If you did not know, Digimon has been in the hot seat for a little bit. The franchisee is continuing its reboot’s run, and there is even more Digimon to come thanks to an upcoming movie and TV show. During this recent celebration, things did sour a bit when Digimon Tamers stirred up drama with a certain story, and now the script’s writer is speaking out on the issue.
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For those needing some context, the whole thing went down in July during an anniversary event. Digimon celebrated its anime’s 20th anniversary, and the team behind Digimon Tamers united to do a live script-reading of an original story. The script, which was penned by Chiaki J. Konaka, left some fans upset given its politically charged use of cancel culture. But now, the writer said he meant no such thing.
Over on his blog, Konaka said his discussion of cancel culture stems from the show’s actual history with cancelation. The writer said he had plans to pitch a sequel to Digimon Tamers after doing a CD drama in 2018, but the whole thing was scrapped out of nowhere.
“Some of the words I used was controversial. However, I did not intend to condemn any particular person or group in this drama,” Konaka wrote. “There were people who accused me of having a particular label. I’ve never expressed any particular political beliefs. There was no anime that brought more diversity to that era than Digimon Tamers. So I was sad, but don’t worry.”
Konaka went on to address rumors suggesting his take on cancel culture was prompted by COVID-19 and its media coverage. The writer said some of his feelings about the media’s exclusion of “alternative journalists” likely made it into the script given when he wrote it. This note comes after Konaka took to his personal blog lamenting the so-called cancelation of James Corbett, an alternative journalist on YouTube who spread misinformation about COVID-19, the Apollo Moon Landing, and more. And while Konaka said at the time he doesn’t align perfectly with Corbett’s beliefs, he admired the man for analyzing “the situation rationally” though plenty could care to disagree.
At the end of Konaka’s letter, the writer said he was sorry for writing such a controversial story and attaching it to Digimon Tamers. He has called for the fandom to move on from the drama and to let Digimon Tamers carry forward with an unblemished track record.
What do you think of this explanation? Do you have any issue with the Digimon Tamer script? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.
