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.
Honestly as disgusting as it sounds, in 30 years pedos (or as they call themselves now MAP, Minor-Attracted People) are probably going to get their "rights". While it sounds crazy but the same thing was said about Homos 50 years ago. The situation is fucked
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
I think it's weirdly the opposite for me. R Kelly was a massive part of my childhood. My mum would play so many of his songs on weekends when doing chores etc. After he got arrested for what he did I pretty much blanket banned all his music. What made it so hard to listen to was his songs uplifting people such as world's greatest or I believe I can fly but behind closed doors he was a abusing women and young girls. It just adds an uncomfortable taint on the music like if I listen to it now what he's done is always in the back of my mind. Just me tho I acknowledge people may feel different
@@kylekgh yeah I hear this. Part of what makes it hard with Lostprophets is that the singer is the one doing the CP stuff, so it's unavoidable listening to any of their music.
A similar case recently is Act-age author, who molested middleschool girls on his bicycle. The manga was so good, and the artist did nothing wrong. But the crimes of the author ruined the manga for me 😢
For me, it's pretty different. I got into Rurouni when I was a kid who didn't care about writers or anything of the sort. I took in stories for what it was, not what happened around it and I fell in love with the story. I held onto that love for years and years and when I learned about the mangaka, I wasn't too hurt because I never associated that man with the story I held so dear to me anyway. Maybe if I got into Rurouni later in life, this would've ruined it for me, but the time period I experienced it in really stopped me from feeling that way.
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.
Honestly as disgusting as it sounds, in 30 years pedos (or as they call themselves now MAP, Minor-Attracted People) are probably going to get their "rights". While it sounds crazy but the same thing was said about Homos 50 years ago. The situation is fucked
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
@@lordtette Yup it's sad. It's hypocritical that many of these authors write stories about children overcoming adversity, but then openly supported a man who victimizes children.
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.
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.
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.
The thing is most celebrities and artists have inner demons. Like Michael Jordan is known to be an a-hole outside the court even though the media portray him as a cool guy to hang with. Hulk Hogan was also a fan favorite but when inside the locker room. he's also the biggest ego maniac out there, not even mentioning his racial controversy outside the ring.
@drakecassell1840 To me there is really little difference between the two. To me having possession of CP is just the first step before committing an actual crime. That and the fact that children had to suffer for that material to be produced, is just SA by proxy.
I got a great piece of advice about Jeepers Creepers- you can separate the arr and the artist UNTIL THEY MAKE IT A PART OF THE ART. If an artist is racist, (a word we throw around kind of arbitrarily at this point) you don't have to obtain a degree in Social Justice to dismiss their views on *redacted * UNTIL THEY MAKE IT PART OF THE ART.
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.
My point of view as a reader and fan of Kenshin since the early 2000s: the manga is good, the characters endearing and there's nothing wrong with loving this universe. However, even though his graphic style influenced mine when I was still dreaming of being an illustrator back in the day, Watsuki can burn in hell.
Maybe from a Westerners perspective he got off easy, but in Japan, that kinda stuff isn't even a big deal. Like, the age of consent in some areas was 13 until just a few months ago. Not tryna sound like I'm defending the decision though, just trying to say that while we think it's terrible, it's not really a big deal somewhere else
Yeah, hang the guy for all I care, Japan but it makes no difference to the art. Plenty of great works were made by sick men throughout all of human history, it’s not the inanimate objects fault. Edgar Allen Poe is never acknowledged as an pedo and that’s just one of many many examples because people don’t want to have to bury these “great works” 🤷♀️
@@HennyVenny love the comment man, and yea I’ll always love Kenshin. I’m still hyped for the anime no one can take that away from me personally, and it’s still one of my favorite mangas ever, hell even just media, stories whatever it can be thrown under lol
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
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
Its almost like they are supporting his work instead of his crime. Do you get angry everytime someone plays a Michael Jackson track on the radio? You going to yell at someone who sings an R Kelly song? no one gives a shit about your purity test Karen. So many comments here like yours acting like the moral authority of what should and shouldn't be allowed. You aren't so great yourself Karen with a slave labor phone.
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.
It's long history of abuse. There'a reason perv old men are in anime and manga. It means it's common in real life. If an old man is pervy, that means he was a perv in his youth as well. The way that did non consensual sex in WWII was ruthless and brutal, and they destroyed the records. I'm not surprised an important person was softened though. It happens here in the US as well. Michael Jackson might have done some wrong to some individuals as well.
