No Japanese creator is going to reply "well, I would rather that the company that pays my salary not censor me", unless they have such star power that they know

No Japanese creator is going to reply "well, I would rather that the company that pays my salary not censor me", unless they have such star power that they know they can say this with no repercussions, so I'm skeptical of such claims. Not to mention that Japanese creators often don't know much about a problem other than what the company tells them. If Nintendo tells them "we need to do this or people in the West won't buy it," the creator will believe them, and say that they don't mind the censorship because it's necessary, even if Nintendo is lying through their teeth when they say that.