'Recovery Of An MMO Junkie' Studio Distances Itself From Director Following Anti-Semitic Tweets

The director of the Recovery of an MMO Junkie, Kazuyoshi Yaginuma, recently came under fire for [...]

By Nick Valdez

The director of the Recovery of an MMO Junkie, Kazuyoshi Yaginuma, recently came under fire for his anti-Semitic activity on Twitter, and fans had been wondering whether or not the studio behind the anime adaptation would speak on the matter.

Luckily for fans of the series, Studio MD has conclusively distanced themselves from Yaginuma. Studio MD have decisively condemned Yaginuma's tweets, and have ceased employing him on their projects.

Here's the full statement from Studio MD:

"It has come to our attention that a series of Tweets under the handle, @yaginuma_san, apparently made by Mr. Kazuyoshi Yaginuma have included anti-Semitic comments. SIGNAL MD wishes to make it clear that it is strongly opposed to and deprecates anti-Semitism and all forms of racism or discrimination.

Mr. Yaginuma was director of the anime "Recovery of an MMO Junkie" produced by SIGNAL MD, has never been our company member and is no longer employed by us.

Assuming the comments which appear under the Twitter handle @yaginuma_san, were indeed made by Mr. Yaginuma, they are not linked to his role as director of "Recovery of an MMO Junkie" and are not supported by SIGNAL MD."

Kazuyoshi Yaginuma, who goes by the handle @yaginuma_san on Twitter, had come under fire for his English language tweets criticize the Jewish faith and sympathize with Nazis. When a Twitter user, who apparently shared his conservative views, warned him to be cautious, Yaginuma responded with "Thank you very much. My job is anime, but the Japanese anime industry is thoroughly hopeless. It's being made Jewish."

If you are unfamiliar with Recovery of an MMO Junkie, the series was originally created by Rin Kokuyo. The series began life as a webtoon on the Japanese video app Comico in 2013, and follows the story of Morioka Moriko, a 30 year old woman who quits her job and begins living life as an MMO playing NEET. In the game, in which she plays as a boy, she meets a girl who she builds a relationship with. In real life, she has a chance encounter with a handsome companyman who may have closer ties to her online life than she thinks.

The series was adapted into a ten episode anime series by Signal.MD which aired from October to December 2017, and is currently available to stream in both Japanese and English on Crunchyroll and Funimation respectively.

Along with directing Recovery of an MMO Junkie, Yaginuma has provided key animation for Pokemon Generations, Rio - Rainbow Gate!, Bokurano, and much more.

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