BigHit Makes Statement Regarding BTS's Collab With Controversal AKB48 Producer Yasushi Akimoto

[juhli.livejournal.com]

BigHit Entertainment Releases Official Statement Regarding #BTS's Collaboration With AKB48 Producer https://t.co/jsU74vXqvX pic.twitter.com/06azYQ2UkD

— Soompi (@soompi) September 15, 2018

On September 13, it was reported by Japanese outlets such as Billboard Japan and Nikkan Sports that BTS would be working with Yasushi Akimoto for their upcoming Japanese single. According the reports, he would be writing the lyrics for their planned title track “Bird.”

The announcement was met with concerns from both ARMYs and the general public in Korea, who cited claims of Yasushi Akimoto holding right-wing political leanings as a reason for caution. Previous controversies surrounding his involvement in songs with misogynistic lyrics became a point of contention as well. Korean ARMYs began to request feedback from Big Hit Entertainment and expressed their concern that the collaboration may have a negative effect on BTS’s image and future career.

In response to this, Big Hit released an official statement on September 15 on BTS’s official fancafe that read, “Hello. This is Big Hit Entertainment. This is a notice regarding the upcoming Japanese single album. We are fully aware of the fans’ concerns regarding the Japanese single album that is scheduled to be released in November. We are currently in discussions regarding this matter, so we please ask for more time.”

Source: @soompi, Star News | Hanguk Ilbo via soompi

Is the right-wing part confirmed?

Comments

[belintuchiha.livejournal.com]

Well, they didn’t mind working with a pedo apologist. I guess politicos are more important 🤷🏻‍♀️

[chikage-chan.livejournal.com]

This is my whole problem with this issue. No K-Army has said a peep about their other problematic collabs or lyrics, but now they are raising hell over this? No one in the general public would've cared about the song if they didn't spread it all over twitter, since Korea is completely unaware of their Japanese releases.
I still think they started this out of jealousy because Japan is getting a special release mid-tour, they would be petty like this /shrug

And just to avoid being misunderstood, I'm not shielding Akimoto here, he has his more than fair share of fuck ups

[thebloomroom.livejournal.com]

Lmao right? And the problematic ass producer they frequently work with. Stupid.

[miwa201.livejournal.com]

it just cracks me up how k-armys are bringing up his misogyny yet they have no problem with bts working with supreme boi. i guess misogyny by korean producers is fine?

look, i understand that the japanese-korean relations are tricky to say the least but ffs the hypocrisy is astounding. or is it bc the bts boys seem to be fine with working with supreme boi with j-hope giving a shoutout to rock bottom in his song?

[nekobot.livejournal.com]

That's what's really bothering me too - one the one hand I'm happy that they're finally forced to listen to the fans and pretend to give a shit (or at least might put their coins over their relationships with the worst type of men) and I get that Japanese right wing sentiments are something no one in Korea will tolerate but this just reeks of what a lot of us have been thinking for a long time: that they take their Western fans for fools and will only get spooked into action when their Korean ones speak out because that's where Big Hit's long term income lies. In this particular case I don't think it's fair for BTS to get the blame (though the Supreme Boi/Rock Bottom thing is just as much on them and I am still furious about it) so I don't like that the one thing they can't be personally called out on is what could potentially impact their careers because it will once again get turned into the "BTS are at the mercy of their company! This isn't them" narrative which is bullshit.

The focus seems to be so heavily on the right wing part too - like the guy isn't already a woman hating creep? If it was just that would they still tolerate it just fine because women are still acceptable collateral for BTS success in the fans' minds?

[torontok.livejournal.com]

BigHit choosing to work with a misogynistic pedophile who's also a right-winger? I for one am shocked considering they'vee previously only cosigned work with a rape fetishist/misogynist (Supreme Boi), racists (Chainsmokers) and a paedophile apologist (Nicki Minaj).

[rainstormraider.livejournal.com]

He’s a pedophile?

