Nippon TV recently announced the results of an internal investigation into the sudden passing of manga author Hinako Ashihara, famous for her work on sexy Tanaka-san.
The report revealed on May 31, 2024, shed light on a significant communication breakdown between Ashihara and the TV series production team, leading to a loss of trust.
The investigation revealed that the film adaptation was proposed by Shogakukan in late February of the previous year.
Troublesome communication gap in Mangag 'Sexy Tanaka-San' death case
However, conflicting understandings arose regarding creating an original ending for the film due to the manga's incompleteness.
While Nippon TV's production staff believed they had given the green light to an original ending, Shogakukan intended to rely on suggestions from Ashihara to maintain the integrity of the unfinished manga. This difference in communication laid the foundation for deeper misunderstandings.
Ashihara expressed his wish for a faithful adaptation of his work, and outlined three conditions for the adaptation on his blog before his death.
However, subsequent meetings failed to effectively convey these conditions to the film production team, further exacerbating the distrust between the parties.
In addition to communications hiccups, the investigation also highlighted potential shortcomings in the production process, with the show being developed in a relatively short period of time before airing.
To prevent similar problems in the future, the report recommends making decisions early in projects, along with early contractual agreements between networks and authors. Direct meetings between production staff and authors are also recommended to avoid misunderstandings.
Nippon TV President Akira Ishizawa issued an apology for the incident, and expressed his commitment to improving communication and production methods.
He emphasized the importance of resolving the identified issues to ensure smoother collaboration between TV series production teams and original manga creators in the future.
