also suspected of taking and saving photographs of the act.
Koichiro Ito was the producer, NOT the director who is famous for creating those movies. He collaborated with the studio, he did not write or direct the films. Please do not destroy and undermine these beautiful works of art over a single credited contributor who did not create the films.
Further, he was only arrested in February of 2024 so the studio hasn’t even had an opportunity to turn down future collaboration with him.
Thank goodness. I loved “Your Name” and hope for more films.
Have you seen Suzume yet? It’s truly wonderful.
Seconded. Weathering with You is also good, but Your Name and Suzume are absolutely top notch
I was so salty when they gave the Emmy for Best Animated Film to Boy and the Heron instead of Suzume. Absolute travesty and so clearly only because of Miyazaki’s name and art style.
Suzume is honestly my favorite of the three and one of my favorite films of all time. I adore how well all of the fantasy and imagery connects with real human experiences. It comes so close to providing perfectly clear, direct metaphor without actually arriving at it and to me that is the most beautiful type of storytelling: where you can see characters, themes, etc and feel deeply how they connect to your own life but never with a concrete “this thing specifically represents that thing”. You can get really close with Suzume, but it never quite coalesces, leaving you with a powerful story, intense emotions, and a sense of wonder that sticks around long after viewing.
Please do not destroy and undermine these beautiful works of art
They were visually stunning but the plot was mid at best.
HARD disagree. You don’t have to enjoy it, everyone is free to like what they like, but all three films are critically acclaimed and adored by fans worldwide for a reason. And no, not all popular media is good media, but these are not popular enough to fall into that category.
Miyazaki’s movies are more in the “visually stunning but mid” status IMO. Like, Howl’s was great, everything else is meh to me. But I also know that many people love them - including my wife - so I respect that they are good movies.
This comment cracks me up.
but all three films are critically acclaimed and adored by fans worldwide for a reason.
You start off by pointing to how popular it is, implying that must mean it’s good.
And no, not all popular media is good media, but these are not popular enough to fall into that category.
And then you go onto to imply that popular can be bad, but because these aren’t that popular (contradicting yourself), it’s implied that that makes them good. Which is, in and of itself, bizarre. . .as if unpopular media can’t be bad.
“popular media that is actually bad” typically involves a formula that panders or a franchise that has hit a critical mass where people start wanting to be part of the “in group”. I don’t feel like Makoto Shinkai’s films fit that type of pattern. That’s all I was trying to say (poorly)
all three films are critically acclaimed and adored by fans worldwide
You can get critical acclaim for a ham sandwich with the right publicist. And it’ll have fans worldwide with a big enough marketing budget. In no small part thanks to the obscene ad buys for this film and Suzume, they got exactly that.
Miyazaki’s movies are more in the “visually stunning but mid” status IMO
Jesus, this is what I’m talking about. The Boy and The Heron got goose-egg for a marketing budget and people still queued up around the block to see it.
Meanwhile, I couldn’t make it a city block in Tokyo or Seoul without seeing a ten story tall billboard for Suzume. Makoto Shinkai and Koichiro Itou ape the Miyazaki style, but fall far short in the script delivery. They’re riding Miyazaki’s coat tails with all style and no substance.
There’s simply no throughline in Your Name or Suzume. Things just… happen. The characters are never well-developed or distinguishable from their stereotypes. The dialogue is awful. Neither hold a candle to Princess Mononoke.
Wait you actually thought Boy and the Heron had a plot?
My wife literally has multiple limbs covered in Miyazaki tattoos and even she walked out of that movie going “WTF was that mess?”
We’ll just have to agree to disagree here. Clearly we have different opinions of what makes for a good story
Wait you actually thought Boy and the Heron had a plot?
More of a plot than Suzume, definitely.
We’ll just have to agree to disagree here.
The nature of two online nerds talking anime, I guess.
I was on board until you started talking shit about Miyazaki. Have you seen Castle in the Sky? Fantastic plot and visuals.
Castle in the sky is definitely one of his better ones. Wasn’t trying to talk shit either. I know people love them and with good reason. I just don’t think they’re all that. Except Howl’s. That movie rocks.
Howl’s is my personal favorite too. The soundtrack alone makes me feel things.
Yeah I’m a big music nerd and the soundtrack definitely contributes to it being my favorite :D
30,000 Yen is only about $300 in USD (using the “move the decimal point” method). That’s a pretty cheap price…but it’s probably going to cost him a lot more, especially if they find any photos
Current conversion puts it at $192. But yeesh…
Here’s the kicker though… Japan JUST raised the age of consent from 13 to 16 LAST YEAR(!)
Yes, but none of the local governments had it at 13, so this is purely symbolic
Divide by 150. It’s more like $200 these days due to a weakened Yen.
I like moving the decimal place for its simplicity. I’ll just keep the change! Lol
You’re right, she should have asked for at least 40k yen.
$300 isn’t much hush money, nor does it sound life-changing enough to want to sell one’s body for at such an age.
Do you think that makes it better just because the payoff was cheap? Or that the low monetary value degrades the victims such that you shouldn’t care? Either way, I’d argue that makes it all the more fucking disgusting and horrible.
