The Facebook debacle & other issues

On 12/26/2022 at 1:52 AM, battrastard said:

TBH, I do like his Kiddos.

Even more, I adored his OC's, Mirai, Kanata and Chitose, specifically. 

I was extremely put off when they were cancelled, After he stated he would "never" do that. (during a time of employment where I couldn't afford them)

I remember this well and it was one of the driving forces that led me to getting a Mirai. They would never be bought up by resellers and sold for way more $$ on ebay. I respected that so much while it lasted. I came into BJDs from Pullips where they would get discontinued fast and the mark up was insane. I wanted to be in a doll community that was firm upon the ground if that makes any sense.

 

I still regret not getting a Chitose, but even if there was one available and in my price range now, I don't think I could go through with it. If I did, I'd never post pictures of her online.

1 hour ago, Eighteafive said:

I still regret not getting a Chitose, but even if there was one available and in my price range now, I don't think I could go through with it. If I did, I'd never post pictures of her online.

I would! As I said, I've got nothing against the product. I'm obviously overly biased against all the drama that's ensued over the years. 145 pages of it, just on the forum alone.

Yes, definitely a Chito, within a good price range and, even immediately available, I wouldn't hesitate. (through a third party purchase only)

I'd make sure she's involved in as many pics as I can, relevant or not, up to photo-bombing and/or in the background! 

They mostly would be here and Flickr, I'm not about to get another Twitter/Insta/FB account. 

 

 

Rick

 

 

1 hour ago, Eighteafive said:

I still regret not getting a Chitose, but even if there was one available and in my price range now, I don't think I could go through with it. If I did, I'd never post pictures of her online.

I understand how you feel. I got my grubby mitts on semi-real Fortitude last year, the only SmD release I've ever actually committed to getting. Things went down on Instagram regarding the Solar Marine uniform less than 48 hours after she shipped out. It took me a month to unbox her and I still can't bring myself to take pictures, let alone post pictures of her. She was a gift, too, so I can't bring myself to part with her, either.

The availability of some of the SmD's does get to me. I was hoping to snag one of the blue girls but never got her, despite my best efforts. Made a twitter account just to follow the release drops that usually happen between 3-5am local time for me. I would have to stay awake, since I'm deaf, my phone ain't gonna wake me up once I'm sleeping. (I even tried sleeping with my phone strapped to my arm or stuffed down a sock lol). I went as far as typing my address into a text document ready to copy and paste into the shipping info to save time.

I am still looking out for a blue girl on the used market. I wouldn't let the shennigans mentioned in this thread spoil my love of the doll, unless I was directly involved in some of the negativity.

 

Edited December 29, 2022 by Stupid_Hoomun
added words

13 hours ago, battrastard said:

I would! As I said, I've got nothing against the product. I'm obviously overly biased against all the drama that's ensued over the years. 145 pages of it, just on the forum alone.

Yes, definitely a Chito, within a good price range and, even immediately available, I wouldn't hesitate. (through a third party purchase only)

I'd make sure she's involved in as many pics as I can, relevant or not, up to photo-bombing and/or in the background! 

They mostly would be here and Flickr, I'm not about to get another Twitter/Insta/FB account. 

 

 

Rick

 

 

Lol, love the attitude. That made me smile! I don't have any doll plans this year, but I'll remember your comment. That's awesome! 😄

13 hours ago, fishbuttz said:

I understand how you feel. I got my grubby mitts on semi-real Fortitude last year, the only SmD release I've ever actually committed to getting. Things went down on Instagram regarding the Solar Marine uniform less than 48 hours after she shipped out. It took me a month to unbox her and I still can't bring myself to take pictures, let alone post pictures of her. She was a gift, too, so I can't bring myself to part with her, either.

Aw, I'm so sorry to hear that. I completely understand where you are coming from. I only had ever had two, and it was in 2018 and 19' when things went south enough for me that I sold them. If they had been gifts, I don't know what I would have done. I hope you are able to enjoy your girl ♥

On 12/28/2022 at 11:04 PM, fishbuttz said:

Things went down on Instagram regarding the Solar Marine uniform less than 48 hours after she shipped out.

