kson interrogating vshojo jp ceo

0:18 Hey there, boss
4:07 Oi
8:39 kson: Since I realized fans were getting their merch late, I stopped releasing more merch through VShojo.
8:53 kson: There's several hundred million yen tied up in the merch.
8:59 So sorry you had to go through all that
15:38 kson: Like Mousey said, to prevent leaking my personal information, I had VShojo handle deals and stuff on my behalf.
15:53 kson: They weren't supposed to take my money, and would only handle the communication for me.
15:57 kson: But I guess they took them anyways.
16:02 kson: All right, let me call the JP CEO.
16:10 kson: Hello.
16:14 Loutlot: Hello.
16:16 kson: Can you guys hear him clearly, chat?
16:20 kson: Hold on while I check with chat.
16:30 kson: So, this is the JP CEO of VShojo.
16:32 kson: Are you still the CEO?
16:34 Loutlot: Yes I am.
17:44 This is Loutlot the JP CEO not Gunrun
17:45 kson: He'll be explaining in both Japanese and English. Is that okay?
17:57 Makino: I'm not so good at English, and I want to be super careful what I say here.
18:06 Makino: I prefer replying only in Japanese.
18:13 kson: Okay, that's fine. We have a mod translator today.
18:20 kson: Okay, only Japanese then.
18:23 Makino: First, a disclaimer.
18:27 Makino: I am still affiliated with the company.
18:33 Makino: Which means I shouldn't be here.
18:49 Makino: In terms of the company, I shouldn't be here.
19:25 Makino: If I say too much here, regardless of whether that's a good thing or bad thing, it could affect many people, including talents and non-talents.
19:30 Makino: So there are things I can and cannot say.
19:42 Makino: When I can't reply, it's not necessarily because I'm taking the company's side.
19:47 Makino: And there are also things I don't know.
20:01 Makino: So, my concern is to limit the effect I have on everyone.
20:15 EN:
20:16 Makino: So, my answers might not reach the standard that the viewers expect.
20:22 EN: "Since it's an EN headquarters matter, it's not something JP employees can have a say in."
20:34 Makino: Also, I've been introduced as the JP CEO, but I'm actually not greatly involved in the operating of the company.
20:53 Makino: I was in a helping role only really when a project required using Japanese resources.
21:00 Makino: Many other things weren't in my purview.
21:04 Makino: And perhaps hidden from me too.
21:10 Makino: So I can only speak from my own perspective.
21:26 Makino: I also cannot share much of my own opinion.
21:31 kson: Right, we want facts, not opinion.
21:43 Makino: I have heard that the company is working on their PR answer.
21:45 kson: Still?!
21:49 Makino: Yeah, it's taking some time.
22:14 kson: So, is it fair to say that the JP branch and EN branch are very different?
22:25 kson: And that you were not involved in so much of the stuff that was going on?
22:30 Makino: Depends on the project.
22:51 kson: Okay, there's one question I really do want an answer to.
23:00 kson: Then we'll take some questions from chat.
23:11 kson: But first, let's explain to chat about what's happened.
23:14 [EN] Even inside the company there are still talks about what to do do, so there's not that much to know about. The JP CEO himself doesn't know much in general about the operations from the main branc
23:14 kson: Why we are here.
23:17 Makino: Oh, you want me to do it?
23:19 kson: Yes please.
23:29 Makino: Today, Ironmouse released a "I'm leaving VShojo" video.
23:43 Makino: She said that, like you, she is owed money from Vshojo.
23:55 Makino: And that there is money meant for a charity that VShojo did not pay on her behalf.
24:01 Makino: Amounting to over 500k USD.
24:06 kson: Put simply, that embezzlement, isn't it?
24:11 Makino: Embezzlement...
24:19 kson: Well, the question becomes, where did the money go, right?
24:22 Makino: That's true.
24:34 Makino: I believe it may have been used for operational costs.
24:50 kson: I haven't received any money from VShojo starting Sep last year, though.
24:52 [EN] "can we call it embezzlement?" "maybe" (about the donation money)
24:58 kson: Does "operational cost" refer to the staff's salaries, then?
25:22 Makino: Of course, I can only speak for the movement of money in the Japanese branch.
26:13 kson: I just really want to know why we kept not being paid, despite asking repeatedly.
26:19 Makino: To my understanding, money flow wasn't good.
26:25 [EN] since they were also saying they were talent first, I was expecting for them to actually pay their talents...
27:52 Makino: It wasn't so much actively lying, but leaving questions unanswered.
28:11 kson: Did you know about Mousey's thing before it got out?
28:17 Makino: I can only speak from my own perspective.
28:23 Makino: I knew of it only a few weeks ago.
28:35 kson: When you found out, it's a bad thing, right?
28:36 Makino: Yes.
28:39 kson: How did you deal with it?
28:53 Makino: That money was held by the main company.
28:57 Makino: There wasn't much I myself could do.
29:05 Makino: And I couldn't look into the finances personally.
29:25 Makino: So I kept asking them how they were going to get the money back.
29:38 kson: So you were rushing about trying to gather up the money for it.
