>>58322380If we're having a serious discussion about this:
Yes, Shiina and Phase connect willingly participated in a scam. That's basically their entire model of business if you water it down enough. Did you forget that the way this works is they dangle a cute anime girl in front of you, she says something that makes you feel giddy, and then you whip out your wallet? In any other type of framing, most people would equate this to a scam. But that's why they're careful to use language like "donations"
Lia's description as an example says "Donations link (never required but very appreciated!!!!)"
They want to make sure they're legally covered with this language to make it clear that you're giving your money WITHOUT an expectation for anything in particular. With this, they're basically free to tell you whatever you want and manipulate you into buying supas or streamlab donos. If we look at the case with the donothon and the NSFW animation, PC and Shiina are already protected since they deemed it a "donation marathon" instead of like a "fund-raiser." Because it's a donation marathon, there is no expectation of a product for the consumer. Only vague "promises" and legally in the business world, promises like that don't need to be honored. One could have a discussion about whether "promise" or "goal" are the same or not, but Phase Connect is obviously treating them the same.
So here we are, plenty of time after Shiina came out saying she's not going to release the animation and a lot of people are angry. You know what doesn't help? Shiina deflecting to management and telling her fans to "watch streams." Even as a fan of hers, it's annoying and off-putting to see such an obvious scam put into motion and then defended as PART of the business model through disingenuous arguments.
You know that corny shit that Phase Connect does? Like that "Thank you" music video? I'll wager that Fishman and the rest of the talents consider things like that to be a way of covering their asses. Not legally of course, but ethically. Everyone here is intelligent enough to recognize that scams are annoying and people who scam are bad, but when you throw a veil of 'cute anime girl who says she plays hard games, agrees with your politics, quasi-flirts with you, and is practically naked' over this very simple mechanism...it's suddenly much harder to see the problem. This isn't an accident by the way. They probably have a very detailed handbook for how to maintain this illusion that keeps you attached and donating more and more.
Do I think that people should have a reason to be upset? Of course. I think Shiina understands that too. But it's also important to remember that Shiina could very well be forced into this position where she comes off unlikable and scammy. Think about how much Cover/Nijisanji locks their talents down with their contracts. She may have genuinely wanted to release the animation, and management really could force her to do a 180 and then also take the heat. Everything she says as her character on stream or in tweets is technically under Phase Connect corporate control after all.
Of course she could also just not care, see this as a business decision, not give a fuck about what any of her fans think. Whatever she has to say to bring in that sweet sweet money she's apparently both too rich and poor to appreciate at the same time.