If you mean the whole salute thing, I really think that's being completely misinterpreted. The uniform reeks of Japanese high school student council, and the so called nazi salute was just a pose with her arm flashed out for dramatic effect. I'm 100% certain Danny wasn't trying to glorify the Nazis. Seriously, the fascists in WWII committed numerous atrocities against the Chinese, and in some ways it was worse than Europe. Try reading 'The Rape of Nanking' if you don't know what happened in China at the hands of the Axis, and I'm totally sure Danny doesn't support or glorify that movement. 

Enjoy your Fortitude, and don't sweat the internet speculation. 

15 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

If you mean the whole salute thing, I really think that's being completely misinterpreted. The uniform reeks of Japanese high school student council, and the so called nazi salute was just a pose with her arm flashed out for dramatic effect. I'm 100% certain Danny wasn't trying to glorify the Nazis. Seriously, the fascists in WWII committed numerous atrocities against the Chinese, and in some ways it was worse than Europe. Try reading 'The Rape of Nanking' if you don't know what happened in China at the hands of the Axis, and I'm totally sure Danny doesn't support or glorify that movement. 

Enjoy your Fortitude, and don't sweat the internet speculation. 

I do know of the Rape of Nanking, which is horrific and I'm not seeking to diminish that. I am 100% certain that Danny got too into his own creative process with the Solar Marine uniform, his anime inspirations, and his long-running narration about "eliminating the entitled" to realize how it would look to the outside layman at a glance. My spouse, who isn't in the hobby but is really into military history, saw the post in question and agreed that it looked pretty Nazi-ish. I believe it was posted in unintentionally poor taste, which happens to even the best of us from time to time and is easy to rectify. However, his temper tantrum following having the (in my opinion, valid) concerns pointed out to him has shown me that he is a man of poor, fragile character and not someone I want to be associated with, even tangentially.

I do not and cannot separate living artists from their art, and my dolls are no exception. In my opinion, posting about my Fortitude would be an indirect endorsement of his behavior and views, which I'm not comfortable with at this time. I don't begrudge anyone who makes different choices than me on this, many others are perfectly content to enjoy things by ill-behaved artists, but it is how I feel about it regarding my own collection.

22 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

If you mean the whole salute thing, I really think that's being completely misinterpreted. The uniform reeks of Japanese high school student council, and the so called nazi salute was just a pose with her arm flashed out for dramatic effect. I'm 100% certain Danny wasn't trying to glorify the Nazis. Seriously, the fascists in WWII committed numerous atrocities against the Chinese, and in some ways it was worse than Europe. Try reading 'The Rape of Nanking' if you don't know what happened in China at the hands of the Axis, and I'm totally sure Danny doesn't support or glorify that movement. 

Enjoy your Fortitude, and don't sweat the internet speculation. 

Thing is, most people were not calling him a raging Nazi before and I don't THINK many people genuinely believe he is. It's a very old joke that's unfortunately, been brought to light again. From what I saw when it went down, a high influx of people were just questioning whether pairing all these things :

• a European military uniform (that isn't particularly sci-fi, nor fitting of the other uniforms in the series outside of material)
• a red arm band
• outstretched saluting
• purging a whole alien species

was a good idea. And he didn't take too kindly too it. It might be internet speculation to you and I (since I don't think I am equip to speak on whether something is or isn't Nazi or not, but I will recap what went on, and will continued to do so when events I saw with my own eyeballs are simplified/dismissed). But it wasn't for alot of people. Their opinion wasn't just farmed off the internet. The Solar Uniform, again, was considered an issue because of numerous factors. I know it's a long list, but sometimes a buncha small issues can make a big problem, ya know? You don't have to retain that opinion either, but, other opinions can be pretty valid too.

 

(By the way, a little weird to imply that just because he's Chinese, he'd naturally be even more anti-Nazi over happenings that occurred in China. China's happenings is about as far removed as what was happening in Europe for him, because he isn't from there like he isn't from Europe. He's Malaysian, afterall. 😄)

That being said, from his track record it's clear he's probably not a Nazi. At least, I don't think he is either. But his wording can be poor and his combative attitude to questions doesn't exactly paint the prettiest picture for a crowd of people that might not have noticed his behavior before. So I can imagine it's a little jarring to them.

