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Discussion Dragon Quest’s bigoted composer Koichi Sugiyama has died, age 90

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Bonejack said:
I think if the person in question has actively used their fame and wealth to make the lives of other people worse, then you're totally okay with being absolutely vile about said persons death.

Imo.
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You know what? Yeah, that's fair enough.
 
I don't know man, I just can't celebrate someone's death, no matter how horrible they were. My thoughts go out to his family.

This was basically the only way to get him out of the Dragon Quest series. I am exited to see what's next for the series in terms of the soundtrack. Hopefully it won't be someone who is a horrible human being, or very stingy about using the soundtracks overseas.

Heck, wouldn't Sugiyama's company still be part of Dragon Quest, despite his death? Does he have successor? I hope not. I actually hope Shimomura or Mitsuda become the series composers. They are some of the best options available.
 
Moltres006 said:
Oof.....imagine if Sakurai tweets about him and pays respects in honor of his death.

That would sure start another controversy in the Smash community.
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Eeh.. it's not like it's unexpected; the commotion by the whole Japanese gaming industry is normal. Whether he deserved or not, he's very respected over there and there's nothing controversial about his person for them.

With all that said.. I'm completely apathetic by his death.
 
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Yeah I hate the idea of celebrating someone's death, but this guy kinda sucked.

Condolences to his family and friends I guess.
 
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I wonder what his family is like, they would presumably get any money he makes from his work on DQXII posthumously.
 
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If you don't feel ok with celebrating a death then don't worry all, I'll be sure to do it for the both of us!

🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀
 
He was an arse in life and I don't want to stoop myself to his level... So this should do.

GG8XcP7.gif
 
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Good. I don't care his state could get royalty for the use of his music, but I hope it's just limited to the more iconics songs in the series.
 
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He was an awful person and DQ will be better off in the future for his absence. I really enjoyed the music in the older DQ games, but by XI it was clear that the only reason he was still around was due to his grip on the series.
 
I don't feel good about feeling positively towards a death, as well earned as it was in his case. So I'll just say that he did compose some iconic music, and that the world is now better off without him.
 
I won’t celebrate that he died, but I won’t shed a tear and just continue enjoying my iced gingerbread espresso ☕️
 
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I feel bad about being happy that someone died... Then I remember said someone would laugh if someone like me committed suicide, and I stop feeling bad about it.

Not gonna miss him the least. I hope his family is okay tho and that they don't agree with his bigotry.

Sad that DQ XII music is apparently already composed and that this person is gonna be celebrated my SE one more time like some kind of legendary composer.

What makes me sadder tho is that people that have the exact same hate against LGBTQIA+ youth are not that uncommon. I hope none get in the spotlight again tho. Knowing that I'll be disappointed. Hell I live in a country that the president is openly homophobic and glorifies the crimes against humanity such as torture that the military dictatorship committed. I think this world is a really weird place.
 
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My sentiments have been echoed in this thread already (awful man, incredible-at-times music) so I’m just going to leave his ABSOLUTE BEST WORK here and that’s it



This might be one of the best songs I’ve ever heard
 
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TheDok said:
RIP. Guy an old dude with dumb backwards views, but will always respect his music..
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It's worth mentioning that he didn't just hold these views (even though they're abhorrent by themselves) but actively engaged in far-right politics promoting them. I'm not saying anyone absolutely has to celebrate his death but he was harmful in ways most shitheads aren't.
 
Like was said in the other place: it's sad that if he had been caught with drugs or a legit sexual scandal of any sort, his career would've been finished a long, long time ago. But having harmful views and actively working towards causes that actively did cause harm, on the other hand...
 
I'm not sure someone that is just plain evil and has disgusting views and pushed those views into the world can be labeled "controversial"

shitbag is more appropriate, imo
 
TheMoon said:
I'm not sure someone that is just plain evil and has disgusting views and pushed those views into the world can be labeled "controversial"

shitbag is more appropriate, imo
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I thought about that, but Famiboards is new and so didn’t want to set a precedent for the type of community we clearly are not (e.g. shitbags)
 
Can we give this thread the ‘Garbage Galaxy’ tag?
 
