Playing with this what if, then ok.. then Maho seems to have gotten away with it. Then what? What is there to discuss?? Is there even any inkling of possible basis for this what if?? Besides, much of what turned this incident into such a mess was not due to Maho's actions but management's countless missteps.
I think instead of writing "no offense to anyone" or "plot twist" like it's some sort of fake drama, it would have been better if you researched a bit on what happened because like this it felt like just trolling at best and purposely victim blaming at worst. So my advice, even now that you posted your question would be, go back and find all the stuff you can put your hands on and read it, watch it and then discuss it if you still want. It's the best gift you can do to yourself in general. No matter the argument. This said, Maho had been assaulted in her own house by a group of well known yakkai wotas who slept with other members. No one knows what would have happened to her if someone didn't arrived on her floor... or, well, it's sadly too easy to imagine what could have happen to any woman in that situation. She asked for help, for mngmnt solution, she denounced the fact purposely asking to remain anonymous to protect the group she loved, and then she had to apologize herself and we all know how things spiraled down from there. NGT and AKS did a very miserable job protecting the girls. Every step they took was the worst one they could chose to take Every single one since the end of 2018 This is. Now go back and read if you really want to understand what went on
I don't know what to look at other than SSK and HS since I'm not a local fan, but also looking at HS she improved. Sekai no Hito e was the FIRST single for which she sold out a slot.
This is a late response but since I have the time to post it here: truth is that AKS went to the civil litigation case completely unprepared, as per the usual idiots they are so they are completely helpless. There was an interview (mirror of the video here, transcript in Japanese here which is OCR'd from this) at the end of the first court sitting, during which they asked questions to the corporate lawyer who took part in it -- which by the way ended up in 3 minutes with no defendants or legal representatives thereof (assuming they have any) showing up but still sending in a plea asking that the compensation demands be withdrawn. I'll keep the whole tripe brief, but for the short answer I'll point toward a part of the interview which goes as follows: 質問者：可能性としては、そのお答えできないとは思うんですけど、可能性として証人にメンバーがということはあり得なくはないってことでしょうか。 Interviewer: Considered as a possibility, although I guess you can't give an answer on it yet, but considered merely as a possibility, it is not to be excluded that you will have any members as the court witnesses...? 弁護士：そうですね、可能性としてはあると思います。 Attorney: Right, for a possibility, I imagine there is... 質問者：それは山口さんの可能性もなくはないということでしょうか。 Interviewer: In that regard, it means the possibility of Yamaguchi-san being there is also not entirely out of question...? 弁護士：そうですね、やはりその、個人のプライバシーに関わってきたり、個人のご意思があるので、そういった意思も尊重しながら慎重に検討してまいると、それしかちょっと今のところ申し上げられない。 Attorney: Right. Of course, this has to do with their personal privacy, it is up to the wish of the individual person, therefore we will consider it with care while being respectful of such wishes. There's nothing more I can say at present time. The long answer is that right off the bat, the AKS attorney admits that to this day the AKS side is still completely clueless even about the reason for the non-prosecution of the culprits, which is why they apparently want to misuse a civil litigation case (which are, I shall remind, meant to be used to settle torts with money) as a stunt to "research the truth" (...?), when there would be a thousand other more appropriate ways to do so if they want it so much. I already had a hunch since the beginning, then again when I saw on the third-party research report that part stating "The reason for releasing them without prosecution is not made clear" and then Hayakawa parroting the same excuse on Twitter later on only to get shot down, but it turns out that in those 7 (now 8, since the attorney's interview) months since the incident took place it never crossed anyone's mind to research directly into it before proceeding ahead. What's funny is that normally there would be no necessity to even ask for it: I am sure it works the same in every other country of the world, but normally the records of a non-prosecution document are made accessible for