by “Yakami-chan Dropkick X” was broadcast as an anime in the summer of 2022.
The 9th episode of this work, “Lavender-colored eyes moistened in Furano,” was produced by Furano City in Hokkaido, soliciting production costs through hometown tax donations, and it became a hot topic. We are questioning that we did not investigate whether it is true.” On November 15, the Furano City Council’s Accounts Review Special Committee disapproved. In other words, it was recognized that using the budget was inappropriate.
In particular, it was the part where Jagami-chan tried to sell his internal organs to pay off debts, which was seen as a problem because it “damaged the image of Furano City.”
In response, the official of “Yamagami-chan Dropkick” distributed the Furano edition for free for one week. After watching the Yamagami-chan Dropkick X Furano edition on Twitter, it was decided whether the image of Furano went up or down. So, they conducted a questionnaire to clarify. As a result, more than 90% answered that their image of Furano improved.
It is still being determined whether these efforts had any impact. Still, at the plenary session held on November 30, the number of approvals and non-accreditations was the same, 8 to 8, and the chairman voted to finally “authorize.” With this, the turmoil surrounding the Furano edition of “Drop Kick on Dropkick on Devil X” has been settled for the time being, but what did the official website think about this matter? And what kind of plans will be developed in the future?
We asked publicity producer Kazuki Yanase to answer these questions.
It’s a relief to have been certified at the plenary session. The situation has already been explained in the news, but could you tell us the problem again?
Yanase: Some people believe this case is something like Jashin-chan vs. Furano, but that is a mistake. There are three people.
The production committee communicated with Furano City to create the work, and the city council complained to the city about the main animation result: “there is a possibility that the image of Furano will be lowered.” I wanted to find out if it was true, so I surveyed people who watched it and made the results public.
Regarding this uproar, when I saw the footage of the assembly, I think there were two points of contention, “expression content” and “cost-effectiveness.”
Yanase That’s right. The discussion seems to have centered on those two points. Medusa, who had a massive debt for expression, was in an abnormal situation called “Medusa High,” which is said to occur only once in thousands of years. However, there is a scene where I am confused and say, “Huh?!” From the survey results, it can be seen that most of the viewers received this as a mere gag, but we cannot deny the possibility that it will not be received that way.
In addition, as you can see from the graph of the number of donations for furusato nozei contributions, the amount of furusato nozei donations to Furano City has increased about three times in 2021 compared to 2020.
Reference article “Local Government Open Data” Furano City Hometown Tax Donation Amount
I haven’t done any research, so I don’t know if there is a causal relationship between this growth and Jashin-chan, but if the number of donations, which had remained flat until now, just happened to increase significantly from the timing of collaborating with Jashin-chan, one of them I would be thrilled if Jashin-chan were in charge of the club. But, on the other hand, I am aware of the opinion that “the number of customers is not enough,” which was pointed out in the assembly, so I would like to work on a plan that can attract customers from now on.
In the future, you are thinking about events that can attract customers, but do you already have a plan?
Yanase Furano has many attractive events and spots, such as the belly button festival, the wine festival, and the powder snow slopes featured in the Furano edition. I want to hold a Jashin-chan event that makes the most of these characteristics.
It looks like it will be an event that other municipalities cannot do! So, finally, please tell us about future challenges.
I don’t think Yanase Jajin-chan’s expression is an “oriko-san” that everyone will like. So, should we use safe expressions that everyone can accept to avoid getting angry? No, I can’t choose that method because I don’t think it’s “Yamagami-chan” anymore if I do that. But, on the other hand, I don’t believe that Jashin-chan has contributed enough to liven up Furano City for the people of Furano City who have taken the trouble to collaborate with him. Therefore, from now on, I want to be recognized as an existence that can bring a lot of fans, even if I use thoughtful expressions.
