Act-Age writer Tatsuya Matsuki has been officially indicted on a second indecent act following his arrest earlier this year for alleged indecent acts with a minor. As reported by TBS News, The Tokyo Public Prosecutor’s Office has filed a formal indictment over this second act allegedly committed by Matsuki last June. In August, Matsuki was arrested over an alleged incident where Matsuki allegedly inappropriately touched a middle school student. Following a police investigation into security cameras in the area, there was a second incident revealed featuring a suspect resembling Matsuki.
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Matsuki had not been indicted for the first incident, and while the Tokyo Public Prosecutor’s Office had not revealed why, they have now issued a formal indictment for the second of two allegedly indecent acts. Immediately following the series writer’s arrest, police noted Matsuki said there’s “generally nothing incorrect” with the allegations.
Shonen Jump’s editorial department released an official statement following 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.”
Shortly thereafter, Act-Age was officially cancelled in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. This brought an end to any potential plans to adapt the manga in other means such as the planned stage play, and the manga was then scrubbed from shelves with both Shueisha (and English licensor Viz Media) putting a stop to printing of the series from then on. This led to a brief rise in sales as many tried to purchase one of the remaining copies for themselves, but it’s clear that Act-Age’s franchise is now completely done as a whole no matter what these final sales numbers may be.
Fans rushed to support Act-Age series illustrator, Shiro Usazaki, following Matsuki’s arrest, and the cancellation of the series only brought more attention to the up and coming artist whose work had been derailed by the series’ writer. Tatsuya Matsuki’s arrest is still unfolding with new information, and ComicBook.com will keep you updated on any major changes. What do you think of Act-Age‘s cancellation? Do you think Shonen Jump was right to cancel the series due to Matsuki’s actions? How does this compare to other notable creator arrests and indictments of Shueisha’s past? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
