A former creator cancelled within the pages of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine following their arrest has been revealed to actually have been working on a new series under a pen name as part of a much wider manga publisher controversy. Shogakukan and the Manga One editorial department have been embroiled in a massive controversy that saw many other notable creators behind Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, One-Punch Man and more pull their works from the Manga One platform due to the fact that the publisher was working with a controversial creator.
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Operation Fallen Angel creator Yamamoto Shoichi was revealed to have been previously arrested and convicted of sexual assault, and thus the series has been cancelled. In light of this news, Shogakukan and Manga One have revealed that they have also been working with Tatsuya Matsuki, the writer behind Shonen Jump’s Act-Age, which had been cancelled following the writer’s arrest and indictment in 2020 for sexual assault of a minor. Bt the creator has been working under a pen name this whole time.
Act-Age Writer Secretly Returns With New Series, The Counselor Through Years and Stars
“We will never tolerate sexual assault, sexual exploitation, or any other human rights violations,” Shogakukan shared in an official statement on the matter. “We recognize that respect for human rights is the most important thing for a company to do as a member of society.” Launching an internal investigation, Shogakukan also discloses that the writer behind one of their newest series, The Counselor Through Years and Stars, is actually the cancelled Act-Age series writer Tatsuki Matsuki writing under the pen name of Miki Yatsunami. Matsuki themselves consented to this reveal in light of speculation.
In Shogakukan’s statement about the matter, the company revealed that they were aware of Matsuki’s history but confirmed that the verdict against the writer and been finalized and the suspended sentence period had expired. Noting the writer’s remorse over the incident, and efforts to prevent it from recurring, and other factors were discussed internally before confirming him as the writer for The Counselor Through Years and Stars. Moving forward, the company
What Does This Mean for Shogakukan’s Future?
Tatsuki Muki was arrested and indicted back in 2000 on forcible indecency charges and was found guilty. The writer was sentenced with one year and six months in prison, but it had been suspended for three years. This confirmation reveals that Shogakukan has now worked with two major creators with controversial pasts, and had been hiding their true identities while doing so. A third party committee investigating these matters could make a difference, but this will undoubtedly cause manga fans to look at them in a different way.
Shogakukan has announced that they will be further investigating the situation around its creators, and will be looking into the editorial department at Manga ONE and the author appointing process for its projects. But further details for the future of The Counselor Through Years and Stars have not been revealed as of this time.
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Official art by Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme -
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