[katheli.livejournal.com]

no he isn't, unless someone knows something I don't, and people need to stop throwing that word around on the internet like it's nothing

[torontok.livejournal.com]

His teacher-student fetish lyrics for AKB48. And there have long been rumors of how new girls in the AKB48 franchise that earn his "favour" are the ones who get pushed, there have been leaks of questionable outings he's had with some girls. Besides any man that cosigns videos featuring pre-teems frolicking in lingerie and lets them do gravure shoots is as a good as a pedophile in my book

[mjspice.livejournal.com]

He's also made them do some incredibly horrifying photoshoots (that boy with hands on boobs one especially) & then there was that case with one of the idols shaving her head for dating. He really ain't shit.

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

Oh god he’s the one behind a lot of that (or part of that) ???? he’s fucking vile

[rainstormraider.livejournal.com]

Weren’t there some counter arguments about how this dude was writing anti-war songs instead and they were misinterpreted or something?

[sjtaazrz.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the song they were singing is called "We Will Not Fight." The music video also has war/fighting imagery but the actual lyrics are peaceful. The MV has English Subtitles and you can see what the song is actually about

[yxerin.livejournal.com]

this is a whole ass mess lmao so there's actually nothing to back up the right-wing claim? what's going on

[sjtaazrz.livejournal.com]

right? I just want evidence.

He wrote the lyrics, and they performed it wearing a version of the rising sun flag, but I don't know why people would accuse him of being right-wing aside from this one song tangentially.

[nekobot.livejournal.com]

You really have to admire Big Hit for their long term thinking and consistency: they make sure to foster positive relationships with womanhaters in every single market they're trying to advance in!

Fans should really learn from this. Think of all the times they ignored us and relied on their bullying fanbase to bury anything unsavoury instead of addressing it and see how it compares to how they respond to their Korean fans who they know will speak with their coins and won't back down and take the "Trust BTS at all times for the greater good" approach. They still don't give a real solution but looks like they CAN be bothered to address things when it actually affects their income.

[binderwritings.livejournal.com]

This!

[binderwritings.livejournal.com]

I really don't think this is jealousy or whatever. They're releasing one new song and two remakes just like crystal snow.

Anyway, AKB48 and Akimoto have been accused of being Right-winged since PD48. I read a thread by a Korean-American that I was hoping to go back to because she had a lot of evidence I wanted to verify myself.

I think that Karmy were worried that if this song did come out all it would take is a group of antis using it against them. The few articles I've seen have attacked bighit not bts currently but that could always change. And I think people are even more sensitive now since BTS were just getting hate for being mentioned in the talks of Army exemption. They've made a point of being a political group at times and from what I can see as an outsider it could eventually be their downfall if they and the company aren't more careful.

On that note, I think people are acting immature af on both ends tbh. Army has a horrible habit of telling people to shut up whenever they voice concerns because they care more about trying to maintain a clean image to the public and "protecting" BTS feelings.

[sjtaazrz.livejournal.com]

I was waiting for this post because I, too, want to know if the right-wing part is confirmed. I know he's linked to akb48 who have worn the raising sun flag, but he's not a costume designer, to my knowledge, so I don't know what else, exactly, would give him that label (not excusing him if he is though).

Like people have noted, BTS have worked with problematic people before with little to no problem (big picture-wise), so I'm not surprised Big Hit was like, "oh! Here's this very important music figure we get to work with & things will work out in our favor" again. It's happened before.

[snowphone.livejournal.com]

i don't think the right wing thing is confirmed and i don't think it's possible for it to be confirmed.

this is a good summary of this issue's timeline and background on akimoto. (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UNnOR6rOgZEemmDkWRJMfB708VQFFKCmkFZEt6nTA9w/edit)

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

i was waiting for this to get posted.
i think it's good that armys speak up, but on the other hand they had no problem with BTS working with nicki minaj, the chainsmokers and supreme boi, so... double standards eh?

here's a thread that started (?) the whole thing

To. I-ARMYS

Akimoto Yasushi, who writes the lyrics of BTS's new Japanese album referring to Japanese news article, is known for his misogynic lyrics and his work of a right wing of Japan