@@marikothecheetah9342 The US is much better. The US, at the very least, recognizes most wrongs when it rears it's head. Japan doesn't. The US recognizes their interment camps during WW2 was wrong and compensated the victims. Japan elects a prime minister that denies their war crimes and says their war criminals were heroes. The US recognizes blatant racism and knows it's wrong. Japan's best selling book is a book about how inferior Korean people are. The US has laws in place to prevent discrimination. Japanese restaurants purposely discriminate against Korean people to such a degree there are blogs dedicated to help Korean tourists from ending up with food poisoning while on vacation. And as mentioned in the video, the US made child abuse material illegal in the 1970s while it took Japan until 2015 to barely give slaps on the wrists.
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.
@@iffatbushrasuhi2860 Thanks for pointing this out. Sadly this is the case in some other places around the world (On the top of my head a very similar situation had happened in Canada). But thanks for spreading the word.
Also related to the Rurouni Kenshin, the actor who played Aoshi in the live action Rurouni Kenshin movies, Yusuke Iseya (also played Jotaro in the live action JJBA DIU movie) also got caught for doing drugs as well (i forgot if it's marijuana or cocaine). That's probably why he get so little screen time in the last movie and then Aoshi wasn't seen again afterwards. He only appeared early during a fight with Yatsume and then after that he just disappear for the rest of the film.
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.
How RK getting remakes and movies after this news dropped about Nobuhiro is astounding to me. I haven’t been able to look at his stuff the same since I found out. I grew up with Rurouni Kenshin so the news shook me
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.
@@big3fanboy19 The author himself in his deposition said he liked girls from elementary school age to second year of middle school. So how comfortable are you defending the equivalent of the Subway guy? Especially since that guy is in his late 40s to early 50s? Do you need a trip in the party van too?
@@24hr-Gaming you'd be surprised, what japan was like back then. Japan was a horribly disgusting place and in some places it still is. some parts still has the age of consent as 13. It's really fucked.
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.
Interesting observation. Edit: To add to that, I would say people have an issue with supporting Rurouni Kenshin because they're afraid they're supporting the author's "consumption" somehow. And, not to sound macabre, perhaps after the author "expires", people will generally be more comfortable seeing his work, since he's not benefiting from it.
I love Kenshin as a kid and knew about long before I knew he was a pervert. When I figured out what he did, it ruined the entire franchise for me. I'm not willing to forgive a pedo for my personal entertainment. There are a lot of anime and manga out there.
I don’t blame people for enjoying the art, I blame them for defending the artist. Even if the art is the artist’s creation, it’s an "entity" by itself, specially considering anime by itself it’s a collective work. The art is not at fault for his creator’s mess. But a lot of people don’t really know how to separate the art from the artist, specially when the artist is a bad person.
It explains why some older manga or anime becomes disturbing when you realize how young the characters are. Nothing like starting an ecchi and realizing they are middle schoolers. I am glad it is getting cleaned up and this is no longer the case.
My understanding was that _simple possession_ in regards to the stuff was the only thing legal until 2014 (it may have been the product of an unintentioned legal loophole), after which point they initially had a turn-in period for product that had been possessed prior to the passage of that law-- but he didn't turn in the stuff by the time the period lapsed.
@@gallaghergreen2053 it is still predominantly the case, for example the dress-up-darling show, marin kitagawa, the character we see be half-naked in the first fucking episode is 16 lol, at least its getting better i guess.
@@beanhunter4647 RIGHT??? I actually really love that series because I am into sewing myself. But I didn't like they are so young. They could be 18 and started on college and it would work just fine. Like Rent-A-Girlfriend, works great having them college aged. They often make them so young it hurts the storyline because it doesn't make sense.
100% Agree with your take on seperating the art from the artist. Its something that i dont personally struggle with (Especially cause i already own all the manga and will probably pirate the remake unless it ends up in Netflix or something so im certainly wont be contributing to the mans success) but lock me if if you ever catch me judging someone for not wanting to consume RK cause their not comfortable with it.
That's fair i'm not against pirating the remake but i'm not against supporting it either because its not just author that needs to get paid out of that staff. But i do think this show is also so popular that even if i pirated it if it becomes popular my pocket change wouldn't really change the outcome anyway.
@@DBZFANX1000 Yeah I get that. Authors barely get anything for adaptations anyway (Look up how much the Demon Slayer author made for Mugen Train) so I'm not against it per say just that I wouldn't go out my way to buy something I'm not already subscribed too.
