Cognition Dissemination: Rurouni Kenshin’s Quick Return

Nobuhiro Watsuki’s time as a manga-ka contributing to the pages of Shonen Jump appeared to be over late last year. He was arrested for possession of child pornography, and authorities specified that he owned somewhere around 100 DVDs rife with naked images of underage girls. This was made worse by how he showed little remorse for his actions, and had no issue confirming his preference for sexualized children. It was a shock to those who enjoyed his franchises, particularly Rurouni Kenshin, considering there were no signs suggesting he was into, well, this.

The “appeared to be over” aspect is worth highlighting in the lead paragraph thanks to the sometimes-deceiving nature of these incidents, because he’s already making his comeback. It was reported that Watsuki’s punishment won’t even be the equivalent of a slap on the wrist with a reverse-bladed sword, as he’ll only have to pay a $1,900 fine for his crime.

Shonen Jump publisher Shueisha is bringing him back to continue the new Rurouni Kenshin: Hokkaido Arc, which started at the beginning of September. It was halted in December thanks to the above fiasco, but will resume in June, meaning its hiatus period will be shorter than several other manga series that have gone on hold. This is where Berserk fans nod their heads in agreement, or fans of other manga series that had notoriously long breaks for new content for several reasons.

To justify their actions, Shueisha explained that Watsuki is “living a life of reflection and atonement,” but both parties involved agreed that continuing the manga was the right answer for fan desires out of a sense of duty. It’s as if they’re essentially saying the fanbase and their insatiable thirst for new content are responsible for bringing this accused pedophile back to work. The reasoning sounds baffling… until you actually read comments across the internet from fans supporting this decision, which implies how good it is for business.

This is a wild turn of events for a couple of reasons. For one, it shows how laughably lax Japan’s punishment for child pornography is. The country was already under fire for not banning possession of it until June 2014, but they won’t do much good when the actual punishment is hilariously lenient. They’ll have to work on adjusting the penalty for the crime if they actually want to stop it, which they should be working on considering child porn and abuse rates reached record highs in Japan in 2016. But this will only happen until several people higher up on the ladder than Watsuki go down for it, or if multiple people are convicted and the Japanese populace at large is outraged at the light penalization.

It’s also wild to see how forgiving fans have been of this entire ordeal, even if it is understandable from a certain point of view. Again, one key reason why it was so shocking to see Watsuki’s desire for little girls was how you couldn’t tell this was something he liked from his works. Series like Kenshin or Buso Renkin are rather wholesome in terms of sexual content. We’re not talking about an artist like, say, Gunsmith Cats creator Kenichi Sonoda here, who hasn’t shied away from including sexually suggestive subplots involving clearly underage girls.

This issue reminds me of how several were able to read Toriko despite knowing that creator Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro was arrested for paying a 16-year-old girl for sex in 2002. There’s no indication that he’s into young girls from his works, so it was easy for them to separate the art from the artist and forget about it. Shimabukuro, by the way, also served no jail time. More power to anyone who can still enjoy these works despite the pitiful actions of the people creating them, but perhaps Japan should think about strengthening these laws for the sake of the victims.

Viz started translating the Hokkaido Arc shortly after it debuted in Japan, but also ceased its publication after the Watsuki news was made known. There’s a good chance they may never resume it, given how westerners apparently view child porn convictions with increased scrutiny. But Viz is undoubtedly aware of the number of English comments supportive of Shueisha’s move to resume it in Japan, and that a sizable number of those critical of Watsuki weren’t reading in the first place. The answer could soon be a little from both columns, as Viz could simply give it a little more time and resume the series when this incident isn’t receiving as much press.

Getting Watsuki bac to work so soon is tragic, but Shueisha (and perhaps Viz) won’t care if the readership is still as strong, and if they’re still making money. That’s how faceless businesses work, after all. For everyone’s sake, I hope Shueisha isn’t lying about Watsuki doing some reflecting; but even if he is, the lax penalties will only encourage others to maintain — or, ugh, dive into — this destructive habit.

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