Renowned manga publisher Shogakukan has been under fire lately due to reports of their Manga ONE editorial department knowingly hiring two manga authors who were both convicted of sexual crimes. These creators published new works under new pen-names.
The most recent case of controversy comes in the way of Tatsuya Matsuki, the creator of the Act-age manga who arrested in 2020 for the indecent assault of a middle school student. After serving his sentence, he was rehired by the Manga ONE editorial department in 2024 under the name Miki Yatsunami, where he worked on the Seisō no Shinri-shi story.
Shogakukan stated that Yatsunami has been receiving psychological counseling since the incident, and the psychologist in charge of him has determined his mental rehabilitation had been sufficient. While Shogakukan insisted its decision to have Matsuki use a pen-name for the new work was always intended to be at the best interest of the victims, the company admits that the Manga ONE editorial staff should have been more considerate. Following the statement, the Seisō no Shinri-shi manga has been temporarily suspended.
The first case involved Shōichi Yamamoto, who was previously convicted for child pornography in 2020 and later found liable in a 2026 civil case for the repeated rape of a student. Yamamoto is known famously as the creator of the Daten Sakusen manga series, which was taken down by Manga ONE in 2022. At the time, Shogakukan started serializing Hajime Ichiro and artist Eri Tsuruyoshi’s Jōjin Kamen manga, despite “Hajime Ichiro” and Shōichi Yamamoto being the same person. Manga ONE announced on Friday it has halted the serialization of the Jōjin Kamen manga. Shogakukan went on to voice their regret at hiring Hajime Ichiro.
Following the statement, many creators took to social media to criticize Shogakukan for the lack of ethics and consideration toward the victims. Renowned authors like ONE, author of One-Punch Man and Mob Psycho, were among the people who let their opinions be known. Meanwhile, many other manga creators who have their works available on the Manga One app decided to have them removed, including Kanehito Yamada (Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End) and Rumiko Takahashi (Ranma 1/2, Inuyasha).