@@projectmessiah yeah well i wasn't rurouni kenshin anyway so i probably won't support it regardles i'm kind of pirate anyway that usually supports stuff through merch or manga later. But i'm interested in the series to check it out.
@@DBZFANX1000 If your up to it I reccomend the manga or the og anime if the remake turns out ass. It looks decent enough so far though. The trust and betrayal ova which is a prequel is an absolute classic as well.
@@projectmessiah yeah if it does i migbt as well do that or read the manga since from what i hear anime didn't completely make it to the good stuff the manga had.
Jump let him continue only putting the Kenshin Sequel which is running in Jump SQ on hiatus during the trial, but afterwards he is allowed to continue working on it and publish it in Jump. While Act Age was canceled (after speaking with the artist) because of the actions the author did. Seems like Kenshin is such a big money cow for Shueisha that they let it slip, which is actually really disappointing.
While what they both did is horrible, I would put what Act Age author did was far worst than Watsuki. I think if Watsuki did what Act Age author did, Kenshin would have been cancelled as well.
@@neunix9443 details are hard to come back, but whatever it was, it was to 2 different minors on school grounds. At first I heard he expose himself to them. Later reports sound like he physical touch them as well.
It also does not hurt that the biggest cash cow in the industry, his pal Oda, intervened on his behalf, who also helped save the career of the guy that made Toriko who also had some disgusting stain in his past of similar nature. Money and connections that's why nobodies (in comparison) like that Act Age guy get thrown under the bus, as they should be, but they just hid Watsuki under the shade while the heat lasted and then is business as usual.
I remember when I first heard about the death of Mister Rogers, my first thought was: "Please, please, PLEASE, don't let us ever find out that he was secretly diddling kids all these years! He was such a kind, sweet, and wholesome part of my childhood. For the love of God please don't ruin the perfect image of this man that I have in my head, by having someone come out and accuse him of being a pedo. Please!"
People didn't wait until he was dead to accuse him of such things. But I think it's because they didn't know what to think of his genuinely soft nature. People thought he had to be hiding something. Fortunately, he was the real deal. A very, very rare thing in this day and age. We'll probably not see his like in our lifetime.
To be honest I take information about someone after their death with a grain of salt (well more specifically more than a decade after their death). But yeah 5/10 they end up being proven some way or another.
@@wowthatslegit8990 yeah but idk, people really think that Shigeru Miyamoto made games by himself for example and that, as wrong as it is, was far closer to the truth than with games like BotW nowadays
And the way the world works. Pdfs are from all times, and until manage to prevent them from being born, they will continue to be born and exist. The internet has just put a spotlight on them. Especially the worst of them, because worse crimes = better content.
Kenshin was the first anime I watched after learning that anime and manga were a thing, probably one of my all time favourites, and it's a shame that because of this I don't feel comfortable sharing it with anyone else. I think that separating art from the artist in these scenarios is an important thing, because otherwise I'm contributing to and normalizing whitewashing any kind of abuse. And I wish that laws protecting minors in japan and worldwide were taken more seriously. It sucks
Inuyasha was my first anime my eyes had layed glanced on after learning how to walk and stuff but yeah after seeing Samurai X it had reminded me very much of it and had fell in love with the show... It does truly suck that the creator had gone down to the crazy monstrous side though claiming such insane 💩💩💩 no human should ever have so regularly.
Oh yeah that's true the minor thing though should be taken seriously but I feel like they are lowkey to blame themselves since they have an age set for what in Japan where they're allowed to get married so young? 👀👁👁 I just find that crazy in itself and am like you think someone's suppose to be surprised and act like a creep won't go to the highest low just to do something or get something out of someone??? SMH, Maaan people are weird and need to think better for sure.
This is disgusting and absolutely TERRORIFYING; because young girls DO enjoy manga, yes Shonen isn't MARKETED towards them, but they do like them. That means he could VERY VERY VERY easily manipulate that power dynamic, as well as the one that's already there with the age gap. And it is scary, because Japan DOESNT take sexual crimes against women and children seriously AT ALL. Women are attacked, stalked, and preyed on and it is seen as "no big deal". I remember seeing a video about a "business" teenage girls would work for, in which they basically are rented out to older men for a day to go on a "date". Nothing sexual is done, but the whole idea is WEIRD and wrong!
