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
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.