viewing to "the victim directly involved in the case, any person serving as a legal representative of the victim in question, or a lawyer designated as their legal representative" (as described here). I can only imagine someone at the AKS offices comically slapping one's own forehead when asked: "Did we forget something before firing Yamaguchi?". And this is insane for multiple reasons. The fact AKS find themselves completely in the dark about such basic informations can only mean, as I have seen pointed out various times before, that throughout this whole time AKS never thought of having one of their lawyers assist Maho, despite being an employee of the agency under their administation and all, in an incident that could potentially have judiciary ramifications as it is doing right now, thus basically leaving her to deal with the situation all by herself. Thank you for nothing, idiots. It also puts the scornful remark throw directly in Maho's face by none other than AKS's president Yoshinari ("Since it ended without prosecution, then it means it's not a crime incident~") into perspective about how mind-numbingly ignorant it truly was. Another thing that popped out is that, as it turns out, Maho wasn't even consulted (nor has the attorney directly talked with her, in fact) in the compiling of the lawsuit documentations they are presenting in court, but it's an employee internal to the agency who wrote it up. I can only say this goes to show how it has become a sad constant (which also didn't pass unnoticed) for AKS to handle this case on their own without even deigning to hear Maho beforehand, even though she is the one most directly involved in it of all. This also includes AKS trying, as the did right at the start, anything from feeding media a very downplayed and falsified version of the incident ("the fans spoke up with Yamaguchi but she let out a scream out of surprise, and so they tried to cover her mouth", as was first reported by Sponichi & co., which is to AKS as what Pravda was to Soviet Russia), to blatantly suggesting at the same time alternate alibis for the actions of the two wannabe molesters, because they of course are too shy to even come up with one of their own that doesn't make AKS uncomfortable, so they have to go out of their way with the apologetics. Anyway, having Maho to testify or not isn't the only problem here: come the next court sitting (which is set on September 20) there will be actually no one in NGT48 left anymore who was directly involved in the incident. After being dismissed, Imamura couldn't give a damn about anything more pressing than having a marathon up and down Japan (I shit you not), Mofu who was the member to rush to the place at Maho's request will graduate by the end of the month, and personally I'd rather not want to see Maho show up to help out, if the purpose is a moneymaking scheme for the sake of AKS or to wrangle out statements favorable to AKS regardless of the sincerity of it. Plus, you know, there's other stuff to do in the same period... All those who will be left squabbling will be two sides who, deep down, have the same intentions in mind about where to steer the debate. Choosing to take one of the two (whether yakkais or AKS) will be literally like having to choose between plague and cholera.
Thank you for the opinions may be my comment was too offensive. If there is a problem like this i always want to think in all perspective and predict the outcome. I hate Aks as much as all of you do ever since they never gave mayuyu a good song. Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
Actually, you know what, that finally gives me the opportunity to point out this other little factoid, considering it has recently been brought to my notice and I was just looking for what time was the most appropriate to do so. As it turns out the "99.99% conviction rate" is but one of the many myths about Japan that are still hard to die out along with mystery vending machines, but likewise in Japan, as in the rest of the world, a non-prosecution is not the same as saying that the culprit is cleared of charges and declared innocent, either (differently from what was claimed by a certain someone in this thread, who went on a drunken rant mistaking Easter Monday for the Oktoberfest). This brings me to this link that I have found out about sometime before. Although I am sure that other law firms have similar I have similar sections inside their sites, nowhere else this is explained more clearly than in this one: https://izumi-keiji.jp/column/jiken-bengo/fukisoritsu --- First off, as a little brush-up on what a "non-prosecution" actually means, we read that: « (2) 不起訴 (2) Non-Prosecution 不起訴とは、検察官が起訴しないと決める処分のことをいいます。 