Manga author has their manga scrapped last minute by Japan’s “most explicit” magazine after working on it for 3 years

Japanese manga and scenario writer Unagiya Sansho made a statement on their official Twitter account about their upcoming manga serialization for Kodansha’s Weekly Young Magazine being suddenly cancelled after it had been in the works for the past three years. The decision was made by the publisher as risk prevention due to “inappropriate expressions.” The last-minute decision came as a shock to both the author and the public. 

The author’s new manga was planned to be published in Weekly Young Magazine, which is Kodansha’s weekly manga anthology targeted towards adult men. The magazine is known to be comparatively unrestricted with its content among Japanese mainstream publications, featuring titles such as Prison School in the past. 

In their statement, Unagiya Sanshiro explains that at the moment of cancellation, the structure of their upcoming manga had already been decided, with the scenario for 5 chapters and plot for 60 chapters already finalized. The company’s editing department had also given approval for the serialization to be officially announced. However, at the final stage, the internal legal department found issue with the content of the manga, pointing out that it includes inappropriate expressions that could be problematic. As a result, Kodansha’s editorial department ultimately decided to scrap the publication in its entirety. 

The author acknowledges that they were aware of potential risks regarding the content from the start, but that they had been supervised and checked by the editors throughout the process, leading them to be of the understanding that there was no issue with the content. 

The writer expresses “almost unbearable frustration” at three-years-worth of their effort being brought to naught in a mere few days, but tries to end things on a positive note, commenting that their work being deemed entertaining enough to be published in Weekly Young Magazine in the first place gave them a confidence boost that they will use as motivation for their future endeavors.  

In reaction to the announcement, users expressed anger and disbelief, questioning why the review of the content came in at such a late stage. Many couldn’t help but wonder what kind of content it was that could cause Weekly Young Magazine, that basically has the reputation of being “unhinged”, to completely cancel a publication rather than make revisions or similar. At the same time, it’s also possible that the publisher is having a change of policy rather than that the content was particularly inappropriate this time around.  

It’s hard to comment further as no particulars were revealed, but a point most of the public seems to agree on is that the method and timing of the cancellation of the series was unprofessional and unfair to the author, especially taking into consideration that these are matters that creators’ livelihoods depend on.