I love Rurouni Kenshin and was so betrayed when i learned about the mangaka. I hate him for that. But at the same time i cant help that the series is important to me and that i still love it. I am still excited for the new anime.
Ruroken has a special place in my heart so it really hurts me how it became unseparabale from its creator's diagusting and also disappointing actions. I still admire this piece of work but can totally understand if someone who's not that close to the series doesn't intend to get involved with it anymore. So Kenshin still remains a precious "friend" of mine but we have to bear this scar forever.
Unfortunately we’re living in a time where people don’t care about serious offenses like this until it effects them personally or someone they care about by time anything is done the damage is nearly impossible to repair if at all.
@@JamesLee50ecause a manga publishing company which one of their main demographic is young children is welcoming back a child predator, who either needs to be in jail or doing some serious rehabilitation if it’s available instead of making manga, he even out right admits that he’s into elementary and high school girls to the point that he owned so much pornography involving minors, which was made illegal in 2015 the government even gave orders to people who owned those materials before the law was passed to dispose of it which the author didn’t, the cops seriously thought he was a distributor. Even if he was making a decent amount of profit the company should’ve subtly tried cutting ties with him while searching for their next big product because from a business point of view he’s a liability that could ruin their reputation and business in the long run.
lets put it this way, hes a monster. he was found to have terabytes of child porn. so much so that the cops thought he was distributing it lol thats so fucked up. so many people talk about seperating art from the artist, but lets be real, if you were caught with child porn, you know you would feel completely ashamed of it and would do anything in your power to erase that.
Kenshin was one of the best shounens out there, one I throughly enjoyed. But principles come first, I can very easily walk away from a product I enjoy knowing what it's attached to, knowing he still makes money from his craft and suffered no punishment for his crime. How a country chooses to do things is their business and people not from their should have no say, but I think an exception should be made when involving the welfare of children. This man should have been put UNDER the jail.
How does Japan have a 99% conviction rate, and yet there are mangaka's who gets away with possessing child porn and gets a less harsh punishment than someone getting caught with weed.
@@teemo9141 yes thts true but you gatta understand if the government told you to get rid of copies of gta because it promotes violence in general would you comply right away, not to mention his house was searched.
OMG!! What a coincidence!! I was just talking about this incident with someone on Twitter yesterday! You know, 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. 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. I mean, 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. Seriously... Japan's laws and regulations are REALLY weird.
@@seniorsterling1064Yes, if that shit can get me behind the bars, I would gladly throw my whole gta collection which I bought from my hard earned money.
For me, I just feel like I can't support his success more because of the financial implications. He's not going to stop being successful if I don't read his manga or watch his anime, but at the same time I think I would feel guilty further contributing to his financial success, especially if he's going to use that wealth to do horrible things like this. Obviously society has a better eye on him than before, but there's no guarantee that he wouldn't do this again if given the chance and it's possible he's still doing this and no one has caught wind of it or he's paying people off or they're ignoring it. Really sucks, Rorouni Kenshi is an incredible story - very hard to process if it's right or even acceptable to be a fan of the story.
I'm really shocked more people in this comment section are not talking about the financial implications of "separating art from the artist". I'm revisiting this video because lately its felt like everyone has forgotten what he did. His legacy hasn't been tarnished at all and I'm sure when he dies this will be but a speck of dust amongst the praises of his work...I just cannot understand people separating art from artist and directly promoting and putting money in a p*dos pockets like....how can they feel ok in doing that but still disgusted by his actions? its an amazing story but I don't understand how that can take precedence over his actions...its because of these people he's still successful and no one cares about hat he's done. he will never face anything for his crimes. idk....its so sad to me
I guess, better approach would be "separating art from the artist" while reading/watching their work BUT not buying it and not recommending it to other people if artist did something horrible. This way you don't put money in artists' pockets and don't contribute to their success
I feel like it's impossible to separate the art from the artist when the artist put themselves in the art they make. An example is Dave Sim's Cerberes.
"Ruined his legacy" man's being honored and celebrated by Shonen Jump and many legendary Mangaka. This thing is just sadly not a big deal in Japan and he'll continue living his life like nothing happened.