With non-prosecution, we indicate a disposition in which the Public Prosecutor decides not to commence a lawsuit action. 不起訴になりますと、刑事裁判が行われることはなく、そのまま事件終結となります。 With it ending in a non-prosecution, no criminal court trial is held and the criminal case is deemed closed as it is. 当然、有罪判決が下されることもないため、前科はつきませんが、前歴として残る場合があります。 Naturally, since a court verdict of guiltiness isn't formally handed down, this doesn't remain as a criminal precedent, but there are instances where this persists as one's past personal records. 不起訴には、主に、「罪とならず」「嫌疑なし」「嫌疑不十分」「起訴猶予」などの場合があります。 By and large, a non-prosecution includes cases such as "doesn't constitute an offence", "non-proven suspicions", "insufficiently-proven suspicions", "suspension of indictment", and so on. 特に、「起訴猶予」は、検察官が、犯罪の嫌疑がある場合において、被疑者の性格、年齢及び境遇、犯罪の軽重及び情状並びに犯罪後の情況により訴追を必要としないときにする処分になります。 In particular among them, a "suspension of indictment" is a disposition taken when, while there are valid charges about a given criminal act, the Public Prosecutor doesn't consider a prosecution to be indispensably necessary on the basis of the personality of the given suspects, their age and their personal situation they are in, as well as the degree of severity and the situation of the crime, and the extenuating circumstances coming into play in the period after the criminal act is committed. 不起訴で事件が終結すれば、早期の社会復帰が可能になり、社会的な不利益を最小限にとどめることができ、裁判に必要な時間と労力からも解放されることになります。 If a criminal case is deemed closed with a non-prosecution, it would make it possible for a rapid return to society, it allows the societal drawbacks to be reduced to the least possible degree, while sparing one from the time and efforts needed for a potential court case. したがって、刑事事件では、不起訴になることが非常に重要なことなのです。 It follows that in a criminal case, it is a point of exceptional importance [for a culprit] to have it ending in a non-prosecution. » --- Then more importantly, a little below, we find this list here. As usual, other law firm sites have similar charts on their sites for the same or earlier years although with ratios still remaining very close to this one, but in any case I haven't found yet another site that expounds on it as exhaustively and clearly as this: « ２．罪名別の不起訴率・起訴率・起訴猶予率 2．Rates of non-prosection, prosecution and suspension of indictment, divided by crimes 平成２９年版犯罪白書によれば、平成２８年の罪名別の不起訴率、起訴率、起訴猶予率は下記のとおりです。 According to the 2017 crimes factbook, the rates of non-prosecution, prosecution and suspension of indictment divided by crimes committed in the year 2016 are as stated below. ●「不起訴率」＝「不起訴人員」÷（「起訴人員」＋「不起訴人員」）×１００ の計算式で得た百分比 ● "Non-prosecution rate" is calculated as a percentage with the formula "Non-prosecuted subjects" / ("Prosecuted subjects" + "Non-prosecuted subjects") * 100 ●「起訴率」＝「起訴人員」÷（「起訴人員」＋「不起訴人員」）×１００ の計算式で得た百分比 ● "Prosecution rate" is calculated as a percentage with the formula "Prosecuted subjects" / ("Prosecuted subjects" + "Non-prosecuted subjects") * 100 ●「起訴猶予率」＝「起訴猶予人員」÷（「起訴人員」＋「起訴猶予人員」）×１００ の計算式で得た百分比 ● "Suspension of indictment rate" is calculated as a percentage with the formula "Subjects with suspension of indictment" / ("Prosecuted subjects" + "Subjects with suspension of indictment") * 100»« (1) 刑法犯・過失運転致死傷等 (1) Criminal offenses/Negligent driving resulting in death or injury, etc... 事案 | 不起訴率 | 起訴率 | 起訴猶予率 Case | Non-prosecution rate | Prosecution rate | Suspension of indictment rate [...] 暴行 | ７０．４％ | ２９．６％ | ６７．９％ Physical assault | 70.4% | 29.6% | 67.9% [...] » What it was found out is that while pretty much 3 out of 10 cases of physical assault end up in a criminal lawsuit in Japan in a given year, on the other hand this is -- much more interestingly -- also one of the crimes with consistently the highest rates for a non-prosecution to end in the perpetrator receiving a suspension of indictment, as opposed to rather being cleared of charges. When all the calculations are done, out of the cases of assault that end in a non-prosecution, in 96.5% of them the crime still end up being acknowledged and the culprits receive a suspension of indictment, in fact. The more you know. As usual it goes to show that anyone involved in AKS from the bottom to the very top are monumental asses incapable of reasoning normally in a society, but after all it's a known fact the AKS direction too serves as a catch-all for rejects of other companies so why even arguing or putting faith in them...
