Shonen Jump Shares Statement Following Act-Age Creator’s Arrest

Act-Age series writer Tatsuya Matsuki has been arrested on the suspicion of committing indecent acts with a middle school student. According to a report from NHK, police reported that the middle school girl was walking in the Nakano area of Japan on June 18th when the suspect in question approached her and touched her inappropriately. Leaving the scene shortly after, the middle school victim reported the incident to police. Upon their investigation, security camera footage had revealed another similar incident occurred with another middle school student as the suspect matched Matsuki’s profile.

Following the series writer’s arrest, to which police noted Matsuki said there’s “generally nothing incorrect” with the allegations, Shonen Jump‘s editorial department released an official statement regarding Matsuki’s arrest, the allegations, and actions following their own internal investigation, “From the editorial department, we would like to inform you that the news report about is taken very seriously. We will take appropriate action after confirming the facts. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and concern this may cause to our readers and others involved.”

Details from the incident are still being revealed as of this writing, but immediate actions have been taken by the Shonen Jump editorial department already. The release of Act-Age’s next volume has been pulled from the schedule for the time being, and the upcoming stage play based on Tatsuya Matsuki and illustrator Shiro Usazaki’s manga is currently in the midst of their own investigation into the arrest as well.

Act-Age has been picking up steam as a manga lately, so many fans are beginning to question the future of the series. There were reports of a new anime project being in the works earlier this year, but with the anime project still unconfirmed there are of course no details as to how it will be impacted by Matsuki’s arrest. Earlier this year, Shonen Jump’s editorial department noted how series like Act-Age and Jujutsu Kaisen were expected to be successes for the magazine as well.

ComicBook.com will update you on any major developments in this incident, and let us know how you feel in the comments! What do you think Shonen Jump will do with Act-Age following this arrest? Seeing how they have handled similar incidents in the past, does their eventual decision instill you with confidence? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or you can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!