The official X account of the Please Tell Me! Galko-chan manga announced on October 15 that the series has resumed publication. This comes about four years after the manga was cancelled in response to author Kenya Suzuki being arrested for possessing and attempting to import child pornography.
Please Tell Me! Galko-chan is a comedy manga about the daily lives of high school girls. It was originally self-published through Suzuki’s X account, but later got picked up by major Japanese publisher Kadokawa Shoten. It was serialized through Kadokawa’s webcomic platform ComicWalker until December 2021, when news of Suzuki’s arrest broke. Although the page hosting the manga itself had been delisted the whole time, it is now back (under Comic Walker’s Apanda label) with a new chapter.
Suzuki, 40 at the time, had been arrested on suspicion of violating Japan’s Customs Act by importing six volumes of child pornography photo books from Germany. He reportedly admitted to the charges, commenting that he “desperately wanted nude photos of children from overseas that are unavailable in Japan” (source: The Sankei Shimbun). Police seized 46 books containing child pornography from Suzuki’s home. Following a guilty verdict in March 2022, Suzuki was given a three-year suspended sentence (source: Japan Today).
In the message announcing Please Tell Me! Galko-chan’s re-publication, the title’s editorial team commented, “We are keenly aware that it’s not only the works themselves, but their creators too who exert a profound influence on society. Together with author Kenya Suzuki, we will strive to deliver even more compelling works. We kindly ask for your understanding.”