An interesting excerpt from the 8/17 summary: https://saitowinterstar.com/archives/804 Spoiler: Story from a person in Niigata that reviewed the NGT lawsuit materials https://i.imgur.com/ctCfaaU.png “I came to Niigata to inspect the NGT lawsuit documents!” if the video does not show watch the video here Their are two defendants. Their names and addresses were erased from the available records and he couldn’t determine their current status. He’d say the attorneys are in luck. Their written responses are professionally-done. Since the amount claimed is ¥30M, the lawyers are probably being paid 10%, or ¥3M, as a retainer fee. AKS’s Claims When the defendants assaulted Yamaguchi, a member rushed to be there, after that three staff members rushed there as well, and then they all got together with the defendants and had a discussion on a bus. At that time, the defendants brought up the names of members that they had relationships with. As these members names were brought up, Yamaguchi came to suspect whether these members had given instructions. Because of that suspicion, the relationship of trust between AKS and the members was lost resulting in Yamaguchi graduating, [NGT] being unable to conduct various performances, and losing both fans and sponsors. So, this is all because the defendants said the names of those members they had relationships with without any proof. (This is what the documents said. At least this is the impression of the man posting the video.) At the time, the defendants said: “There are girls we’re always playing around with, eating and such with, and so we went to Yamaguchi’s place to have a talk in the vein of those sorts of things.” It was written that later when there were discussions with the staff, things like, “Right now the members connected with this are in other places, and since they’re with other kids, presently we’re getting in contact with them.” were said. Also regarding the AKS side, though they conducted a thorough investigation, and had various interviews with the members, in the end they didn’t find any clear evidence that there had been instructions given with regard to the incident. If it is assumed those relationships were just personal encounters, since they were unable to find that instructions about the incident were given, they are not able to carry out any punishments. They are private matters. Points that the video poster still can’t understand How they arrived at the cost of the security guards, contracted at ¥2.5M for February and some ¥3M for March. That this is the fault of the defendants is how the restitution is being claimed. It’s the guards not being reliable in the first place that allowed strange people to come in and carry out the assault, so it’s reasonable that AKS bears the cost of the security, but a bit absurd to be charging the offenders. From the start AKS has paid for the protection of its important members. Something even more shocking, regarding the crime prevention alarms given out as a result of this. Each one is about ¥2000, so as there are about 40 members in all, it requires ¥80k total. This is also claimed against the defendants. They are also claiming part of the ¥45M cost of the completely useless 3rd party committee. Each and all of the damages received are being pinned on the defendants, but the main source of the damages was that AKS’s response afterwards was so bad; they couldn’t hold performances because they didn’t deal with the incident by properly standing by Yamaguchi and the others, and fans and sponsors left. Though most of the responsibility lies with AKS, with regards to sponsors making up their own alibis because of the ongoing litigation, are they really ok saying NGT is finally operating normally?
@SaitoWinterStar As far as I can tell the only thing there we didn't know already is the specific costs of what they are claiming? Well, and the part about the discussion between Maho/staff and the defendants taking place on a bus instead of(?) in a park, but that sounds like him getting details confused. ?: I guess the bus could have been parked in the park.
From the new stage thread, thought the reply was more appropriate here: Why would you Google translate the tabloid instead of the first Oricon article? Also, it's cute they're trying to sound personally offended by her speech when they're the gossip rag responsible for spreading the gum tape hoax. And that they're trying to muddy the waters by suggesting the "truth of the incident" is one of the options on the table, when no one from NGT has disputed that it happened and Gatanee specifically says these untrue rumours were ones causing all the members to suffer. If you've been following the case for any length of time it's painfully obvious what she's talking about. Also, I like how Google just ignores 信じて待って
No, Maho was the victim of thugs who current NGT members consorted with and the group won't be redeemed while they are still with the group.
