How The Author That Sold Over 72,000,000 Ruined His Legacy.

The author of Rurouni Kenshin. Let's talk about it.

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#anime #manga

[TheMaskedMan]

1:31 that aint Oda. I got it, apologies.

[gabetalks]

I think the worst part about this is the fact that he purchased it from a dealer. The fact that he purchased it means that he commissioned exactly what he wanted from the sex traffickers that were torturing those poor children. Watsuki is an accomplice in sex trafficking. This is far worse than just being in possession of cp.

[wumbojet]

He was not only found in possession of that disgusting material, he was found with so much of it that the authorities suspect him of being a distributor.

That's beyond disgusting, not even taking into account that he literally got away with it.

[lalalalalalalala]

I think it's actually harder to separate the art from the artist when you love a series so much. And I think it's because you will not only feel disgust about the author actions, you will feel genuinely disappointed in a person you looked up to and anger towards him/her because they will forever taint your favorite piece of art, something you love deeply and it will never be the same for you

[rtan]

It's also disgusting a bunch of big name manga authors welcomed him back at his exhibition. Shoutout to the few that didn't (Togashi, Miura, etc).

[religiousotaku]

This one when I found out freaking hurt me. Ruroni Kenshin genuinely made me think about my own personal belief and feelings and actually helped me grow as a person. I loved the story and the characters and the themes but after this came out I haven’t touched it since. I don’t even want to watch it since i have no idea if it actually supports him and I hate that he got off so easily. Just a big shit show

[motivatedtoscapechildsupport]

His crimes not only ruin the anime for new fans, but he also damaged the rewatchabality of his work.

[bungubongo]

This hurt alright, I grew up with Kenshin. Kenshin was one of the shows that taught me about kindness and being caring toward others. Hearing that news, it truly hurt.

[michaelh]

The worst part about all of this is that it's entirely his fault. It's not like some third party came in and ruined everything but the creator specifically fucked up.

[fritzfromsouth]

The most revolting thing about all this was not only the fact that he had possession of content characterized as CP, but the total way in which the Japanese reacted, and even more Shueisha, and the Japanese media practically softened his case, and even worse, making a remake of the work knowing that Nobuhiro will continue to earn under the rights to his work, Meanwhile, female idols suffer at the hands of the entertainment industry and society, they are mocked, that is Japanese society.

[rhiannonhamilton]

I've struggled with the whole 'separating art from the artist' bit for quite a while now. And hearing about the author of Rurouni Kenshin just opened up some wounds.
There is this movie, Jeepers Creepers directed by Victor Salvo, and it's by far one of my favorite horror movies from the early 2000s. Even during interviews, he gave such a perspective on horror and storytelling that it was inspiring. I thought he was an intelligent artist and it inspired me to work harder with my own personal craft.
Then I found out he is a repeat child offender. He even SA several of his child actors on one of his movies. When I found out I was really bummed out, disgusted, and felt like I've been lied to. How are you supposed to take the art seriously now knowing who and what the person had done?
And now, with Rurouni Kenshin the feeling is even more exaggerated. This was a series I grew up with in the 90s, hell my mom introduced me to it. It was a core staple into my otaku filled childhood. This was a series I looked forward to watch on Toonami. I invested in the books in high school and sharing them around helped me build a small core friend group. I drew to match the style in the manga and improve my art.
Now this all came out, what the hell. It's like the equivalent of having someone you know come up to you, take your stuff, piss on it, and hand it right back to you.

[iffatbushrasuhi]

What a coincidence!! I was just talking about this incident with someone on Twitter yesterday!

Off-topic... You see, on June 16th this year, a popular Japanese actor, Kento Nagayama (who plays Keisuke Baji in the live-action version of Tokyo Revengers movies), got arrested on the grounds of marijuana possession and because of this drug scandal, he was departed from 4 popular drama series that he was working on or would be working on. The thing is, in Japan, whoever gets caught smoking weed, their whole life/career gets completely destroyed; basically, your career is over for sure (a lot of celebrities who were arrested for possessing marijuana in the past got their career destroyed in the blink of an eye). On Twitter, people were saying so many mean things about Kento even though this man had never committed any heinous crimes before or didn't have a big scandal attached to his name until now. It's a hot topic in Japan now because the release date of the 2nd Tokyo Revengers live-action movie got delayed because of this scandal.

What I'm trying to say is that, yes possessing drugs is illegal in Japan, and yes, Kento Nagayama did something which he shouldn't have done, but compare to what the manga author of Rurouni Kenshin (Watsuki) did, the film actor Kento Nagayama is innocent and shouldn't be held that big of a guilty. Like Watsuki was arrested for possessing CP yet he's still out there living the life of a free man and still working on his manga and meanwhile, film actor Kento is going through a very tough time cause he smoked some weed.

So, you're right... Japan's laws and regulations are REALLY weird.

[hollowsid]

It's actually disgusting that guy got away with literal CP with just a couple thousand dollars
I personally think he should have served more than 20 years in prison for that

[NinthShinigami]

Rurouni Kenshin is one of my favorite mangas, and I find it absolutely devastating that it was written and drawn by an author that was into CP - personally tho, I separate art from artists, and that’s the only reason I can keep loving the manga. I can understand why it’s hard for others tho, absolutely. And I think the creator got off too easy too.

[JaneLana-strm]

It’s absolutely disgusting that many authors supported his comeback. Those authors also have children? Like it makes me wonder if they just care about their friend

[KingLytez]

It’s more maddening that Shueisha would allow such a heinous criminal back in one of their magazines. He already got pretty much no punishment and you’re allowing him back into the fray just to help your bottom line.

[quantgeekery]

The fact that what he did was legal until 2015 makes some creepy stuff in some manga more creepy

[Black_Guy]

I think the factor that determines whether people separate the art from the artist is whether they have been exposed to the art before the artist has been exposed as a deviant. The more familiar someonebis with a work of art, the more the art has created an identity of its own in the minds of the viewer apart from the artist.

[MrTaikobo]

I grew up with this series as a kid back in 2006, when i picked up my first volume of the Rurouni Kenshin manga. The anime also showed on Toonami and i never forgot Kenshin's theme and T.M Revoultion's "Heart of Sword" song that played during the end credits. The series was something I loved and thoroughly enjoyed reading.

Then...I heard about what he did and the CP...everything shattered around me. I couldn't believe it, one of my heroes, one of my inspirations...was this type of person.

Even now, it's hard to keep reminding myself of all that. I have the series sitting on my shelf, every volume collected from the main series...I've argued the idea about separating the art from the artist before, and although i can sorta do that with Kenshin, it still leaves bile in the back of my throat.

[hopefulhyena]

I'm surprised One Piece has been running for nearly a quarter of a century and people are still accidentally using that same picture of Eiji Aonuma.