Edited December 31, 2022 by freakie-oppa

7 minutes ago, freakie-oppa said:

a European military uniform (that isn't particularly sci-fi, nor fitting of the other uniforms in the series outside of material)

I think it fits reasonably well with the others, there's also a white set, both the black+red and white+gray sets look great next to the other post-apocalyptic theme stuff. 

I do agree it's an unfortunate coincidence, and I quite frankly doubt anyone would have cared if a specific prominent DD community member didn't start anything in the comments.

In pop culture, the term Nazi has been horrifically watered down to "person I disagree with", alongside fascist and other -ists. I have seen some fringe people calling him one, but again, quite fringe- usually very low follower counts and whatnot. 

A broken record, but the dude needs a PR team so bad. It's not surprising whatsoever that he reacts so badly imo, when he's putting himself at the forefront of EVERYTHING, and as such he seems to take the blame (somewhat, at least) very personally. By making himself the image of his own brand, it's made just about every tangential insult seem quite personal. Of course, I could be entirely wrong, but... 

I just wish he didn't have such a hate boner for DDs, I thought it was cute back when it was common to see the two together so often! But it seems like he shadowbans people that post DD and SmD together... And such a shame from him being a long-time DD fan prior to this, he actually played a part in me getting a few specific dolls (Yukino v2, Miu Amaha) because he'd post arrivals on his blog with some pretty nice quality images. 

Ramble over. 

On 12/29/2022 at 2:19 AM, Stupid_Hoomun said:

I wouldn't let the shennigans mentioned in this thread spoil my love of the doll, unless I was directly involved in some of the negativity.

Hear hear! My favorite doll of all time uses an Eiji head with a lightly modified faceup. Danny could reveal some horribly offensive thing tomorrow, and actually mean it, and I'd still love my doll. It's not HIS fault the dude who came up with his sculpt needs a PR team. 😆

Most folks haven't heard of Danny's shenanigans, and those who have are usually not quick to assume you condone em just cause you happen to own a Smartdoll. Those that do probably weren't going to engage with your posts in good faith to begin with, and they're why the block button exists. Don't let PR disasters make you too guilty to enjoy your doll!

14 minutes ago, Emil said:

quite frankly doubt anyone would have cared if a specific prominent DD community member didn't start anything in the comments.

...Yeah, no. I noticed something was wrong with that post myself when I saw it and cared enough to bring it to the immediate attention of the other mods of the vinyl Discord I'm in. The person you're referring to was not involved in my discovery of it or the opinion I formed. Please don't insinuate that people on the internet only get mad at stuff when someone with enough "clout" gets mad at it. That's not cool. 😕

And last I saw, nobody in the thread was calling Danny a Nazi or even a sympathizer yall, the uniform thing looked to be, at worst, an unfortunate series of coincidences. And that kinda thing happens to a lot of other BJD clothing makers who make military uniforms too! There's only so many ways you can change up a military uniform's look while keeping it recognizable as one, especially if you're working with with that color scheme. Sometimes a design fails to land the way it should, intentionally or otherwise. It happens! What matters more is his response to the criticism he received for it. Instead of an apology or even just a calm acknowledgement of the uniform's look (and maybe taking the time to run comparisons to show it's not what people thought it looked like from a couple unfortunate pics), he insulted part of his customer base and convinced the rest that he was a victim of senseless bullying all in one post, rather than a guy who maybe could have thought his original post out better. That's the real problem there, not the uniform design. It's discontinued at this point anyways, it's not like it can cause more problems.

24 minutes ago, Oculae said:

It's not HIS fault the dude who came up with his sculpt needs a PR team. 😆 

Small correction: the dude who marketed his sculpt. He always said he wasn't really interested in the boys and I'm pretty sure it's been said before that someone else did the design. My Eiji is one of my favorite boys too. 😊

23 hours ago, Oculae said:

And that kinda thing happens to a lot of other BJD clothing makers who make military uniforms too!

It doesn't help that men's fashion is really kind of limited, and those uniforms were sharp looking. I mean, women have such enormous variety of clothing, but men's clothes, especially formal wear, are really just pants and jacket with an emphasis on broad upper body with narrow lower body. 

