Japanese manga artist Shouichi Yamamoto (real name: Kazuaki Kurita) was exposed for sexually assaulting a female student, yet the publisher not only asked the girl to remain silent but also let the predatory manga artist continue his serialization under a new name, causing public outrage.
Recently, a court verdict has caused a huge stir in the Japanese manga industry. Manga artist Shouichi Yamamoto, who worked on the manga "Outcast Battleground" (堕天作战), was revealed to have seduced and raped an underage female student while teaching at a high school in Hokkaido, forcing her to eat feces, and even writing "slave" on her body. Ultimately, the judge ordered Shouichi Yamamoto to pay 11 million yen (about 274,000 ringgit) in compensation. The female student had been abused from age 15 to 18 and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suffering both physically and mentally.
Sexually assaulting a minor is already infuriating, but according to a report by Japan's Sankei Shimbun, the editor in charge at Shogakukan, the publisher of "Outcast Battleground," proposed three conditions during a settlement negotiation: first, the man would pay 1.5 million yen (about 37,395 ringgit) in settlement money; second, the female victim would withdraw her request to stop the serialization; third, she would not be allowed to speak publicly about the sexual assault. The female victim did not agree, so the settlement was not reached at the time.
Shogakukan's attempt to silence the victim already enraged netizens, but then online users exposed that the currently serializing manga "Mask of the Ordinary" (常人假面) was, in fact, a new work by Shouichi Yamamoto under the pseudonym "Ichiro Ichi."
As the scandal escalated, the Manga One editorial team at Shogakukan recently issued an apology statement, confirming that Ichiro Ichi and Shouichi Yamamoto are the same person and announcing that "Mask of the Ordinary" would cease serialization and its collected volumes would no longer be shipped. The statement also confirmed that "Outcast Battleground" had already ended its serialization in 2020 due to Yamamoto's arrest, but in 2022, the Manga One editorial team allowed Yamamoto to start a new series under the name "Ichiro Ichi." "We should not have employed this author again, but in any case, we want to offer our deepest apologies to the victim and the editorial department will take this responsibility seriously," the statement said.
But the statement did not quell the outrage. Japanese online users continued to criticize, saying, "Can someone please explain why he was hired in the first place? Shouldn’t that be explained?", "Please make public the name of the editor in charge," and so on.
Sexually assaulting a minor is already infuriating, but according to a report by Japan's Sankei Shimbun, the editor in charge at Shogakukan, the publisher of "Outcast Battleground," proposed three conditions during a settlement negotiation: first, the man would pay 1.5 million yen (about 37,395 ringgit) in settlement money; second, the female victim would withdraw her request to stop the serialization; third, she would not be allowed to speak publicly about the sexual assault. The female victim did not agree, so the settlement was not reached at the time.
Shogakukan's attempt to silence the victim already enraged netizens, but then online users exposed that the currently serializing manga "Mask of the Ordinary" (常人假面) was, in fact, a new work by Shouichi Yamamoto under the pseudonym "Ichiro Ichi."
As the scandal escalated, the Manga One editorial team at Shogakukan recently issued an apology statement, confirming that Ichiro Ichi and Shouichi Yamamoto are the same person and announcing that "Mask of the Ordinary" would cease serialization and its collected volumes would no longer be shipped. The statement also confirmed that "Outcast Battleground" had already ended its serialization in 2020 due to Yamamoto's arrest, but in 2022, the Manga One editorial team allowed Yamamoto to start a new series under the name "Ichiro Ichi." "We should not have employed this author again, but in any case, we want to offer our deepest apologies to the victim and the editorial department will take this responsibility seriously," the statement said.
But the statement did not quell the outrage. Japanese online users continued to criticize, saying, "Can someone please explain why he was hired in the first place? Shouldn’t that be explained?", "Please make public the name of the editor in charge," and so on.