Author: Gabriel Persechino-Forest Published: February 20th, 2018
For those who aren’t aware, there was a controversy involving Yaginuma in which he is claimed to have liked and posted anti-semitic tweets. In spite of this having nothing to do with Recovery of an MMO Junkie, the series, directed by him but based on a manga by Rin Kokuyo (Who is not involved at all in the controversy), became entrenched in the controversy anyways. As a result, Signal.MD (Which produced the series) made this statement:
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.
We will continue to create works that are moving and enjoyable, with the philosophy of giving excitement to many viewers and working to create works that satisfy our clients.
Thank you for your support and understanding.
Since they are streaming the series (And part of the production committee), Crunchyroll’s parent company (Ellation) also had to post this:
We do not support the anti-semitic behavior that has been recently reported in relation to Dir. Kazuyoshi Yaginuma. The comments made do not reflect any opinions of Crunchyroll, as we pride ourselves on our diverse, global community that connects through the content they love.
Source: Signal.MD, Anime News Network and Ellation’s Twitter