For designers of uniforms, it's probably hard not to arrive at that style if you want it to look great. The only military uniform that looks as sharp or sharper than the SS uniforms is the USMC enlisted men's dress uniform; not sure if the ladies have the option for pants in place of the skirt.

 

On 12/30/2022 at 7:07 PM, freakie-oppa said:

China's happenings is about as far removed as what was happening in Europe for him, because he isn't from there like he isn't from Europe. He's Malaysian, afterall.

Chinese, but from Malaysia? China isn't just a nation, it's a core part of an ethnic identity. For all my Chinese co-workers, even the ones who have lived their entire lives here in the USA, China is still part of who they are and they feel a connection. 
 

On 12/30/2022 at 3:51 PM, fishbuttz said:

I do know of the Rape of Nanking, which is horrific and I'm not seeking to diminish that.

I wasn't trying to suggest that you were. Just pointing out that Danny has little reason to support the fascist movements of the 1930s and 40s.  

 

On 12/30/2022 at 3:51 PM, fishbuttz said:

However, his temper tantrum following having the (in my opinion, valid) concerns pointed out to him has shown me that he is a man of poor, fragile character and not someone I want to be associated with, even tangentially.

Yeah, that does sound on-brand for him. 

I own a few SmartDolls, but I've never interacted with Danny and they all came second hand, so owning them doesn't bother me. At the same time, I've never gone to another Mel Gibson film since his anti-Jewish rant. He's a great actor and filmmaker, but there are some things I can't condone and will never support a person who does, in any way. Danny has never risen to that level though, he's more along the lines of a guy who can't take criticism, and who needs a better filter along with more self-awareness.  

23 hours ago, Jezrah said:

Small correction: the dude who marketed his sculpt. He always said he wasn't really interested in the boys and I'm pretty sure it's been said before that someone else did the design. My Eiji is one of my favorite boys too. 😊

my Eiji / Jaden wins my heart for fave boy.

15 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

Chinese, but from Malaysia? China isn't just a nation, it's a core part of an ethnic identity. For all my Chinese co-workers, even the ones who have lived their entire lives here in the USA, China is still part of who they are and they feel a connection. 

I'll try not to ramble so much as to not be off-topic for too long, but no promises. This is just my perspective as a Chinese Malaysian with a family of full blooded Chinese Malaysians, but is also entirely not at all related to D.Choo by blood, LOL. (So it's a pretty small perspective, ngl)

Being Chinese doesn't exactly equate having a particular connection with China itself. It's like, you don't assume that every single British citizen feels an extra connection with the race their very first ancestor was, no?

Sure, I'm Chinese, but I don't feel a pull towards China because of it. In my time living here, I don't think I have had the opportunity of speaking to a Chinese Malaysian that feels particularly connected to China either.

 

Most Chinese Malaysians have VERY long ancestry in Malaysia, culturally and historically. We're so far removed that it feels almost rude to insinuate that we can have extra vitriol against Nazis because of general happenings in China. We can definitely be mad and disgusted, but my anger is not more, nor more valid than someone who isn't Chinese at this point. That's their grief, it's not mine to touch or piggyback off, ya know?

Obviously, everything that went on during WWII is a tragedy. But R.O.N wasn't a racial crime, no? It didn't happen cause some fool discovered the existence of Chinese people, and specifically wanted to eliminate and torment all of them in the world. I'm pretty sure if there were no Chinese people populating China at the time, the same crimes woulda happened, it was war, afterall.

I'm sure Malaysians have their own griefs and events that transpired in WWII to garner extra vitriol, but to be particularly invigorated over another country's history? That's rare. To feel a connection to China to the point that they wouldn't ever do Nazi-looking things? Even rarer. Especially when one takes into account the alleged history D.Choo has had where he insulted the China Chinese customer base back before he even made the first Smart Doll, hence the distaste for SMD in the general China Chinese BJD community. 

Edited January 1, 2023 by freakie-oppa

Putting this in a spoiler tag because even though it's not political, it's not exactly doll related.

Spoiler

 

13 hours ago, freakie-oppa said:

Sure, I'm Chinese, but I don't feel a pull towards China because of it. In my time living here, I don't think I have had the opportunity of speaking to a Chinese Malaysian that feels particularly connected to China either.

