That part of the statement is puzzling because it's doesn't tie in with what Maho said on twitter but it is very like what Bunshun and Friday reported which makes me think that the Committee are mixing sources in the statement. Instead of publishing this as a narrative they should publish the interview statements of all the members.
Hmm see i read it like maho knew the guys were associated with member E hence why she went to her room and then tried to contact her first. not sure how many members lived on that floor either but it seems E and D were the ones that are aligned with the men here. people do weird shit (and honestly they already attacked her i would be scared to not know where they are at all times). like the men saying sorry to maho after literally attacking her and then they all go to park and act normal?? Clearly it wasn't like that or Maho wouldn't have come out with her story online since management didn't do shit right.
Yeah, I think the fact that Maho told them to wait on the first floor (and they did) and then went to a park to talk to them makes it pretty clear that Maho already knew the men in question. Sounds like she wanted answers from them about wtf they were doing exactly and why. If she knew them through their relationship with a member, then it is kind of bullshit to say no member was involved. This situation is a direct result of that member’s inappropriate contact with fans.
Unless she took member D to meet with them to demand she explain herself. We just don’t know all the facts and we need realize we won’t know all the facts. This isn’t an unbiased report from outside investigators.
i would honestly go with option 2 since my safety was already tarnished. she was already attacked so go to the person who invited the men in right and talk about what just happened. And good chance they've been over before so she probably has seen them before in passing. kind of goes back to what you said in an earlier post: the playing field is not leveled at all and NGT management does not seem to care.
You are possibly correct about the committee mixing up sources (also, the suspects couldn't respond/didn't respond to the committee's request also according to the same report, so I fear that on top of being confused on idols in general and what a "matomedashi" does, they were made to work with zero informations at hand, to the point they had to literally look up for additional stuff on message boards!). To prove that, there was a part at the beginning of what was supposed to be Maho's testimony which is actually a retelling of the attackers asking member A about when Maho would be home. Granted, this part is prefaced by the clarification that "This is not something that Yamaguchi herself experienced", but I chose to omit it from the translation entirely because, why the hell wouldn't I?
It's not really shocking that the team of three lawyers closely related to the management of the group and who have a financial incentive to see the group return to normal operations has released a report that doesn't answer many questions and frames testimony in a way that makes everyone look blameless.
About returning to normal operations, I'm pretty sure the sponsors will be elated to find out that one of the explanations provided about why such an incident ever happened (see page 24) is, not even kidding, the "pecularities of Niigata", which means literally that the city is small, provincial and transportation and infrastructures are underdeveloped, which allegedly makes it easier for stalkers to follow a shuttle bus all the way to the member's buildings (oh, did I tell you people that they were stuck making up a whole argument around such a premise for the entire time?). Basically this whole garbage of a report devolved from fact-checking into pure theory-making very early into it.
that's it, I've got the new concept for Niigata's tourism agency, it's "Niigata - Stalkers Paradise" ,set to the background music of Coolio's gangsters paradise with panoramic shots of the city where we pan down to a lonely minibus slowly trundling from the train station to a grim apartment building followed by a bunch of trump-haired misfits....it's a winner!
I really hope they can still do something about the attackers, a civil suit does sound like the most likely option at this point. Question is, will AKS actually do that? Because I am sure the perpetrators aren't just going to let that slide and will most likely drag the other people involved with them. I mean, if you're getting the blame for something, why try and save someone else's ass? That's why I always thought it was interesting that they didn't press any charges against those dudes. What if the management told her to drop the charges because they knew other members were involved? Sounds like a likely option to me, because it will definitely tarnish the AKB brand. I also wonder about Maho's contract because she pretty much has been silent since her stream.
Press conference in half an hour: https://live.nicovideo.jp/gate/lv319128492 https://abema.tv/channels/abema-news/slots/8LMwrPsvHahC9M Edit: Maho retweeted the UX tweet announcing the stream, right before it started. Edit:
the problem is not that the 1/3 of the members are privately involved with fans, the problem is they are involved with people who are allegedly involved in bribery and sexual assault?? isn’t it sad how at the start we thought AKS wouldn’t justify mahohon because they wouldn’t admit that the members are privately involved with the fans, but now they’re reporting on that and still not giving mahohon justice, there must be something even worse they’re trying to hide
Maho is tweeting Edit: She is directly contradicting what is being said at the press conference and saying she was threatened into making the infamous apology.
omg mahohon spills the tea now, most of j-netz comments are "it's lie" *plays sky castle's we all lie*
The media are bringing up the tweets she just made in the press conference! Edit: The smug face of the guy talking, finally disappeared, at least for a second.
I’m at work so I can only half listen but it does seem like at least some of the press are asking some good questions, and most of the answers are clearly evasive. I hope the media runs with this.