DotA is far superior to author’s word of god for critical discussion and audience interaction/interpretation both (i.e. imagine having to take every shitty tweet JK Rowling does about Harry Potter at face value)
It’s just less sentimental in cases like this, more or less, seems more harsh and corporate even though I’d argue it’s much more for the individual consumer’s benefit
Authorial Intent = Author says, so it is
DotA = individual interpretation/audience reaction comes before author’s claims/statements
I do side with the West over Japan on this one tbh, the freedom in how you can explore and interact with a given work far exceed the drawback of ending up with a series becoming a shell of itself after the OG isn’t working on it anymore