Ok, I can see your point, even though it doesn't match my experience here. Malaysia isn't the US so perspectives will vary. The US is very multi-cultural at this point. Emigration and citizenship don't require the surrender of one's language or culture, and a lot of kids here are raised with their feet in two cultures. Granted, we're a young country, and who can say what it will look like in another thousand years. I'm not suggesting that Malaysia does expect that surrender of culture and language, I don't know one way or the other, but the US is very different from some other parts of the world in that regard.

I believe a great many Americans do feel a connection to Europe, and do outwardly embrace their European ancestral ties. 

 

13 hours ago, freakie-oppa said:

Obviously, everything that went on during WWII is a tragedy. But R.O.N wasn't a racial crime, no? It didn't happen cause some fool discovered the existence of Chinese people, and specifically wanted to eliminate and torment all of them in the world. I'm pretty sure if there were no Chinese people populating China at the time, the same crimes woulda happened, it was war, afterall.

The invasion of China wasn't racially motivated, but the atrocities targeted at the Chinese were. At least to my understanding, there was a lot of rage directed at the Chinese after the end of Japan's isolation. It was a product of their ties to Chinese culture, and the effect that national isolationism for 250 years had on their feelings about those ties. They came out of isolation to find a very different China than it was when they went in. Between the Meiji Restoration and the Japanese invasion of Manchuria those feelings had grown into rage. There wasn't a targeted genocide like Europe, but there was a beat-down, and it was directed at people of Chinese ancestry throughout Japan's occupied territories. If you were ethnically Chinese, you were a potential target because you were Chinese. R.O.N. is just the best known example. 

The Axis was a complex alliance, and Japan was more authoritarian than fascist. At least to my understanding, Nazi ideology was something that Japan didn't really embrace in its entirety, and what Nazi movement there was in Japan cherry picked those elements of Nazism they wanted while discarding the rest. They were allies of the fascists, and the fascists did help enable their conquest of Asia and the South Pacific. I do think almost everyone who was a victim of the Axis powers has reason to reject that ideology. Granted, today there are loads of Nazi movements in many of those countries.

 

 

13 hours ago, freakie-oppa said:

that they wouldn't ever do Nazi-looking things?

The thing is, looks are really in the eye of the beholder. Danny's focus is Anime, and I'm pretty sure all his SmartDoll imagery and ideas stem from that. I'll happily concede that he's clueless at times, but pointing at his stuff and saying "I see Nazis" is imo an overreaction. There is an old saying where there is smoke, there is fire but you're still going need to show me a fire before I say "Yup, that's a fire." Show me that Danny embraces fascist ideals, then I'll re-evaluate that image, but for now I'm pretty sure he's just an otaku who blundered into something he wasn't even thinking of and has zero personal reason to support in any way. His so called "war against the entitled" is just his way of thumbing his nose at people he doesn't like. If he starts talking "Final Solution for the Entitled," then you've got some basis to start comparing his stuff to Nazism.

If he did a Nazi looking thing, it wasn't done because it was a Nazi looking thing. I'm much more inclined to think he was so focused on the anime aspects he never stopped to think about what else people might think. If someone on his end had pointed out the parallels, he probably wouldn't have posted that image. 

 

On my own end, now every time I want to pose my dolls with their arm outstretched, I cringe at the thought that some folks see it as a nazi salute.

Will my poor Anna & Elsa be accused of being fascist images because I gave them what I thought was a cool looking pose? XD

Anna & Elsa Example.jpg by Cult of Athena, on Flickr

 

I'm not sure anyone was saying that DC was a Nazi or leaned that way. I thought it was all of the things combined that didn't look right, or that's what most people agreed on. I have less care about the actual costume than I do his comments about "the entitled" or whatever. At the end of the day, no one knows for sure what DC is thinking and it seems unproductive to speculate that. We only have his reaction to the response that post got. To me, his reaction was pathetic. I do think he's too egotistical and overly sensitive to criticism to actually just chill out and say "Yeah that didn't look good and it wasn't my intention". He doubled down which to me is worse than the post itself because I don't think many people would have held it against him if he just admitted it was a mistake. It's not that complicated.