My mindset when it comes to seperate art of the artist I think you perfectly fine to leave disengage from both, but I do think its fine to also seperate them. My reasoning for deciding this is that technically you can never tell who is bad. Anyone you buy from whether it be a company, a specific person, anyone can do bad things or have a bad background. And well.... Let's say i buy art from somebody and i know they did a crime. Well before that crime i thought the art was good the art hasn't changed my perspective has changed. This is why I don't mind it because I don't know any of these people to begin with I don't know oda I don't know togashi I don't know gege from jujutsu kaisen I only my vision of them, and the vision of their art. My vision of themselves is so small and so unknown that I only have their art and story so even if they turn out to be bad people their art was good when i knew them the art hasn't changed it didn't change color the moment i found out because this person was probably always that way then and i just didn't know. Edit: Now when it comes to supporting that artist by reading their story this is a bit controversial and hard to say some people say pirate, but I don't know if stealing is the right answer but i'm not against the idea.. All tho i think these things would get money regardless of what i do so i don't really think about it that much me alone can't support an artist *so if they do end up rich it was gonna happen regardless of my pocket money, which is what i use to not dwell on it too much, but I'm kind of a pirate anyway sometimes* What I wil say is that because the art doesn't involve the crime I feel more comfortable buying it because its not you nessecarrily supporting the crime you not supporting him for what he did you supporting the story he wrote if its seperate from it at least now if he writes some kind of sick real story about his actions thats even more controversial.
This is pretty much my mindset on the subject too, but I feel like thinking that they may do bad things and knowing they do bad things does change the way you think of the media to a certain extent, like I found out the Author of Kenshin was into CP midway through the manga, it felt kinda weird reading it knowing what I knew about him, but eventually the feeling went away. Speaking of which, will you be watching the anime when it drops?
@@Vi_69420 i'm gonna watch the anime i'm actually new to the series but I heard so much about it I kind of wanna know how good the story is be lying if I wasn't curious. Probably gonna pirate it not because of that reason tho just because i'm a one piece guy if i say so. But i'm not against supporting the anime mainly because its a whole studio directors, animators, musicians etc the author is not the only one who needs to get paid so i'm not gonna judge people for supporting or not supporting the anime.
@@lordtette -It's ironic to be apprehensive about stealing from a pedo- I mean if you steal manga you stealing from more then just one person. I already said this before its not a one person thing. Same for anime i already explained this its not like one guy makes an anime by itself just because the author had a manga. Also you could argue that 2 wrongs don't make a right which basically means just because somebody does soemthing wong doesn't mean that you are allowed to do wrong. But as I said before I don't care what people do but i think its fair to support he anime for the staff and others at the very least if you want to at least.
I heard a Great Quote forget by who but he said " If you stopped using things just because you don't like the man who made them well there wouldn't be a lot of things left to use." or something along those lines at least. I am not one of the people who stop using things because the people who make them suck. To Me, it's easy to separate the art from the Artist.
Tbf the author of Toriko paid a 16 year old prostitute to have sex and this incident dates back to 2002 (he was 26/27 yo at the time). Even if it is morally dubious it's not comparable to watching or producing cp where kids are abused.
It's not crazy at all. Hollywood has always been full of "talented" weirdos who do very bad stuff or are at least connected to people who do these things and they just keep their mouth shut to not end their career, same thing happens in Japan. The problem is Fandoms elevate artists to a high status, defending them while forgetting that they're just as flawed as any human being.
Honestly, this is one instance where I think it's hard to separate art from artists. It was always weird to me that a teenage girl was being shipped with a 40-something-year-old man in his story
Look up his Wikipedia page, they bury his CP charges under the "career" tab. Someone is working overtime to make sure this man's skeletons remain hidden. For other entries, there usually would be a separate tab for 'controveries' but not this guy. They just wanna sweep shit under the rug.
"I think people are really willing to draw that line until it's something they really enjoy or their favorite thing ever." -- No truer words have been spoken. A lot of people who are quick to condemn art because of the artist only do so because they have little to no stakes with regards to the art. But the moment they do, most make excuses how it's different. It is easy to hate on something when you had no love for it from the beginning. Hence, imo, people should just be honest about how they feel without making others feel bad about what they enjoy. Let us be honest that we are biased on what we are willing to sacrifice and accept that others have different opinions.
I just hate it. The fact that this is what Rurouni Kenshin is now known for just breaks my heart cause I love RK and it's story. A lot of ppl (mostly on Twitter) will judge you if you're a fan of Rurouni Kenshin, even getting my friends into Rurouni Kenshin now proves to be a lot harder cause they wouldn't wanna touch a show made by a disgusting individual. Just wished this never happened, Rurouni Kenshin was such a masterpiece in it's time.
