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Well, considering that this involves people in Japan, I'd say WE aren't living anywhere, since neither of us lives in Japan. It will be interesting to see if anything actually comes of this.

I'm pretty curious how this turns out, too. I have no idea how the Japanese legal system deals with libel and slander.

darkcyder: I enjoyed the first ep okay, but not enough to keep up on it.

LOL NO OPINIONS PLZ

Let me see if I can remember what I learned in that one business law class...

1. This would technically be libel and not slander as it is written and not spoken, unless message board postings are considered fleeting speech - which they likely are.

2. The staff would lose this case if they actually brought such a suit under American law but I believe Japan doesn't have the same sort of anti-libel protections of criticisms under free speech as many Western countries do. Still, they would have to prove those comments made a noticeable negative impact on their sales (the first DVD will be released on 1/23) or the studio's reputation, either of which would need to be measurable if they were to somehow seek financial damages. I think it's a poor move that gives the studio negative press and little positive benefit.

By the way, I found Hyakko to be funny (have only seen 4 episodes).