Again, I don't know if he actually believes in all of that faschy BS or not. I don't know if it was based on anime or not. I just know his response was not helpful and it didn't have to get out of hand. But this has been talked about before so...

20 minutes ago, ladyandlion said:

We only have his reaction to the response that post got. To me, his reaction was pathetic. I do think he's too egotistical and overly sensitive to criticism to actually just chill out and say "Yeah that didn't look good and it wasn't my intention".

That's part of the problem imo, he face-plants and then throws up the worst sort of defensive walls when people start pointing out his error.
 

23 minutes ago, ladyandlion said:

I'm not sure anyone was saying that DC was a Nazi or leaned that way.

I didn't think anyone was accusing him of being a Nazi, what they seemed to be saying was he used Nazi symbolism in his influencer war against "the entitled." My point has been that his symbolism comes from anime and not WWII political imagery. I think if someone suggested to him that he use that WWII imagery in his media, he'd flatly reject it. You're perfectly correct in saying that I have no way to know if that's true.  

 

He used symbolism from anime/Japanese culture that could be mistaken for Nazi symbolism by people who aren't familiar with the concept, and then unfortunately unthinkingly accidentally somehow used a pose and caption that made it even more likely that people would mistake it for Nazi imagery. Which isn't necessarily a problem in itself, as companies accidentally advertise things in inappropriate ways all the time, especially if there's a culture barrier in the way (like the mythical Nova car that translated to "no go" in Spanish.

The actual problem is, of course, his reaction to the entirely reasonable response of "hey the way you did this post makes it look a bit too Nazi and it makes me uncomfortable and I'm pretty sure that's not what you actually meant to do so could you change it maybe?" with the same aggressive bs. * And that if he had a proper PR team that looked over the official social media posts for the company there's a high chance this wouldn't have happened in the first place.

* Although I'll admit some people probably did jump straight to calling him a Nazi because this is the internet    

To be fair, a certain doll confessions blog gets occasional to fairly often (depends on the other "big"  dramas of the week) confessions completely writing off Smartdoll owners as Nazi sympathizers and generally bashing Danny Choo so maybe people exposed to drama blogs like that are given the impression that most of the backlash takes that form, when really the majority of people were actually very polite about it at least at first, and then reasonably describing their upset after Danny doubled down. Not everyone sees the same side of the community so perhaps someone unfamiliar with the issue could see it from the first time from said drama blog and jump to conclusions, as an example.

what I think is there may have been an overreaction to the said uniforms. idk someone may have misunderstood.  am not into the solar marine look. am a jeans and tee shirt kinda person. 

1 hour ago, monkeypizzasonic said:

He used symbolism from anime/Japanese culture that could be mistaken for Nazi symbolism by people who aren't familiar with the concept, and then unfortunately unthinkingly accidentally somehow used a pose and caption that made it even more likely that people would mistake it for Nazi imagery.

I'm not a historian of any kind and what I do know about Japanese culture is limited to certain subjects, but Japan was also part of the Axis Powers and held their own set of ideals at the time differing to what they hold now. I don't know enough about every aspect of Japanese culture and history to point out when these arm bands showed up (prior to any of the world wars) or the meaning and symbolism behind it.

Not exactly trying to have a debate or argue history or DC's intentions. Just thinking out loud...ultimately, as we've seen...he's hard headed and has to have the last word on everything. I think honestly it was a combination of the uniform, armband, the salute and the worst part (imo) "entitled infestation". Infestation is quite a dehumanizing term, even for DC's weird brand of stilted humor that only seems to amuse himself. Paired with the other factors, I can totally see how it was perceived and I don't think it was an overreaction by the people who pointed it out as looking gross. 🙁

I think some people are also forgetting the fact that some of the people who first noticed the outfit/pose/description was NOT good, intentional or not, were Jewish, and so Danny branding Jewish people in particular as overly sensitive and lumping them in with garden variety Karens was the worst part to me. There’s also the fact that the prominent DD community member mentioned is Jewish herself and her speaking up seemed to invite a bunch of Smartdoll fan holocaust deniers into her DMs. So while Choo himself probably isn’t a nazi he sure doesn’t seem to have a problem with having them amongst his fanbase and representing his products, and making them feel justified in harassing people (by branding those that speak out as ‘entitled’).