If the others want to conflate the anime/manga with unrelated real-life stuff and dismiss it based on that, then why would you even want them to watch it? Let them miss out.
I watched a little bit of Rorouni Kenshin when I was younger and I actually wanted to pick up the manga now that I'm older but it's really hard to read the work of someone like that
Masterpiece is a masterpiece, I dont care about what the author did. This is why I hate people who doesnt seperate the personal life of a person and the art itself.Just cast away your feelings lol and enjoy the art
This is a real tough scenario. Separating art of the author is by no means easy when you previously enjoyed so much of their creations. Although I admit I still enjoy watching One Piece every now and then, the fact Oda supported him made my respect for him and his entire creation fall down pretty badly. But not just Oda, my respect for the entire anime/manga industry has seriously tarnished after knowing how many authors supported him, just like how the Hollywood industry seems like garbage to me.
It was one of the first anime I really got into. RRK and YYH were both a big deal when I was about 13-14 years old. Back then, I was in a very dark place mentally, and both shows literally kept me going. Fast forward to when this news first broke. I think the worst part was that since I had loved RRK so much, I felt betrayed. I was also horrified and disgusted since I had spent a great deal on the manga and dvds when I myself was in his (ugh) preferred age range, and that he likely used some of that money to do terrible things. Then, he just went right back to making manga as if nothing even happened! Those poor children will never have justice I won’t attack people who still choose to watch the remake, but I personally doubt I will be joining in. It's tainted for me. I also don't believe the creator should profit. Would have been great if the publisher could have somehow taken all ownership rights away from him so could never gain anything from it ever again
Sucks. No wonder the og series hasn’t been released on the west on Blu-ray yet. Damn. On the issue of separating the art from the artist….it is very tough. I was a huge fan of the lost prophets and after the lead singer was found to be a diddler, I just couldn’t be a fan any longer. Sucks when things from your youth get corrupted due to the issues with the creator. Great video btw. Subbed
Damn its sad the stupid desision of someone can completly ruin their career and life.stripping away every thing great or great thought about someone life
Yep exactly. That's why I've been struggling to finish the Manga . I haven't finshed it since when I heard what he did at the time. It left a bad taste in my mouth. Why someone would do such a thing , when they created such a wonderful series that has touched the hearts of so many readers , is beyond me. His legacy is forever tainted unfortunately. What a horrible thing to be remembered for.
@@foregroundeclipse8725 Oh well, even though I love Kenshin you don't miss anything if you don't see the end of it given the very questionable quality of the final arc.
@@Gonzora I gotcha. Still disappointed in the creator though for what he did. I feel guilty for reading it back before news got out of what he did. I know I had no way of knowing , but I just feel awful.
I can seperate the art from the artist just enough to where I can be excitedly hype over the new Kenshin anime. But everyone elses view on things is very valid on why they won't want to , but damn kenshin really was a big thing for me. It had so many good lessons that i still take with me A sicko that needs mental rehabilitation or a bullet to the skull won't take that away from me. His product is a masterpiece, he himself is trash..
The problem is that you can't really seperate the art from the artist here? They aren't dead, and they're still profiting from their work. And even if you pirated it, its still showing other people 'Oh hey, this thing is pretty popular we should check it out.'
All time favorite manga/anime. It’s been a long, long time since I was on the manga/anime bus. But this series is the one that made me a fan for some time. Used to get the huge SJ manga issue each month in the mail and I had every volume of RK. Such a shame that the author did what he did.
Kenshin will always be one of my favorite and most praised Shonen title. But I cant really recommend it to anyone to purchase. I have all 28 volumes so my friends just borrow to not continue to fund him. Since I got all 28 in like 2007.
-The fact that Oda knowingly supported not one but TWO convinced p*dophiles really sucks- I mean knowingly I don't think anyone knew anyting until he got arrested. Also what he is supposed to do about it? watsuki is a free person they allow him his anime? What is he supposed to say there is nothing really that oda can say or do that matters. They working in the same industry so its best to be quiet.
