The investigation concluded that the conditions of Ashihara's adaptation were not accurately communicated to production staff
Warning: this article contains statements about a suicide. If you or anyone you know is contemplating suicide or having suicidal thoughts, please contact your national suicide prevention organization.
NTV revealed on Friday the results of an internal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the live-action Sexy Tanaka-san, after the series' original manga creator Hinako Ashihara died in an apparent suicide on January.
The report concluded that while Ashihara stated in a blog post shortly before her death, she had initially set the condition that the live-action adaptation must always be faithful to the manga, due to miscommunication. From the very beginning of negotiations and production, that message was never communicated to the adaptation's staff.
Blog posts and Ashihara's January death
On January 26, Ashihara published a blog post about the live-action adaptation of her manga Sexy Tanaka-san. In the blog post, she said she made the condition that the live-action adaptation be faithful to the manga and said NTV did not uphold that condition. She said many scenes that she loved as the “core” of the manga were cut or not depicted properly, and that personality traits were changed and she was not given a satisfactory reason why. Star. She said she voiced her complaints and the first seven episodes ultimately remained faithful to the manga. Ashihara has said that throughout production, she never met the film's scriptwriter nor did she speak directly to the director.
She added that she ended up writing the script for the final two episodes of the series after that. The original script she outlined for the ending changed “dramatically”, but apologized that she had to rush to write the script. script as an amateur scriptwriter and was unable to elaborate further because she was also working on a deadline for the manga. Ashihara explained that from the beginning she and her staff set the condition that she could be allowed to write the script for the final episodes herself if she was not satisfied, adding that NTV agreed to this condition.
She ended the post by thanking all the cast and staff who made the live-action adaptation possible.
Ashihara later deleted the blog post, after the film's scriptwriter began receiving backlash online, saying it was not her intention to attack anyone, and she he apologized.
Ashihara was then reported missing on January 28 and her body was found on January 29.
The same day Ashihara's death was announced, NTV released a statement, saying that when proposing a live-action adaptation, they consulted Ashihara for her opinion through the publisher. Shogakukan and that Ashihara approved the final script that went into production. NTV's statement was later criticized on social networks.
Many manga creators took to social media following Ashihara's death to talk about their own negative experiences adapting their work to other media. This situation also gives rise to an overall debate about the author's moral rights, including the “right to preserve the integrity” of the work and is personal to the author and cannot be granted to others. like copyright.
NTV later issued an apology in February, apologizing to all involved and expressing condolences to Ashihara's family. The network added at the time that it was taking the situation seriously and would conduct its own investigation with an internal team. NTV cooperated with Shogakukan and an outside investigation team, including outside attorneys.
Investigation results
According to the investigation, after NTV approached Shogakukan about a live-action adaptation in February 2023, NTV staff suggested that the adaptation might have an original ending (as the manga was not completed), but the staff Shogakukan insists they instead say that having an original ending is fine as long as it follows the story Ashihara proposed. so as not to affect the future of the original manga. Therefore, the investigation revealed that from the beginning there were differences between the two parties during the production process.
A source at Shogakukan also revealed during the investigation that they emphasized that it would be difficult to create a live-action adaptation unless the staff hired a screenwriter who remained faithful to the original work, but the production team NTV producers confirmed they had never heard of this.
Regarding Ashihara's blog post, she said that she told NTV, via Shogakukan, that she had three conditions that had to be met for the adaptation:
The adaptation must be faithful to the manga. Ashihara can do everything from plot summaries to dialogue (including the original ending) so that the future of the manga is not affected. In general, since nothing in the plot summary and dialogue that Ashihara provided to the staff should be changed, if necessary, Ashihara could write the script himself for the initial parts of the live-action adaptation. action. action.
The investigation found that Shogakukan never communicated these conditions to NTV staff verbally or in writing during two meetings in March 2023. NTV staff stated that they were unaware that Shogakukan had said anything. anything about these conditions and thus this information was never communicated to the show's writers. This resulted in Ashihara having a negative impression of the scriptwriter and a general distrust of the NTV staff which the production side was unable to erase as negotiations and production continued.
The report also notes that the production schedule may have been rushed, as it takes about six months for actual production (the show premieres in October 2023). The report recommends that for future productions, planning should be finalized approximately 12-18 months before broadcasting begins. The investigation also recommended that production staff meet directly with the original authors.
Comments from NTV Chairman
NTV President Akira Ishizawa commented that the report shows that NTV must work much harder to solve these types of problems. issues, including misunderstandings and miscommunications between the production side and the original creator/publisher. Ishizawa added that NTV also has to resolve issues related to schedules, production structure as well as contract signing time. Ishizawa said NTV will be responsible for resolving the problems pointed out in the report so that employees of all parties can have more peace of mind when making future works.
Source: Sponichi, Mainichi Shimbun (井上知大)