(and once again ‘this is different in Japanese Culture!’ is a stupid excuse when you and most of your team aren’t Japanese *nor are you marketing to a Japanese audience by your own admission*.)

To be fair, even though their main audience isn't Japanese, they do live in/operate out of Japan and are making products for a hobby that started in Japan...and I'd guess that the side of the customer base that isn't "parents/kids who saw toy influencer video" are people who like Japanese culture, especially if they were already familiar with BJD. Plus half the sculpts are anime and a good amount of the licensed dolls are anime as well.

9 hours ago, Monty said:

I think some people are also forgetting the fact that some of the people who first noticed the outfit/pose/description was NOT good, intentional or not, were Jewish, and so Danny branding Jewish people in particular as overly sensitive and lumping them in with garden variety Karens was the worst part to me.

His responses to things seem to be awful more often than not.

I'm really against people using Nazi as an insult when it's a specific word that should warn people that they're dealing with an actual Nazi. We water things down, and they lose their sense of urgency and danger and just become background noise. It's like the old story of the boy who cried wolf, you don't cry wolf unless it's a wolf so people know to take it seriously. 
 

9 hours ago, Monty said:

There’s also the fact that the prominent DD community member mentioned is Jewish herself and her speaking up seemed to invite a bunch of Smartdoll fan holocaust deniers into her DMs.

Did he know though? His tendency to block people means he might have been completely blind to what was going on. If he knew, then the proper response should have been to shut them down and use his danhammer on them. If he knew and didn't care that he had anti-semites championing his cause, then that's a lot darker and makes his solar marine image look less like tone-deafness and more like "idc what idea people get about this."

I hadn't heard about the anti-semites until now. 

20 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

Will my poor Anna & Elsa be accused of being fascist images because I gave them what I thought was a cool looking pose? XD

I know that this is meant to be a rhetorical question, but I'll go ahead and answer it anyway 

Before I do, I'd like to say that I'm in no way an 'authority in the field', but I am European (and I might have a little more insight on Nazi symbolism and the like, precisely because of my country of origin) while also being someone who has always had a keen interest in everything Japan, so much so that I am actively studying the culture. I also happen to have seen 'The Disappearance/Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya' - not that it's awfully relevant, but I think I remember Danny specifically mentioning Haruhi's armband in his 'apology' post.

Anyhow.

No, of course no one in their right mind would seriously look at your Anna and Elsa and read it as fascist propaganda or something of the like! There's always outliers, of course, some people just have their minds made up and they end up seeing stuff that isn't actually there.

Now, the question is, what makes a Nazi salute? Definitions online roughly say something like this: It's when someone stretches out their right arm forwards and at an angle, palm facing downwards, usually keeping the fingers together rather than splaying them out. It's not needed, but I personally think that a generally stiff and straight posture also makes a big difference. 

If we take a look at the picture in question again: 

Source: https://dannychoo.com/en/instagram/p/cgwhve6lnck

I would argue that this is, in fact, not a Nazi salute. There are a couple reasons for that, but I don't feel like my English is good enough for me to adequately put my thoughts into words.

Just, like.. compare this picture. (No worries, no actual Nazis here either, just a scene from a Musical):

Spoiler

A scene from "The Producers" musical in Berlin in 2009 showing the Hitler salute. Foto: Herbert Knosowski/ AP

Source: https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/outrage-over-egyptian-hotel-show-german-tourist-wins-refund-for-hitler-salute-sketch-a-772423.html

There's certainly overlap, but there is enough of a difference in presentation that, again, I would argue Danny's picture is not depicting a Nazi salute.

While we're at it, the Solar Marine uniform obviously isn't a Nazi uniform either - with or without read armband. However, I can see how the armband can lead to certain associations, just like that little fanfiction Danny wrote about 'The Entitled'. (As an anecdote, my then bf, who is also European, but a different nationality and possibly even more of an anime enthusiast than I, also made such associations) 

So, where's the problem? 