The Twitter discourse seems to be "don't celebrate his death because his music was great even though his beliefs weren't" but honestly, fucked that. As a gay man, I'm doing the Harlem Shake to this one. Laughing at suicidal teens, amongst all the other bullshit he spewed, gets him no sympathy from me. May he burn eternally in hell.
 
Bonejack said:
I think if the person in question has actively used their fame and wealth to make the lives of other people worse, then you're totally okay with being absolutely vile about said persons death.

Imo.
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Hard agree. I made a thread on the old site all about this. He doesn't deserve love after his departure. Also I'm sure he has enough love from his many, MANY fans in Japan.
 
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Dakhil said:
I wonder who could replace Koichi Sugiyama. Joe Hisaishi?
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Someone else said that Yuzo Koshiro's ActRaiser remake OST almost sounded like a "proof of concept" for what a DQ OST by him would be like. And now, I so DESPERATELY want this to be true.
 
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Dardan Sandiego said:
It's worth mentioning that he didn't just hold these views (even though they're abhorrent by themselves) but actively engaged in far-right politics promoting them. I'm not saying anyone absolutely has to celebrate his death but he was harmful in ways most shitheads aren't.
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Agreed, he was definitely harmful and a POS. Art from artist separation and everything still.
 
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SlipperyFishes said:
I thought about that, but Famiboards is new and so didn’t want to set a precedent for the type of community we clearly are not (e.g. shitbags)
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I mean, not that you're supposed to put that in the title ... just that "controversial" implies there's another side to argue for in that regard. From the OP it's clear, I think, that you mean "on the one hand, there's the 'iconic' music, on the other hand he was a garbage human" but the "controversial" in the title just suggests there's sort of a grey area with him as a person.
 
May his family find peace, and may all the harm he had brought be undone. His legacy should be only a composer while everything else should be erased.
 
Fewer homophobes in the world is a good thing so as harsh as that may sound I think him being gone makes the world a better place. Him being so involved with Dragon Quest was a huge bummer, hopefully the next composer will be someone who is open-minded and compassionate.
 
I don’t know why I gasped at the title, considering he was 90 years old. When he cared about the music, Dragon Quest’s soundtracks were phenomenal. Just about every track on DQXI came from an earlier title.

I’m curious who will take up composing duties now. As mentioned earlier, Joe Hisaishi would be a dream come true.
 
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I love the idea of a Joe Hisaishi making a DQ soundtrack but he's also already 70. I assume that they're gonna go for someone younger who can carry the franchise for a while.
 
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I'm miserable people said Hisaishi now because it'll never happen and that will haunt me 😂

Hard to say anything about Sugiyama that anyone hasn't already. He was actively harmful and that will define his legacy I think, in quite how exceptionally toxic it was. Yes he made great music in his career but the story here is one of the most actively toxic figures in the industry fully supported by a publisher won't play a part in it any more and I hope the space left allows for forward momentum. That in itself is enough cause for celebration.
 
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I am a bit shocked about the reaction here. Yes, he wasn't a good person (to put it mildly). Despite that it is *never* appropriate to wish someone death or celebrate if it happens. Because just simply: it makes you as bad a person. He wished bad things on some persons, that made him a bad person. Wishing the same for him does the same for the wisher.

His legacy is a mixed bag. He did some really great compositions for Dragon Quest. His backwards views on copyright on the other hand damaged the quality of Dragon Quest, as it wasn't as good a product as it could've been.

His political views and actions were despicable. There is simply nothing else to say here, nothing redeemable, that wasn't just backwards, it was outright harmful.

I wish his family the best.

EDIT: I apologize for the comparison, that was going too far.
 
