Anime director Kazuomi Koga, best known for “Rent-A-Girlfriend,” recently expressed anger over a detail in a newly released compilation film. We summarize below.
Complete lack of understanding
Koga didn’t mention the name of the anime or the studio in his angry But what had happened?
In the new recap version of “Chainsaw Man,” only those employees who were directly involved in this ONA were mentioned in the credits.
The controversial director Ryu Nakayama and screenwriter Hiroshi Seko, who returned for the sequel film “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc”, did not appear at all – although they shaped the original TV anime.
This decision was met with complete incomprehension by Koga. In his view, it shows that directors at the studio have neither moral rights nor the right to protect the artistic integrity of their work. He sees such behavior as disrespectful – he would never want to work for a company like that.
In fact, directors are entitled to moral rights, such as the right to attribution or the right to maintain the integrity of the work, which prohibits changes or cuts that contradict the original intention.
Morally questionable
Before one can clarify whether Nakayama is legally considered the “author” of the “Chainsaw Man” anime, Japanese copyright law must first be considered.
This allows Studio MAPPA, as the author of the anime adaptation, to omit the name of someone involved, provided that, given the purpose and circumstances of the exploitation, this does not affect the interests of the author and the decision is considered fair.
This approach may be legally permissible, but within the industry it is considered morally questionable and disrespectful to the original creators. Usually, in director’s cuts or new editions, the previous participants are also mentioned in the credits – in addition to all new participants.