As others have restlessly been pointing out, it's the combination of these factors that can lead to a portion of viewers making unfortunate associations - independent of each other, if I might add. Again, due to my country of origin, being careful of possible Nazi symbolism is kind of a given for me. Because I am also very much familiar with Anime, another association that I had was with Lelouch from 'Code Geass'.

Spoiler

Source: https://akiba-souken.com/article/30841/



Source: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/619272967667650561

It had been literal ages since I watched that particular show, but it has been very memorable to me for personal reasons. In short: I was getting strong military-leader-striking-a-dramatic-pose-as-they-command-their-army vibes from Danny's post (which, I am convinced, was exactly what he had wanted to achieve, not any sort of Nazi imagery), but I also felt that for a 'professional business' the combination was cutting it a little too close for comfort.

Again, I think most people would agree that this wasn't even the biggest issue. Should someone had taken a look at the post before it went online and changed it up a little bit? Preferably, I'd say yes. 

Personally, and again, I think many would agree with me on that, my biggest gripe was Danny's response when someone dared to point out that well, yeah, maybe, this wasn't the ideal way to present his new uniform. The post in question has been deleted and I can't say that everyone who voiced their criticism has done so politely and in good faith. Again, there's always outliers. I don't have a hard time believing that some individuals straight up accused him of being a Nazi. That's definitely not a nice feeling, even if you know those are baseless accusations. I can understand Danny having an emotional response to something like that - I mean, who wouldn't?

Still, that doesn't mean that there wasn't at least a portion of people who genuinely felt uncomfortable with Danny's post and who brought up their valid concerns in a respectful manner.

Those people deserved better than the non-apology Danny dished out in response.

The 'prominent DD community member' in question also released a statement after what had happened. Said post is still available online, but I'm not sure if they would feel comfortable with me linking to it directly, instead, I'll be quoting from it: 

Quote

"[..] I received many messages as a result from this [voicing their thoughts on Danny's post]. And to my surprise, many of these were smartdoll owners. The smartdoll community that I've interacted with has been amazing. Above and beyond. So many kind messages of support and apologies for this happening.[..]

[..] Unfortunately though, along with these kind messages, some very insensitive and anti semitic messages have also made their way to me. Explaining that I shouldn't be offended. That I'm wrong to be upset. Friends have received messages that they 'aren't real Jews' if they are upset about this. Accounts that have told me I need to educate myself on anime to understand why these arm bands exist. Even people who go as far as denying the Holocaust hapened. [sic] Calling me woke, a snowflake, too sensitive, and of course, part of the 'entitled' (the irony in this)[sic]. I've seen owners accuse me of being hateful, leading hate, attacking SmD owners. All because I pointed out something that made me uncomfortable as a Jewish person.[..]"

I will once again point out that my own heritage might make me very biased in this regard, but even re-reading it now, I find it hard to stomach. 

Despite what we might like to believe there definitely are Anti-semitics and Neo/Nazis within the hobby (Just like there are TERFs and Anti-LGBTQ+). Do I believe Danny is one of them? No, not at all. But I do believe that we as a community should stay vigilant and sensitive to these things. There's no harm in politely and respectfully pointing out that certain things might be interpreted in certain ways by some people and that perhaps a compromise can be made that doesn't detract from the original 'artistic vision' while also not alienating or otherwise causing people inside the community to feel uncomfortable.

Really, if Danny had actually apologized - 'I'm sorry, my bad. Somehow this totally slipped my notice. I deleted the post in question. Referencing Nazi imagery was never my intention, but now that it has been pointed out to me I can see how my post might have made some of you uncomfortable. Your concerns are valid and I want to assure you that I - and the entirety of Culture Japan - stand against any form of racism and antisemitism.' - just something that resembled a genuine apology or a will to be held accountable, I think a lot of us would feel very differently about the whole situation. 

I also wanted to add onto the idea of 'Death of the Author' or the ability to separate artists from their art, with a tangent about J.K. Rowling. In the end, it's a very subjective thing and everyone will have to form their own opinion on the matter, but in regards to SmartDoll specifically, I'd like to quote the person above one more time.

Quote

"[..] I do not condemn anyone for owning one or buying things from Danny. I don't want you to feel like you have to sell your doll because of this. Please do not stop loving your dolls because of this situation.[..]"