29:40 Makino: Right.
29:59 kson: How much money is VShojo owing overall?
30:04 Makino: I cannot see that.
30:13 Makino: And even if I can, that very likely falls under information I cannot share.
30:15 kson: How about VShojo JP?
30:30 Makino: Let me first explain the organizational structure of VShojo.
30:35 Makino: There is JP and EN.
30:39 Makino: JP is entirely under EN.
30:57 Makino: The finances of JP are pretty much all held by EN too.
31:05 Makino: JP has its own budget.
31:17 Makino: So we can only see how much we use and earn.
31:24 Makino: So, the two organizations are not entirely separated.
31:43 EN: "JP has to receive money from the EN HQ to pay their talents."
31:53 Makino: The amount handled by JP was much lower than by EN.
32:12 kson: Did you say VShojo JP itself was doing good?
32:13 Makino: Yes.
32:16 kson: You haven't paid me.
32:27 Makino: That's what it says on the main company's finance book.
32:32 kson: Huh?
32:44 kson: Wait, so you know the JP talents were not being paid yet?
32:45 Makino: Yes.
32:50 kson: That's not "doing good", then.
32:56 for context, JP does not handle the finances on their own
33:04 Makino: We were doing good comparing the money coming in to the money going out.
33:17 kson: I quit VShojo today.
33:18 Makino: Hai.
33:30 kson: I was planning on doing it on the 31, but I'm doing it today.
33:31 kson: I quit.
33:33 kson: This is very wrong.
33:37 Makino: I understand.
33:54 kson: You're telling me you could have paid me?
33:55 Makino: Yes.
34:00 kson: Then where is (the money)?
34:02 kson: I want it now.
34:03 Makino: ........
34:06 kson: Did you just die?
34:17 Makino: I'm here.
34:20 kson: I'm not the only JP talent.
34:22 Makino: Yes.
34:28 Makino: The funds was all combined.
34:36 Makino: All I could see was the money coming in and going out.
34:43 kson: But that money going out is supposed to go to the talents?
34:44 Makino: Yes.
34:53 kson: I....don't fully understand, but let's move on.
35:02 kson: Let's talk about VShojo merch.
35:13 kson: If people buy the merch, does the money not come to us talents anymore?
35:37 Makino: So, as I said, VShojo JP's wallet is the same as EN's.
35:44 Makino: So if EN's wallet is empty, JP's is empty too.
36:02 Makino: When all the talents leave, the company will disband entirely.
36:47 Makino: The sponsorships you talents have are contracted to you directly, so they should still be good.
37:20 kson: So you will change all the contracts so that the money goes directly to us talents?
37:24 Makino: Yes.
37:29 kson: Since we possess our own IPs.
37:37 Makino: That's what we're doing on the JP side, at least.
37:48 kson: So, this is what I want to know. And what everyone wants to know: Why did this happen?
38:10 Makino: Again, I don't know everything, and can only speak from what I know.
38:13 kson: Yes?
38:27 Makino: The company was lax with its finances.
39:02 Makino: There were questions that we JP staff kept asking but didn't get answers to.
39:17 Makino: I suspect they didn't track their money properly.
39:23 kson: So it wasn't someone doing something maliciously?
39:29 Makino: Yes.
39:30 kson: They just weren't good at managing their finances?
39:41 kson: Are you getting paid right now?
39:53 Makino: Pretty much getting nothing.
39:55 kson: What's "almost"?
39:57 Makino: I got a pay cut.
40:01 kson: What's that?
40:14 Makino: My salary got slashed to less than half, starting at the start of this year.
40:22 kson: Sorry to bring the conversation back to myself.
40:29 kson: But I can only talk about myself.
40:35 kson: While I wasn't getting paid, you were getting paid.
40:50 kson: Staff has to get paid, so I'm not like, "Don't pay the staff," but that sounds kind of unfair to me.
40:51 Makino: I agree.
41:34 Makino: Whether it was the right decision or not aside, from an overall perspective, the idea is that the company's finances has to improve before we can pay money out.
41:50 Makino: To get the company back on track, we need to have staff running the company.
42:09 kson: Isn't it more important to keep the talents paid? Or am I just biased cus I'm a talent?
42:13 Makino: Both are important, yeah.
42:45 kson: People are paying VShojo because they want to support their talents, though.
42:48 Makino: Yeah, you're right.
42:53 kson: Talents first my ass. Was it staff first?
42:55 Makino: ..........
43:08 Makino: All I can say is, the staff aren't in the wrong.
43:28 kson: It's not like I want to blame anyone, cus that's not gonna pay my checks.
44:35 Makino: The biggest problem is that the JP wallet was combined with the EN one.
44:41 Makino: There was discussion to separate the two.
44:44 Makino: Since the JP side's cash flow was good.
44:55 Makino: So, there was talk about separating the two.
47:12 kson: Sorry, bringing it back to me. Just confirming again that if I have merch going out and people buy it, that money comes back to me?
47:29 kson: And sorry again that I'm only talking about myself, because other talents will speak for themselves.