— 나는리그램 (@imnckrgrm) September 13, 2018 (https://twitter.com/imnckrgrm/status/1040061189441576960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

[nekobot.livejournal.com]

National pride is more important than women's rights to them. I don't want to dismiss anyone getting upset about right wing sentiments because that's totally valid but I keep seeing people trying to disprove this and completely glossing over the other problematic aspects of this - like Bang PD saying he chose this guy because he has "always liked his view of the world". Not that we'd be surprised that this guy is into a world where underage girls are objectified but HOW is that not also addressed as a big part of the problem here??

(yeah yeah we know why)

[daceymormont.livejournal.com]

Working with him would be on brand for them though

[katheli.livejournal.com]

K-fans have been messy about their Japanese activities for a while now (remember that hotel room search stuff during the fanmeetings in Japan?) so I totally think that's more at the root than the rest. This guy has also worked with Mnet and their new girlgroup, no? did anyone make much of a fuss about that? And he's involved with akb48 which is considered right-wing by some in Japan (rising sun flag etc) but they just had a popular survival show starring those girls in Korea.

if K-fans hadn't blown this up themselves I doubt it would have become such a huge scandal.

also Bighit has had collabs with problematic people before and Supreme Boi still works there so why is this suddenly a problem now?

[sjtaazrz.livejournal.com]

People made a bit fuss about Produce48 in general.There were multiple posts and articles from Koreans disapproving of AKB48, Japan's idol industry in general, and mnet's involvement.The ratings were really low, especially compared to PD101 seasons one and two, that's why you don't hear as much about it.

Plus, what I've gathered from translated comments is that BTS is reflecting so well on Korea right now. They have all of this global attention and success, so the Korean general public looks on them favorably. If....idk...Pentagon worked with Akimoto on a song right now, it wouldn't have been as big of a deal because such strong national pride isn't connected to their success.

I, personally, think it is hypocritical as well. But, the context is different.

[katheli.livejournal.com]

I know there was some controversy about Produce48 but I don't think it did as badly as people claimed either, like the ratings weren't S2 hype good but also not bad and they had pretty good voting numbers too, compared to S1.

I know national pride etc is a thing but it's a B-side on a Japanese release, it's not like they asked Akimoto to pen their new title track that they'll promote all over the world.

[sjtaazrz.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they weren't pulling Mix9ine numbers, but they still weren't great. I actually went back and checked. Of course, Daniel got the most final votes with 1,578,837. But Somi got 858,333 while Wonyoung only got 338,366. Somi still got more than double her votes.

I agree, but I think most of the issue is the Bang Sihyuk asked directly. If Akimoto wrote the lyrics and people just had some vague notion of the label or Japanese songwriters/connections to blame, it probably wouldn't be as big of deal ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[katheli.livejournal.com]

Somi was the it-girl in S1, which S3 really lacked, but the votes overall were good, just way closer together than in S1. I can't find the graph, but someone made one and all the top 12 in S3 had more votes than the lowest voted members of S1.

true about BangPD having posted with him makes it seem like a more personal connection to the guy. I still feel like the Korean public wouldn't have cared that much about a Japanese release B-side if not for K-fans trying their hardest to bring it to their attention...even now those articles are mostly commented on by fans.

[sjtaazrz.livejournal.com]

I don't know what graph you're talking about, but a quick search tells me that probably checks out. I believe it.

Yeah, it's definitely k-fans bringing it to everyone and demanding action in a way that i-fans never had. Call it a cultural difference or fan entitlement but the reason it got so much traction is that k-fans made their grievances known.

[miwa201.livejournal.com]

somi got that many votes bc international fans could vote. someone did a comparison of the overall votes for the top 12/11 of produce 101/48 and p48 actually got more votes (the bottom half of p101 got less votes than the bottom half of p48)

[the3rdjester.livejournal.com]

Stanning BTS has become quite exhausting lately. One disappointment after another.