As opposed to having wannabe rapists-slash-fans lurking right on the other side of the very apartment that management had assigned for you, who clearly got access to there thanks to a braindead staff and members who are too easy to take advantage of to even be called "accomplices in crime". Oh bother, nobody had it worse than them, especially how they went on like nothing happened until the disclosure on Showroom happened. Poor little, misguided, indifferent angels only caring for themselves. Little note: bystanders aren't victim of anything apart from their own indolence. --- As for Nishigata, listen up, sweetheart... After 8 months since the incident happened, 8 graduated members as a result of the can of worms that was opened afterwards (depending on whether you are willing to believe in what lolShuukan Bunshun wrote and include Hagiri in the count, as one of the members found to be consorting with the yakkai gundan in question), which includes also Maho herself the only one with the guts to have ever exposed the management's feel-good bullshit, and with police and lawyers having been mobilized at some point or another in the whole matter... If you have something to say to defend yourself and yourself only, more than what you did already write back in January, then take an example from Maho: grow a spine at last and speak it clearly. This is obviously no longer the time for any vague beating around the bush. And please don't do it on a cheap theater stage, but at the courthouse where you will have all time to explain. Vagueness only gives rise to speculation and doubts, and does the exact opposite of clearing things up. Weren't the defenders of kuro-members the ones offended at all the speculations and doubts arising from the vagueness with which the situation was dealt so far? My Twitter experience tells me exactly so. For one thing, the ones chiefly responsible for "propagating things that are untruthful", as you said, were actually your own management that lined up one bullshit, constantly contradicting statement after another. Then there was their own personal-use media such as Sponichi which followed AKS's silly narrative to the point of full-blown propaganda. And finally weekly tabloids with what turned out to be slanderously skewed accounts of the incident based on tips fed in from suspicious "NGT personnel" (likely the same three stooges attending the AKS conference as Maho called them out on), and this includes the same Shuukan Bunshun which acted to cover your very own ass in the first place. That all of this backfired only worsened the situation. Of course, since it didn't involve you but only silly attempts at dicrediting the victim to stifle the public outcry before it was too late, I guess you weren't the one bothered by it. And none of this is shit you can dismiss as "writings on a toilet wall" as 5ch is often likened to, either. Secondly, the reason you are allowed to "stand on that stage" is not on account of the fact "those things (?) described are not true, otherwise we wouldn't" as you claim, Nishigata. Indeed, what a stupid, childish logic to demonstrate your non-involvement by pointing at who's on that stage today. For someone who dropped out of college for being underperforming, I would have expected something more intelligent of you to say. Nope, for that you have to give a big thanks to the dipshit that is Matsumura, for having given to the likes of you a plenary indulgence at the AKS press conference, by his own admission without even having first figured out to what depth the consortings went. As expected of a group where "you can do anyhing and still be given a pass" (kudos to Maho for this fitting definition), in which the official stance (as admitted in AKS's very own lawsuit files, which can easily double as toilet paper) is that "Even if there would be cases of consorting with fans, this is a strictly personal matter. Without being able to tell if they gave indications related to the incident, we thus cannot take punitive measures. This is private matters". Of course that's until the privacy of someone else who wants nothing of it gets hurt by such private matters. As it seems, the only way for NGT to get over it and recover credibility, as they say, is only forgetting and denying, forgetting and denying and some good ol' damnatio memoriae. In a way, it reminds me of every other denialists who wait for enough time to pass and for people to stop paying attention before pushing their own alternate versions. In short, an excellent note to restart the theater shows on, I hope this sets the tone for the rest of the performances. Of course, nothing to say about a stale and over-rehashed setlist which is over 11 years old by now, so of course the attention would have to go somewhere else.
Management must be happy with this declaration. This way they will keep hiding and will let the girls(victims and accomplices) clean the mess.