Personally I never found it hard to separate art from the artist, it's actually necessary in most arts type/milieu if you analyse/critic it, here it seems harder i believe because it's art but also entertainment which confuse appreciation of artistic values with feelings/memories of relaxing/personal time, which makes it more of a direct link between you / your appreciation in regards of arts and the artist (to put it simply most people don't look up to the painters of the painting they like or find interesting, while we usually naturally do regarding authors of stories that stuck with us no matter the medium) But i believe that's a cultural thing though (for example in EU it's way more common than in the USA i noticed, as well as in older generation than younger ones, that's why I think it's cultural) so i totally understand why some cannot If i were to debate it on the principle i would say that it should remain separated in regard of the law for example, that it should remain a personal choice, but would be open to the argument of not separating it if the crime actually surface in the art / that you can make a direct connection to (in this case having scenes that are somewhat sexual and involving children for example) On a somewhat opposite note to what my personal beliefs are I also think that the public should be informed, allowing them to make their own choice instead of discovering it randomly (like in this case i wasn't aware at all, not an issue in my case but could be for others) That said i would also add that no one should feel shame of liking it in the past or still liking it besides the author actions, that is if you separate the art/author or if you don't but didn't knew prior of consuming (because in that case you didn't knew it wasn't aligned with your personal beliefs regarding this topic)
@@daviddavidson6289 so you didn't read anything i wrote? Or you're just that illiterate that you didn't grasp anything i did wrote?People who do crime should be punished accordingly, but will you take down your home because you learned later that the guy who made the foundations was a fomo ? Don't think so... But where did you read that i was in any way shape or form excusing his behavior or any other ones from an author/artist
This series is one of the only few I got complete in physical copies, bought 20 years ago, and for me was the shonen masterpiece alongside FMA. It was a very important series in my teen years, I still read it from time to time, but now I just can't read and not remember what this author has done and my money went to these sort of activities. The worst of all is there is people willing to downplay these matters. The internet is a cesspool and the bottom must be anime related forums, I've seen people trying to say that it was just only high school girls like it was less of a problem, the same kind of people that got mad because age of consent in Japan has been raised recently. It's just puke inducing and I hope these people just don't ever abandon their shitholes because nothing good will come out of that. And on top of that, he continues to publish like nothing ever happened.
The argument about seperating the art from the artist, at least your way of putting it, is incredible accurate. Because Oda himself vouched for Watsuki to comeback to work after the news broke. Hence why the Kenshin Hokaido arc is still continuing. However, no one calls out Oda for this fact. That's why I ignore discourse surrounding watching/ reading this series when people claim that you are a P*do or P*do supporter for doing so.
I remember when this news first came out. I was really excited that he was continuing the manga. After I read the details of these allegations how damning they were, I really couldn't bring myself to touch any of the Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X material anymore. I don't think it's my place to dictate if other people should or shouldn't consume Nobuhiro's works. For me personally though, it's just such a stark contrast/opposite to the message of the whole series that I just can't help feel disgusted knowing what he did.
the writing is amazing . its super rare to see an author whos able to make u so emotionally invested in not just the main character but also all the supporting roles and even the main antagonist .
I remember when I was 7 I was obsessed with rurouni kenshin and bought a first few volumes of the manga and some shounen jump magazines at the time. Nobuhiro Watsuki had an authors page talking about how he took a child psychology class in college and was praising children on how amazing they are. Absolutely chilling looking back.
A Japanese cannibal also got away with his crimes because Japan didn't want to deport him back to France for his trial or something. If I remember the details right, he was so heavily shunned that it actually made any possible prison time moot for the guy.
They aren’t ignorant at all to it. It’s a cultural difference. Growing up I always found it weird that the Japanese are a sexually high fetish society. But as a kid that weirdness grew to all around disgust. I guess it’s better late then never that the Japanese government finally convict CP ownership/viewership
The issue I take away is now that I am aware of what the author was caught doing, I can not morally continue to enjoy their work. The issue isn't simply separating the art from the artist. He purchased those goods using money he earned from his creation. That is a fact that cannot be disputed. The penalty and lack of jail time was so light the author was basically allowed to get away with it. There is a good chance he will return to that disgusting practice and every dollar he puts into the trade will be used to continue the cycle of exploiting and harming children.
@@abrahamlupis9354 The mistake of getting caught? That was the only mistake he made, because buying DVDs featuring child exploitation isn't a mistake. It is intentional.
If you stop watching content cuz what authors, directors, studios and actors have done dont ever look at the Hollywood scandals if you do soon you will not have anything left to watch
I think it's possible to separate art from the artist the same way you separate a bad parent from a child, or work from pleasure. People do things with different sets in mind. This is specially true in Japan, where the whole "3 faces" behavior is so common. You don't think the same way when you are alone and in your private life. And if this would be such an issue, the art would be tainted in one way or another by the author's sin, yet you don't see it or would never link this anime and manga to such awful material.