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Mnementh said:
I am a bit shocked about the reaction here. Yes, he wasn't a good person (to put it mildly). Despite that it is *never* appropriate to wish someone death or celebrate if it happens. Because just simply: it makes you as bad a person. He wished bad things on some persons, that made him a bad person. Wishing the same for him does the same for the wisher.
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Being happy that someone using his massive wealth and fame to spread hate that actively harms marginalized people can't do so anymore doesn't make you as bad as that person. This is an insane equivalency.
 
Mnementh said:
I am a bit shocked about the reaction here. Yes, he wasn't a good person (to put it mildly). Despite that it is *never* appropriate to wish someone death or celebrate if it happens. Because just simply: it makes you as bad a person. He wished bad things on some persons, that made him a bad person. Wishing the same for him does the same for the wisher.

His legacy is a mixed bag. He did some really great compositions for Dragon Quest. His backwards views on copyright on the other hand damaged the quality of Dragon Quest, as it wasn't as good a product as it could've been.

His political views and actions were despicable. There is simply nothing else to say here, nothing redeemable, that wasn't just backwards, it was outright harmful.

I wish his family the best.
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how do i “No!” a post
 
Hope his family is alright but I'm not particularly moved or saddened by his death. As we say in Portuguese, "já vai tarde".
 
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Dardan Sandiego said:
Being happy that someone using his massive wealth and fame to spread hate that actively harms marginalized people can't do so anymore doesn't make you as bad as that person. This is an insane equivalency.
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Every person wishing someone death or celebrating it is a shitty jerk, there is no denying it. Pointing that out doesn't make me a sympathizer with his actions, it is just simply that I go against the hateful speech. There is nothing progressive about celebrating someones death. Progressiveness means making stuff better, hate ist making stuff worse.

People may argue he "deserves" this behaviour, but that was exactly the apology of every shitty hate-jerk in history.

That is why I post in hope people here reconsider their actions and come back to the side of light and good and rainbows and cookies.
 
Mnementh said:
Every person wishing someone death or celebrating it is a shitty jerk, there is no denying it. Pointing that out doesn't make me a sympathizer with his actions, it is just simply that I go against the hateful speech. There is nothing progressive about celebrating someones death. Progressiveness means making stuff better, hate ist making stuff worse.

People may argue he "deserves" this behaviour, but that was exactly the apology of every shitty hate-jerk in history.

That is why I post in hope people here reconsider their actions and come back to the side of light and good and rainbows and cookies.
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Equating people being happy or rather relieved that someone cannot spread hate that actively harms their very existence with a raging bigot shows a concerning lack of empathy for the people that are actually affected by this. The violence inflicted unto marginalized identities by his rhetoric stands in no comparison to some random person on here celebrating Sugiyama's death, not in scale and not in reach. It's absolutely disgusting that you came into this thread to pass judgement on people that have to fight for their lives on a daily basis because of people like Sugiyama. I hope you reevaluate your position because while you might think that this does't make you a sympathizer, bothsides-ing this issue makes you complicit in normalizing hate speech towards marginalized people. Masking that behind "rainbows and cookies" doesn't change that.

in short:

Mnementh said:
Progressiveness means making stuff better
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Things are better now that he's gone.
 
TheMoon said:
I mean, not that you're supposed to put that in the title ... just that "controversial" implies there's another side to argue for in that regard. From the OP it's clear, I think, that you mean "on the one hand, there's the 'iconic' music, on the other hand he was a garbage human" but the "controversial" in the title just suggests there's sort of a grey area with him as a person.
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You're right, I can be more forthright about it. Updated thread title.
 
famicorpse said:
The Twitter discourse seems to be "don't celebrate his death because his music was great even though his beliefs weren't" but honestly, fucked that. As a gay man, I'm doing the Harlem Shake to this one. Laughing at suicidal teens, amongst all the other bullshit he spewed, gets him no sympathy from me. May he burn eternally in hell.
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He actually laughed at suicidal teens? Man, fuck this guy, in life and death. And I say this as a Dragon Quest fan who really apreciates the music from those games. And also as a person who can't separate the art from the artist.
 
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