Masakazu Katsura, known for creating popular manga such as Wing-Man, I”s, and Video Girl Ai (all of which were serialized during what many call the “golden age” of Weekly Shōnen Jump), has reported that all of his original manuscripts for Video Girl Ai were stolen. Several pieces are already being bought and sold on Yahoo! Auctions Japan, where they sell for approximately 100,000 to over 1,000,000 JPY (roughly $644 to $6,437 USD).
According to an interview with Daily Shincho, Katsura claims that the manuscripts were stolen during a studio move last October. One month before the move, the manga artist carefully sealed all of his manuscripts and secured them within special lockers. He then gave detailed instructions to the movers after opening the lockers himself, telling them to transport the art to a specific location within a warehouse. He also checked every item he sold, and gave an associated waste disposal company strict instructions that personal items (which included his original manuscripts) were not to be thrown away.
It was only after the move that Katsura discovered that the approximately 2,500 original manuscripts for Video Girl Ai were missing. Despite the loss, the original drawings for the Video Girl AI one-shot stories remain. Likewise, the manuscripts for Katsura’s other major works, such as Wing-Man are safe, as they were delivered to a separate location.
“There’s absolutely no way the original art for Video Girl Ai, which I poured my life into, could have been disposed of by mistake.”
After a local police station refused to accept his report of the stolen manuscripts, Katsura turned to Attorney Nao Sakai of the Sun Sogo Law Office. Following a detailed investigation, they found that one of the movers present during the studio move is likely to have committed the crime. In addition, an antique dealer has been suspected of being an accomplice of the mover. When requesting information from Yahoo! Auctions Japan regarding one of the accounts that was selling Katsura’s manuscripts, it was discovered that the account was created by the same antique dealer.
Armed with this new evidence, Katsura is reportedly planning to file another police report. Considering the total cost of the manuscripts (assuming each one goes for approximately 300,000 JPY or $1,932 USD), total damages could amount to 750 million JPY ($4,828,740 USD). That doesn’t count the amount they are being sold for and the difficulty it would take to get them back.
Post translation:
May all manuscripts return to Mr Katsura.
As if to aid Katsura with his ongoing fight to get his manuscripts back, Hunter × Hunter creator Yoshihiro Togashi drew a unique Video Girl Ai piece, featuring none other than series main protagonist Ai Amano.
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