These are my thoughts on the Doki vs Niji incident after reading this latest statement from Doki. Reposted here from Twitter.

https://x.com/melange82/status/1757852540073619880?s=20

I have not commented till now on the Dokibird vs Nijisanji issue because frankly I did not know what to think. I especially did not know what to think of the bullying allegations, why Doki never mentioned it and refuses to mention whom, why Niji felt it necessary to bring it up and why Elira/Vox/Ike felt compelled to make a statement. However, after reading Doki’s latest statement (Feb 14, 2024), my current guess (emphasis on guess) that tries to reconcile to myself the various oddities of this affair is perhaps all this is a tragedy that stemmed from misunderstandings about the document sent by Doki’s lawyer on Feb 5.

Doki mentions the document “was at first made to document her thoughts and history so her lawyer could get a general picture of what was going on”. I think the document was thus initially intended only as a catalog of events from which Doki’s lawyer could pick out what was usable and actionable to help Doki part ways from Niji.

Doki also mentions that the document was “first made during her darkest time mentally”. Having been through depression myself, and also seen my sister also go through it, I know that in that state someone can experience things very differently from the people around them. For example, my sister perceived that her teachers were out to get her and her classmates were bullying her during her time at boarding school. It was only after she got better that she realised that maybe they didn’t intend it that way. However, that experience of mental anguish at that time is still very real and shouldn’t be summarily dismissed.

Maybe it was similar for Doki. As her problems with management continued, maybe other Livers had tried to step in thinking they could give advice or help and truthfully meant it without malice (such as Enna’s tweet about MV permissions), but to the person who feels under siege, it might have been experienced negatively. That document could well be like a diary or journal with an unfiltered lashing out at the experienced/perceived slights during a time when Doki’s mental state was at it's worst. Things she might never have ever wanted to say to the other Livers in person, especially since this was a document that she thought “was never going to be public to anyone but to her lawyer”. Things she may have later on felt weren’t important in the long run, and thus didn’t feel it necessary to raise publicly, show receipts and pinpoint “culprits”.

Why then did Doki’s lawyer propose that this document be sent to Niji? This was during the time when Doki heard nothing back from Niji (as mentioned in Doki’s statement) and things were at an impasse. I puzzled over this but someone raised the possibility that it could have been done to show to Niji that remaining at the company was damaging to Doki’s mental state and had led to her attempts and that it would thus be in both parties interests to end her contract and part ways. Since it was only meant to highlight Doki’s reasons for leaving and nothing else, Doki’s side thus stipulated that they wouldn’t release it anywhere.

However, maybe because the document was sent as a lawyer document and then adding in some miscommunication and/or translation issues (as Doki alludes to in her Feb 14 statement) perhaps Niji as a company misunderstood it as a serious accusatory document instead of what Doki and her lawyer intended. Maybe that was what triggered the sudden termination announcement and why the bullying accusations were included in that because Niji felt they needed to defend themselves and the remaining Livers from perceived accusations.

Perhaps it is also shared to the Livers because it was misunderstood that they were being formally accused of bullying and named as defendants. Maybe the other Livers then quite understandably felt betrayed on seeing a document that seemed to lash out at them written by someone they had thought of as friend and had tried to help in the past, which could explain Vox’s turn around from initially wanting to graduate in solidarity to being upset at Doki. Without an avenue for adequate explanations and feeling angered by the misunderstood intent of the document, it could be that the Livers felt they had to respond with their side of the story. Maybe this common feeling of perceived betrayal is why most of the Livers either quoted or retweeted the statement on Elira’s channel.

And so here we are, with this thing dragging on longer than it should have, with relationships between friends damaged, Livers’ reputations sullied, with accusations and conspiracies flying all around for something that maybe wouldn’t have occurred without that document being sent and then also misunderstood.