Japanese broadcast station Channel Neco has announced that their upcoming rebroadcast of the live-action film adaptations of Nobuhiro Watsuki’s Rurouni Kenshin manga won’t be airing as a result of his arrest over possession of child pornography, which we recently reported on.
The three films, Rurouni Kenshin, Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno (Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Taika), and Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends (Rurouni Kenshin: Densetsu no Saigo), were scheduled to air on the 25th of December.
The channel has issued a statement regarding the cancellation of the films:
We take the charges that the original author has been arrested for seriously in his violation of the law, we will be changing the broadcasts and programming accordingly.
We apologise of the inconvenience. We thank you and appreciate you for understanding.
The broadcast of the films will be replaced by other programs, including the crossover television special Lupin the 3rd vs. Detective Conan.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police searched Nobuhiro Watsuki’s home in mid November and found evidence that he has purchased DVDs of child pornography. The DVDs were stored in his office in Tokyo, which was placed there since October this year.
In his testimony, Watsuki stated: “liked girls in late elementary school to around the second year of middle school.”
Watsuki’s home was searched as part of a different investigation, which linked him to the purchase of DVDs with child pornography.
The charge against Watsuki alleges that he possessed the pornographic videos from July 2015. Possession of child pornography entails imprisonment for up to one year and a fine of up to 1 million yen (about US$8,800), if found guilty.
In response to the charges, publication Shueisha has stated that Nobuhiro Watsuki’s current run of the Rurouni Kenshin manga, Rurouni Kenshin: Hokkaido Arc, has been placed on hiatus indefinitely. The manga will not be featured in the next issue of Shueisha’s Jump SQ. Magazine, set to release on December 4th. Shueisha added that they were unsure of what to do with the volumes that have already been published and in print, and will continue discussing the matter.
Source: J-Cast