If your whole argument is, “oh, but he got a bargain deal on all the corruption and prostitution!” Then you belong in jail right next to this scumbag.
I’m not sure how you misinterpreted that comment so completely
If you don’t understand how someone misinterpreted what you said, start with what you said.
Because maybe you were unclear.
Okay. I said “I don’t understand how you misinterpreted that comment”. It seems everyone else understood what OP meant (OP is not me by the way) except for you. Instead of admitting your mistake, you’re doubling down on your arrogance, and now you’re attacking me because, once again, you’re confused.
Maybe you should think before you comment.
I think their point was that if you don’t know the conversion rate, you might think he was paying a lot, but he wasn’t. The implication as to why that point was made, I speculate, is because cheap abuse is more despicable than better-paid abuse?
I think it was moreso shock that child prostitution is so cheap. We all know that if you have enough money you can buy anything, no matter how evil, but $300 for child sex? Yeeesh, it surprised me how cheap that is
preface: I am not in any way condoning or promoting sex with minors, nor am I blaming the minor. The assailant is a criminal, deserves punishment, and the victim is just that: a victim
With regards to the discussion specifically about cost and availability there are a few important things to note:
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The victims were not trafficked, pimped, or otherwise “sold” by a third party. The transactions were all 1-to-1 between the victim and assailant
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The victims ranged from age 15 to 17, and had a comparatively high degree of self determination and autonomy, including typical societal pressures and desires for money, popularity, etc
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Japan has a long history of acceptable prostitution. Brothels are still much more common than in the West and you will find lots of references to “compensated dating” including among teens.
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Sex and sexuality is not as stigmatized in Japan the way it is in the West. From idol culture to advertisement, women (and to a lesser extent men) are comparatively more frequently compensated for their sexuality, even if not for sex outright.
Combined with the fame and access to industry contacts that the perpetrator had in this case, these factors all serve to create a much different environment than westerners are used to and drives the prices for these kinds of interactions down.
Again, I do not condone or support sexual relationships with minors, nor do I place any blame on the victims. I seek only to inform about factors that may have impacted the amount of money exchanged
Methinks you doth protest too much
Or I just want to be super fucking clear that this guy is a piece of shit criminal and children being exploited is never, ever okay, despite my recognition of the factual context?
But whatever, chief, you assume what you want 👍
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the payoff was cheap
Complaining about the size of the money shot?
Trump was the one who was complaining.
Trump’s followers like to blame others for things he did.
My name? What the fuck did i do!
You know what you did 😤
The only thing i’ve done thus far is kill time!
Well for one thing you killed time itself, Atheon is livid.
Gotta get that Mytho somehow.
Still. Haven’t. Gotten it.
I ran that raid like 85 times back in the day and gave up
I got that and Gjallarhorn in D1 first run getting carried by friends. Never had luck in anything since.
Vex and thousand voices are the ones I’m convinced I’ll never see
i did kill something i suppose that is true isnt it.
The comment section in that article is cancerous. Lots of defending pedophilia in there. Ugh I feel dirty after reading through it.
There are two incels defending the pedo, not sure I’d call that “lots of defending”.
Still a lot more than the preferred amount, which is zero.
Your original comment is still misleading.
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You are a terrible human being. Stop victim blaming.
I’m not defending the piece of shit pedosexual individual there, but anyway the world it’s fuck’d up!!
I’m not defending
Then why bring up the victim at all? Really just sounds like you’re justifying what happened by saying “Well she took money for it, therefore consent”.
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instead of being prostituting herself.
This is putting the blame on the minor victim, implying the choice was her responsibility to make, and not the fully developed adult.
Gotta be a troll account pretending to be a generic 4chan incel…right?
Possibly, but you can’t discount the fact that incels like that actually exist. That’s what’s really fucked.
Man who makes movie with half naked anime girls who look like children is caught having sex with children? No way. Never.
Koichiro Ito was the producer, NOT the director who is famous for creating those movies
Ok, fine. You’re spamming this all over.
Is the movie as described or not? I don’t care what his title was
Not at all! Your Name, Weathering With You, and Suzume are all extremely thoughtful, heartfelt stories with moving characters and deep messages. They are some of the best anime has to offer and I highly recommend them
The closest thing is in Your Name, a movie about two teenagers who body-swap over long distance. They are different genders and so there is a scene in which the movie explores the awkwardness of the situation. It’s handled tastefully and accurately for what you would expect from a couple of teenagers. (It’s important to note that in Japanese culture the sexuality of teenagers is something that is not stigmatized the way it is in Western culture, and contextually appropriate explanations of that subject are not considered overtly lewd). They do become romantically interested in each other so you can imagine it’s not exactly simple, but I never felt it crossed the line into perverted. You can see a series of screenshots that include a few frames from this scene here: https://screenmusings.org/movie/blu-ray/Your-Name/
That’s why I posted it multiple times (3 to be precise, not exactly spam IMO, in response to misleading comments). These are genuinely masterful works of art and I hate to see them tainted by slander.
Wait was your name like that? It was recommended to me so many times when it came out that I started calling it your rope because of people saying the Japanese title when I didn’t know what they were talking about.
Koichiro Ito was the producer, NOT the director who is famous for creating those movies
And no, Your Name is not like that at all
