{"id":20098,"date":"2023-07-13T17:19:31","date_gmt":"2023-07-13T08:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=20098"},"modified":"2023-07-13T17:22:03","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T08:22:03","slug":"20230713-20098","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20230713-20098\/","title":{"rendered":"Fire Emblem Engage artist Mika Pikazo apologizes for tweets about piracy from nine years ago\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Popular illustrator Mika Pikazo posted an apology on her official Twitter account on July 13 after past tweets in which she talks positively about piracy and admits to doing it resurfaced and caused negative reactions among a portion of users. The artist was also accused of copying the works of fellow illustrator Yoneyama Mai.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mika Pikazo is a Japanese illustrator and character designer popular for her colorful and vibrant art style. She is known for working on Nintendo\u2019s Fire Emblem Engage, the light novel Apocalypse Witch: To the Strongest of an Age of Plenty and several Fate Grand Order character designs.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230713-20098-001.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20102\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230713-20098-001.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230713-20098-001-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230713-20098-001-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230713-20098-001-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230713-20098-001-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230713-20098-001-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230713-20098-001-696x392.jpg 696w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230713-20098-001-1068x601.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230713-20098-001-747x420.jpg 747w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Recently, several of Mika Pikazo\u2019s past tweets had been dug up by users, causing negative reactions as the illustrator talks favorably of piracy in them. The tweets date back from 2014, during Pikazo\u2019s two-year stay in Brazil after graduating high school. The tweets have since been deleted, but as far as their content goes, Pikazo talks about how being in Brazil changed her view of piracy and how it\u2019s much easier to download pirated content than go out of your way to buy expensive CDs and DVDs. She admits to downloading Japanese software and anime as well.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">\u30d5\u30a9\u30ed\u30ef\u30fc\u306e\u7686\u69d8\u3001\u95a2\u4fc2\u8005\u306e\u7686\u69d8\u65b9\u3078 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mMSUNJX6AP\">pic.twitter.com\/mMSUNJX6AP<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Mika Pikazo (@MikaPikaZo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MikaPikaZo\/status\/1679307539387944960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 13, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>On July 13, Pikazo addressed the matter in a Tweet in which she apologizes for her words and actions and says that she did not have a thorough enough understanding of piracy at the time despite being a creator herself, and mentions being under the influence of a different environment. Responses to the tweet have mostly been positive, with people expressing their support for the illustrator.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, a portion of users took issue with Mika Pikazo for different reasons as well. There has recently been criticism directed at Pikazo for her exhibition pieces being similar in style and concept to the works of popular illustrator Yoneyama Mai. Some users found the similarities to be too striking to be written off as inspiration and suspected the artist of copying. A tweet offering a side-by-side comparison of the two artists\u2019 exhibition pieces has been gaining attention recently.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"fr\" dir=\"ltr\">La derni\u00e8re exposition de Mika Pikazo est un peu (trop?) inspir\u00e9e de celle de Yoneyama non ?<br>Personnellement \u00e7a me perturbe pas mal \ud83e\udee0 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/71wyFEQAH2\">pic.twitter.com\/71wyFEQAH2<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Peeji-chan (@WhiteRockMiku) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WhiteRockMiku\/status\/1603684549543841792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 16, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Some users have even gone as far to imply that Pikazo\u2019s apology for the piracy from 2014 may be an attempt to divert attention from the accusations of copying, demanding that issue to be addressed as well.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/na74_3\/status\/1679320997646995456?s=20\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><font size=\"2\"><strong>Tweet translation:<\/strong> I don&#8217;t think that (piracy) is the issue being discussed this time around. I would like to ask you to explain your mindset regarding the fact that your concepts, style, and exhibition techniques in your upcoming exhibition as well as your previous one are very similar to that of a certain person. You used to have a style that only you could pull off, so the past few years have really been a shame.&nbsp;<\/font><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Illustrator Mika Pikazo posted an apology on her official Twitter account for past tweets in which she talks positively about piracy and admits to doing it herself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":20100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,65],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-20098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-nongaming-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Fire Emblem Engage artist Mika Pikazo apologizes for tweets about piracy from nine years ago\u00a0 - 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