[jackieee94.livejournal.com]

They dumb as hell

[infj23.livejournal.com]

This is a lose-lose for everyone. If Big Hit cancels the comeback, the company incurs in a significant loss that can't be recovered and damages its relationships within the Japanese music industry while giving fans an incredible power to veto future operational decisions/directions taken. If Big Hit continues with the album release, they'll have to announce the decision publicly and anger the fans who will likely protest all the way through the Japanese concert leg. That'll only provide more media scrutiny, thereby, giving the the fans the very thing they didn't want in the first place. K-Army really didn't their actions through on this one unlike the army exemption fiasco.

The boys were on such a roll with V-Live content. Radio silence it shall be for while.

I honestly don't know what Big Hit and Bang PD were thinking with this one. This could have been so easily avoided.

[evilcoc0nut.livejournal.com]

More entitled fan nonsense I guess. I mean I know how salty Koreans get about Japanese imperialist/nationalist stuff so I get why they're mad, but at the same time, BTS literally have an entire list of problematic people they've been working with lately so why is this guy the one who takes the cake.

[digitalqueen.livejournal.com]

this is just about him being japanese, they never cared about the trash individuals they worked with before

[arysthaeniru.livejournal.com]

It is hypocritical that this is the only misogynistic producer that the fandom is willing to talk about, but I'm glad they are talking about it at all. The sort of rhetoric however, that people should only care bc of bts's reputation, and not because he's a disgusting man has been really damn frustrating.

It's really hard to like bts when they continue to work with all these terrible people. At some point, their claims at allyship become really damn hollow.

Also the amount of white children on Twitter that keep telling 'i-fans to stay out of it bc it's not your issue' as if every Asian country doesn't get the legacy of colonialism is maybe the worst thing and I hate it.

[premonitioner.livejournal.com]

rme anti-Japan Koreans will pull at any straws they can. No, Akimoto has not been PROVEN to be right wing. Most of his non-romantic lyrics actually appear to lean centrist or left wing.

His history of exploiting little girls (HKT48 is full of elementary schoolers) for money is much more to worry about, hate him for that.

[lynethia.livejournal.com]

I see where Big Hit's priorities lay

[welljustguess.livejournal.com]

Wonder why they decided to do this, considering the akb-right wing case is popular already

[aures.livejournal.com]

can someone explain to me how bad the right-wing thing is there? because where i come from we have left and right parties, but they are all pretty normal i guess, can someone explain to me the difference and why it's such a big deal? call me ignorant or whatever but i genuinely don't know
are they really racist/extreme?

[revedesnuages.livejournal.com]

The Japanese right-wing are very xenophobic towards other East Asian countries and Russia, support Japanese imperialism and try to justify the atrocities the Japanese military committed in the Second World War including comfort women.

[aures.livejournal.com]

thank you so much for explaining! it makes a lot of sense now, it's highly sensitive isn't it?
i guess it's better not to do the collab after all, but i think they should've done their reseach better beforehand

[dorawa.livejournal.com]

In regards to Korea, the right-wing Japanese government and officials support their imperialism, justify the colonial period in which they occupied Korea for 35 years and tortured, murdered and destroyed many Koreans/Korean things, and don't acknowledge their use of comfort women during their history. So that's why it's a big deal to K-fans that this guy is even rumored to be right-wing.

[aures.livejournal.com]

ah and with the japanese and koreans having so much pride it makes sense and i get it's a sensitive topic, big hit should've done more research i think before announcing a collab
thank iyou so much for explaining, i finally get it! thanks dear

[jyusou.livejournal.com]

Update: apparently they announced in the FC that they cancelled Bird, and it won’t be included in the upcoming single.

I’m actually so pissed at this double standard. The fact that they could remove a song by this guy (whereby proof of his political leanings and above-average misogyny is heresay at best, aside from a few proven scandals) but could still go ahead with a song featuring that pedo-apologist Nicki Minaj or those douchebags The Chainsmokers is such bullshit. This fandom is pathetic.

[mjspice.livejournal.com]

What a fucking mess!