Yesterday, it was reported that manga artist Nobuhiro Watsuki was charged with possession of of child pornography. Now the manga that Watsuki made famous is going on hiatus.
(c)ジャンプスクエア2017年9月号／集英社(c)和月伸宏／集英社 via Anime Anime
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2017/11/rurouni-kenshin-creator-charged-with-possessing-child-pornography/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/njjeajyhbwsxz8vzzvum.png” title=”Rurouni Kenshin Creator Charged With Possessing Child Pornography” excerpt=”Nobuhiro Watsuki, creator of the hit manga Rurouni Kenshin, has been charged with possession of child pornography.”]
As Anime Anime (via ANN) previously reported, Rurouni Kenshin: Hokkaido Arc launched on September 4 in Jump SQ. The serialised manga had been slated to start in autumn, but was delayed to earlier this spring.
J-News reached out to the Rurouni Kenshin‘s publisher Shueisha, who issued this comment: “We’ve heard the news, and as a company, this is something we are taking very seriously. The artist is doing deep soul searching. Rurouni Kenshin Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story: Hokkaido Arc, currently serialised in Jump SQ, won’t appear in print for the time being from the December 4 issue.”
But will it return in the future?
Movie network Neco Channel, which major Japanese motion picture company Nikkatsu owns, has nixed its upcoming Rurouni Kenshin live-action movie broadcasts. On November 25, the channel had planned to show the three live-action films. A spokesperson for the channel apologised profusely, asking viewers for their understanding in light of the charges against Rurouni Kenshin’s creator for possessing child pornography.
Comments
5 responses to “Rurouni Kenshin Manga Goes On Hiatus”
This is horrible. It is a good anime and the live action films are one of the best anime to live action adaptions out there. Such a shame people are going to be boycotting whether by choice or not this series.
I’m not going to begrudge a company wanting to get far away from the scandal this person created.
Perhaps you could start your own network where the work of disgraced artists could be proudly shown. You could even use that toxic ‘listen and believe’ catch phrase you’ve been spouting here of late as the slogan for said network.
Eh, this is a fairly standard response in Japan.
Japanese companies, especially in the anime, manga and gaming industries HATE having any of their people getting on the wrong side of the law for any reason and will distance themselves from anyone who gets convicted.
I remember back when the idea of a Third season of Log Horizon started to seem pretty doubtful because the author got in trouble with the law and that was just for accidental tax evasion. Getting in trouble for child pornography possession? you better believe Shueisha is gonna keep their distance at least until things calm down.
Yeah. i understand why they do it, it is just a shame there are going to be people that won’t experience this amazing anime because of this.
I get what you are saying. However, child pornography is even more of a shame, wouldn’t you agree? Any measures aimed at reducing and preventing it are necessary. With someone of such a high profile as Watsuki, probably the best thing to do is to make an example of him.