<figure id="attachment_390325" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1280px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-390325"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ea98b897"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/09/6660603fc10ea18baf6fc8056ee56175.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-390325" class="wp-caption-text">Chinatsu Wakatsuki, who became independent from the office she had been with for 23 years.</figcaption></figure>
Chinatsu Wakatsuki&#8217;s departure from her agency has become a hot topic.
On August 31, Wakatsuki updated her Instagram and announced that she had left her agency, Platinum Production.
Along with expressing her gratitude to her fans and associates, Wakatsuki also shared the official document from the agency regarding her departure. According to that document, Wakatsuki joined the agency in 2001 and had been working with them for 23 years until her departure.
From fans,
“Congratulations on your independence! I’ll continue to support you from now on.”
“I have immense respect for how cool you are in everything you do. I’ll keep cheering you on!”
Such supportive messages were pouring in from fans, but.
When a celebrity announces their departure from an agency, it is almost certain that reports will surface questioning whether the split was amicable or not.
In Wakatsuki&#8217;s case, as expected, WEB Josei Jishin reported on September 1 that she had allegedly made comments to her manager such as:
“You’re such an idiot, seriously useless.”
“You should quit.”
These remarks, resembling &#8220;power harassment,&#8221; were reportedly made, and voices within the agency were saying, 
“We’re glad she left.”
The report fueled further speculation about her departure.
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In a broad sense, there are those who might not see this as an amicable departure. However, if the reports are true, both the “talent wanting to leave” and the “agency wanting the talent to leave” seem to have aligned interests, and since there doesn’t seem to have been any particular dispute about the departure, it could be considered an “amicable” split for now.
It&#8217;s not uncommon in the entertainment industry to hear about talents who, unable to establish a working relationship with their managers, end up having them replaced multiple times.
As for the job of a talent manager at an entertainment agency:
“The basics involve schedule management. For newcomers, it also includes pitching them to TV stations and doing sales work. There’s also the task of driving them to and from work and taking care of personal needs,” said a manager from a major entertainment agency.
When it comes to new talents who are minors or have no prior work experience, they may lack not only the “common sense” of the entertainment industry but also general social knowledge. In such cases, the manager sometimes steps in as a sort of “educator,” taking over the role of the parent or school teacher, but.
&#8220;A manager must have a higher level of experience than the talent in various aspects. If the manager is inexperienced, regardless of age, immature talents may misunderstand their role and treat the manager like a personal assistant. When talents start gaining popularity, they often think they are the ones supporting the agency. Some even begin to believe they are superior to the manager, thinking they are the ones keeping them fed. To prevent this, it&#8217;s important to properly guide talents to understand the working relationship with their manager. It&#8217;s not about who&#8217;s on top—it&#8217;s a partnership, like working in tandem,&#8221; said a manager from a major entertainment agency.
In large or well-established agencies, experienced veteran managers provide &#8220;educational guidance&#8221; to ensure that talents don’t become arrogant. However, in small, newly established agencies, especially those with just one major star bringing in most of the revenue, it’s easy for the talent to be spoiled.
Additionally, agencies that manage a large number of highly popular teenage idols often fail to provide adequate guidance.
“There was once a story about a male idol, around 15 or 16 years old, who belonged to an agency that no longer exists. He sent his manager to buy juice, and when the manager came back with drinks for both of them and drank his own, the idol said, ‘I can’t forgive you for drinking before me,’ and threw the juice at him. I also saw a young actress throw slippers, saying, ‘It’s too hot in the waiting room! The air conditioning isn’t working properly,’” recalled a TV station director.
Additionally,
&#8220;A certain actress, who is now well-established, had just debuted when there was an incident during a magazine photoshoot. The clothing prepared for the shoot didn’t fit, and the session had to be postponed. On-site, she scolded the manager, saying, ‘You didn’t provide the correct sizes, did you?’ But in reality, the delay was because she had overeaten and gained weight between the fitting and the shoot,” recalled a stylist.
There are countless such &#8220;cruel tales&#8221; involving managers.
As more talents choose to go independent and manage their own careers, there is growing concern about the survival of entertainment agencies. The previously mentioned manager from a major agency stated:
“We have no choice but to work hard to build a strong bond of trust between talents and managers so that they want to continue working with us in this agency.&#8221;
He emphasized the importance of returning to the basics, saying:
“While agencies are partly responsible for spoiling talents, those who treat their managers like slaves have no future. They will inevitably face consequences at some point.”
Building smooth, healthy relationships is the key to success, no matter the industry.

 Hiroyuki Sasaki (entertainment journalist)

 Yuri Adachi

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