‘Jump Force’ Sparks Debate Over Controversial ‘Rurouni Kenshin’ Addition

Many fans are looking forward to Shueisha and Bandai Namco’s crossover anime brawler Jump Force, which takes characters from Weekly Shonen Jump’s most popular series, but the latest additions of Rurouni Kenshin characters has sparked major controversy.

Bandai Namco recently announced the addition of Rurouni Kenshin’s Kenshin and Shishio to the Jump Force roster, and now fans are debating whether or not to support the game following Rurouni Kenshin creator Nobuhiro Watsuki’s conviction for possession of child pornography.

As noted by @shrapnelhorn on Twitter, Watsuki was convicted for possession of child pornography earlier this year. Ordered to pay a fine of 200,000 yen (roughly $2,000 USD), his work on Rurouni Kenshinresumed in Shonen Jump this past June. Arrested in 2017 for possession of DVDs (reportedly a high number) featuring of nude girls in their teens, Watsuki admitted during his deposition that he “liked girls in late elementary school to around the second year of middle school.”

While Watsuki has resumed his work in Japan not long after his conviction, the situation is much different in the United States. Viz Media, publisher of Weekly Shonen Jump’s English language release, has yet to bring the series back from its now indefinite hiatus.

Fans in the United States also now are coming to grips with what that means as Rurouni Kenshin‘s characters are featured in another major Shonen Jump crossover. Now they have to decide for themselves whether or not to support a game featuring a series with such a major stigma.

Jump Force is currently slated for a release for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on February 15, 2019. Originally created by Nobuhiro Watsuki for Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 1994, Rurouni Kenshin is set during the Meiji era of Japan and follows the story of a former assassin named Kenshin Himura who has dedicated his life to atoning for his past sins as the “Battosai.” Determined to leave senseless violence behind, Himura and his comrades travel Japan and stand up for oppressed underdogs everywhere while vowing to never again take a life.

The series has sold over 70 million copies, and has spawned an anime (which enjoyed a run on Cartoon Network’s Toonami block), video games, and a live-action film trilogy. The series has been licensed for an English language release by Viz Media, and the series was put on an indefinite hiatus in the West following Watsuki’s conviction for possession of child pronography.