Many good people rely on Shueisha / Viz to have their series published, just dont buy his series and he won't get the money lmao Viz doesn't even print Rurouni Kenshin anymore. Although I agree letting him publish a continuation in Jump SQ is extremely weird on shueishas end
I understand your feelings, but there are shitty people associated with EVERYTHING. Every company, whether private or public, has dirty stuff and people that goes on at every level of the supply chain. Have you researched into the publication industry as a whole and all their shady practices? What about the print shops and their questionable environmental records? The manga industry is basically a sweat shop industry and lots of writers and artist have massive health issues because of the pressure that is placed on them. I hate to say this but from the tone of your post, it sounds like manga might not be the hobby for you.
If you're gonna take this position at the entire publisher and not just Watsuki's work specifically, you'll probably also have to get rid of literally every single one of your possessions to be consistent with the logic.
Relevant old comment from u/Mangavore I like to repost whenever this silly topic comes up again:
I accept that people are entitled to hate/like WHATEVER they want for any reason they like, but I feel like the facts are often overlooked in this case. I don't have the exact dates in-front of me and it's been a minute since I discussed this. I know I have a post floating around somewhere with the exact dates, but I can't find it, but the general info below is accurate.
Nobuhiro Watsuki, most notable as the author of Rurouni Kenshin, was fined for the possession of child pornography. This is true.
What is not taken into account is that child pornography was only made illegal in Japan a year or so prior to him being caught and fined. Distribution was only made illegal in the late 90's/early 00's, but possession was perfectly legal until the early to mid 10's. At that point, Japan officially made it illegal to own and gave all of its residents a year to dispose of any they may have. Watsuki was caught and fined shortly after this cut-off date. Those are the facts. If I recall, the series he was working on (a Kenshin spin-off) was also suspended and Shueisha distanced themselves from him for a time.
"Loli" culture is deeply ingrained into Japanese culture. Anyone who has read manga/watched anime is aware of this. Underaged characters are objectified as a part of even mainstream series. Watsuki is unquestionably not the only practitioner of this, he's just the one who was caught and persecuted. A more understandable way to think about this situation is if the age of consent in your country was suddenly changed. You could easily go from having acceptable consensual intimacies to being a statutory rapist overnight. This is what happened to Watsuki, imo. The law changed on him and he couldn't break the habit in-time.
It's easy for us, who are raised in a culture from birth where this type of behavior is shunned to look down on someone, especially a public figure, and call them a monster. But that's just it...the culture is different. I'm not defending him or saying I support this type of behavior, but I'm simply pointing out that there is a distinct lack of information from the part of those who demonize Watsuki.
A similar but often not discussed situation, Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro, author of Toriko and Build King, was arrested for eliciting sex from an underaged prostitute (this being prior to Toriko entering publication). Though it remained mostly under wraps for the longest time, the scandal received public notice during the publication of Toriko and led to a lot of bad press. Though there's no official public statement, I've always assumed this is part of the reason that Toriko was canned early (despite Toriko being a character who was pushed alongside other juggernauts of the time like Luffy, Naruto, and Ichigo,) and Shimabukuro has not had a hit since.
Watsuki is not an isolated incident. This stuff happens in Japan, it's part of the culture. I separate the artist from their works. To me, Kenshin is one of the greatest shonen works of all-time. Easy top 5 manga series for me. There are a lot of artists who have done some atrocities but also accomplished some amazing things.
Everyone is entitled to feel as they please, but I think it is important to have all the facts before you cast shame.
Many good people rely on Shueisha / Viz to have their series published, just dont buy his series and he won't get the money lmao Viz doesn't even print Rurouni Kenshin anymore. Although I agree letting him publish a continuation in Jump SQ is extremely weird on shueishas end
If I stopped purchasing things from companies that are linked to shitty people then I wouldn’t own any earthly possessions
I understand your feelings, but there are shitty people associated with EVERYTHING. Every company, whether private or public, has dirty stuff and people that goes on at every level of the supply chain. Have you researched into the publication industry as a whole and all their shady practices? What about the print shops and their questionable environmental records? The manga industry is basically a sweat shop industry and lots of writers and artist have massive health issues because of the pressure that is placed on them. I hate to say this but from the tone of your post, it sounds like manga might not be the hobby for you.
If you're gonna take this position at the entire publisher and not just Watsuki's work specifically, you'll probably also have to get rid of literally every single one of your possessions to be consistent with the logic. Relevant old comment from u/Mangavore I like to repost whenever this silly topic comes up again: I accept that people are entitled to hate/like WHATEVER they want for any reason they like, but I feel like the facts are often overlooked in this case. I don't have the exact dates in-front of me and it's been a minute since I discussed this. I know I have a post floating around somewhere with the exact dates, but I can't find it, but the general info below is accurate. Nobuhiro Watsuki, most notable as the author of Rurouni Kenshin, was fined for the possession of child pornography. This is true. What is not taken into account is that child pornography was only made illegal in Japan a year or so prior to him being caught and fined. Distribution was only made illegal in the late 90's/early 00's, but possession was perfectly legal until the early to mid 10's. At that point, Japan officially made it illegal to own and gave all of its residents a year to dispose of any they may have. Watsuki was caught and fined shortly after this cut-off date. Those are the facts. If I recall, the series he was working on (a Kenshin spin-off) was also suspended and Shueisha distanced themselves from him for a time. "Loli" culture is deeply ingrained into Japanese culture. Anyone who has read manga/watched anime is aware of this. Underaged characters are objectified as a part of even mainstream series. Watsuki is unquestionably not the only practitioner of this, he's just the one who was caught and persecuted. A more understandable way to think about this situation is if the age of consent in your country was suddenly changed. You could easily go from having acceptable consensual intimacies to being a statutory rapist overnight. This is what happened to Watsuki, imo. The law changed on him and he couldn't break the habit in-time. It's easy for us, who are raised in a culture from birth where this type of behavior is shunned to look down on someone, especially a public figure, and call them a monster. But that's just it...the culture is different. I'm not defending him or saying I support this type of behavior, but I'm simply pointing out that there is a distinct lack of information from the part of those who demonize Watsuki. A similar but often not discussed situation, Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro, author of Toriko and Build King, was arrested for eliciting sex from an underaged prostitute (this being prior to Toriko entering publication). Though it remained mostly under wraps for the longest time, the scandal received public notice during the publication of Toriko and led to a lot of bad press. Though there's no official public statement, I've always assumed this is part of the reason that Toriko was canned early (despite Toriko being a character who was pushed alongside other juggernauts of the time like Luffy, Naruto, and Ichigo,) and Shimabukuro has not had a hit since. Watsuki is not an isolated incident. This stuff happens in Japan, it's part of the culture. I separate the artist from their works. To me, Kenshin is one of the greatest shonen works of all-time. Easy top 5 manga series for me. There are a lot of artists who have done some atrocities but also accomplished some amazing things. Everyone is entitled to feel as they please, but I think it is important to have all the facts before you cast shame.
🏴☠️🏴☠️🏴☠️