Publisher raps Nippon TV over ‘Sexy Tanaka-san’ adaptation

The publisher of manga series “Sexy Tanaka-san” has criticized Nippon Television Network for its alleged “insincere” attitude over the television drama adaptation of the manga.
A special investigation team at Shogakukan released a report Monday following the death of the manga’s author, Hinako Ashihara, in January.
The report said that Nippon TV may have failed to relay to the scriptwriter of the drama series Ashihara’s request that the TV adaptation, aired between October and December last year, stay true to the original manga series.
It noted that the Nippon TV side had taken an “insincere” attitude over script revisions.
Growing increasingly distrustful of the scriptwriter through her interactions with the Nippon TV side via Shogakukan, Ashihara wrote the scripts for the last two episodes of the drama series herself.

She was caught in a social media storm after refuting a social media post made by the scriptwriter to voice bewilderment at having been replaced. Ashihara was found dead soon after that.
While saying that the drama series ultimately incorporated Ashihara’s requests, the report stated, “We cannot say with certainty that the extreme mental strain that had accumulated during the scriptwriting process had no impact on (Ashihara’s behavior).”
The report also said that Shogakukan could have offered to support Ashihara over responses to social media posts.