47:39 kson: So, is my debt going to be paid?
47:55 Makino: That depends on whether the company (the US side) can recover.
48:06 Makino: But I don't think chances are good.
48:17 kson: I feel like I got scammed.
48:23 kson: I kept getting "Wait, we'll pay you."
48:39 kson: And the fans paid using the money they worked hard to earn, to buy our merch.
48:45 kson: And support us through our deals.
48:57 kson: And all that money that got paid to VShojo is now gone?
49:04 kson: That feels very much like a scam.
49:28 kson: I was planning on using the money I would get from the fans to do bigger and better things for them.
49:31 kson: And it was quite a large amount.
49:33 Makino: Yes.
49:45 kson: So I just really want to know where all the money went.
49:49 kson: This is really not good.
49:51 Makino: Yes.
50:09 kson: The monetization from streams themselves were not touched by VShojo.
50:19 kson: So it's not like the talents (including me) are entirely out of money.
50:21 kson: But that's not the issue.
50:25 kson: It's more like, the trust from the fans.
51:03 kson: Was this company trying to add more talents?
51:21 kson: Even though they haven't paid me yet.
51:23 kson: What was up with that?
51:33 Makino: Yes, VShojo was trying to add more talents.
51:47 kson: Was the idea that more money would then come in and they could use that to cover the outstanding expenses?
51:54 Makino: I don't think they were thinking that far.
52:02 Makino: Those in charge of adding talents were only in charge of adding talents.
52:41 Makino: But now that we all have a bigger picture, it seems wise to have stopped.
52:48 kson: Someone should have stopped the situation.
53:00 kson: Did anyone inside VShojo say, "Hey, there's something wrong. Let's not do this."
53:05 kson: "Let's see where our finances are going."
53:16 kson: "Looks like this amount of money should be paid to the talents. We should do something about that."
53:19 kson: Did anyone say anything about that?
53:53 Makino: The thing about adding talents/adding content (including managers in the US) is run through a profit/loss analysis.
54:31 Makino: They would get the green light if the analysis is that profit could be gotten back.
54:39 kson: So people got lied to?
54:47 kson: Who lied?
54:53 Makino: I can't really answer that.
54:56 kson: Any questions from chat?
55:05 kson: I'm sorry, chat. There's so many things going on in my head.
55:09 kson: There are legal issues going on.
55:15 kson: And I don't want to start anything for the other girls.
55:21 kson: There are so many things I want to tell you that I shouldn't.
55:29 kson: What will happen to Nova?
55:43 Makino: Regarding those under my purview....
55:45 kson: Who's that?
55:49 Makino: The staff and talent of JP.
55:56 Makino: You, Henya, Nova, and the JP staff.
56:08 Makino: Regarding all of you, I want to take as much responsibility as I can.
56:12 Makino: My own power is limited, of course.
56:27 Makino: Like I said, I can change your contracts so that you talents get paid directly.
56:37 [EN]: for his part he will do his best for the people under his responsibility
56:43 Makino: How long I can remain in VShojo is still unknown, but I'll do as much as I can in the limited time I have.
56:59 Makino: I believe you and Henya can still keep going as indies.
57:20 Makino: I'll separate the staff to give you as much support as possible to continue your activities.
57:29 Makino: And I can change your contracts.
57:33 Makino: Nova is different.
57:36 Makino: It's a whole group.
57:53 Makino: They aren't in the black yet, finance-wise.
58:08 Makino: So it's a bit harder. But I'm trying to find a way for them to continue being a group.
58:22 Makino: But the managers assigned to you and Henya should be able to continue working with you.
58:35 Makino: And we'll do our best to continue supporting Nova as best we can.
58:48 kson: So......I see.
59:02 kson: Will VShojo disappear entirely?
59:10 Makino: I cannot say for sure, and it's out of my control.
59:35 kson: Lemme see how chat is taking things.
59:46 kson: Since my own mind is a bit filled right now.
59:51 kson: I know there's a lot of things you want to ask.
1:00:03 kson: Wait a minute.
1:00:22 Chat: So basically, no one knows what happened to the money
1:00:25 kson: Pretty much, yeah.
1:00:36 kson: There's no point blaming the JP CEO, of course.
1:00:48 kson: But with things having gotten like this, we need some sort of explanation.
1:00:54 kson: We need official word from the company.
1:01:55 Chat: Will there be an apology from the company?
1:01:56 kson: Or a statement?
1:01:59 Makino: I sure hope so.
1:02:19 kson: There are so many things I have to apologize to the fans for.
1:02:26 kson: But, thank you JP CEO, for now.
1:02:29 Makino: Right.
1:02:30 You've done nothing to apologize for, boss
1:03:01 kson: In any case, thank you for coming onto this stream.
1:03:06 Makino: Thank you for having me.
1:03:29 Makino: Since you joined us, we've talked a lot, and I'm terribly sorry things have ended this way.
1:03:37 kson: Thank you for coming to the stream.
1:03:39 Makino: Thank you for having me.
1:03:44 kson: Well, all right.
1:03:50 kson: So, that was the VShojo JP CEO.