It's truly sad and disgusting on the most horrifying levels. But, I'm still excited for the remake to come out. For me, separating the art from the artist may be easier for some than others, and that's ok. Just as long as we're not forcing, leveraging, or projecting our views and beliefs onto others.
I love the series and the art of it, and the story. It was the first manga series I collected and finished. I'm watching the anime and the art is what matters. What Watsuki did, someone who inspired me as an artist when i was young, is reprehensible and deserved stronger consequences. It took me several years to process this and I feel for everyone who got hit by his actions.
Given the lack of reporting on this story in English, I was wondering how true this was for a few years. I knew about the confession but not about the evidence they had. This has put me on the fence about buying Kenshin products for a few years now. Considering what I learned a few years ago in a video about the Japanese court system. I know that people confess to things they didn't do all the time in Japan as they will hold for years until you confess (you may as well be guilty until proven innocent in Japan) I needed to know about the evidence you presented to give me a sence of certainty of his gult as a confession under coersion as we call it here in the US doesn't mean much to me.
I'll never forget how much I enjoyed watching the anime on Toonami around 2 decades ago. I have to separate those great childhood memories from what he would eventually be found guilty of all those years later.
I remembered this whole author situation because of what happened with ActAge author. Dude was easily gonna be super successful in the mainstream, but then he decided to sexually assault a child 💀
It's not hard for me to separate the art from the artist. Yes, I feel disappointed but the beautiful memories and inspiration that the author gave me are still more dominant in me. I don't know why I feel that way. Probably because he is one of the people who fueled me to move forward in life and taught me to appreciate other anime. For me, I owe these to him.
Honestly, I feel like any anime that is more realistic has the best chance of getting a good live action movie or show because it’s not supernatural magic sci-fi, or anything just normal But on topic of this video, it does sadden me to hear a manga, author and producer of his work hold CP. that will bring hate on the manga artists so badly and quickly. A death of a manga artist is hurtful thing to hear, but it will never love and care to the author and there work. and I hope those we enjoy there work won’t do what that the author
Agree. Would've loved to see live action adaptations of mangas and anime with realistic settings. Like the ones based on historical japanese for example (like some of those mangas about the Shinsengumi or the Sengoku period). Blade of the Immortal and Rurouni Kenshin was one of those that were adapted into live action and it worked well because it doesn't rely on many special effects or CGIs, and no fantasy, sci-fi stuff. Heck maybe even mangas with gangsters/crime genres involving school delinquents would be great to adapt into live action (like Tokyo Revengers, Crows, and then Kyou Kara Ore Wa).
I can usually separate work from the artist, but not when the artist puts their terrible tendencies ( I think that’s the right word lol) into their work. For example, made in abyss. I cannot the story because the mangaka clearly is attracted to children, and he shows that in his work and it makes me sick.
Right, I totally agree. That's why I love Ruroken so much, because I didn't see anything in it that suggested that the author was into CP. It's just a phenomenal story. Long live Ruroken.
god I hate made in abyss. every 3 pages there's literally a weird pic of a child and people just handwave it like "ermm should we censor the gore too snowflake?" like the nudity is needed for the horror
i still love rurouken. for me personally i cannot separate the art from the artist but not for the reasons ppl go to. rurouni kenshin is literally the story about redemption and forgiveness to others and oneself. its about how the love and support of a community can help you grow into the person you always wanted to be despite the world telling you that you cannot change for the things in the past you regret doing. obviously i dont know watsuki personally but i hope and want to believe that he has or is trying to change. what he did was inexcusable and the punishment was obviously way too light. but at what point do we draw the line of what an acceptable punishment is? i think whats more important is if this person has genuinely changed. personally i think it would be great if he donated a fat sum of money to CP awareness or some kind of other nonprofit to combat CP but that aside im willing to continue my support for rurouken until its clearly evident by repeated behavior that watsuki has not had a change of heart also no hate on the people who still boycott i totally get it, this is just my take
Cant really say, humans are funny like that. Could do the worst things known to man and yet maybe theyll come back or maybe they wont. Just matters if they are given the chance or not, or if they take such a chance when given or not. Its also important to know that someone can be "redeemed" and still not be forgiven by people. Johnny Depp is redeemed in alot if not most peoples eyes but some people still to this day think Amber Heard was telling the truth and that he got away with it. So its mostly just up to you if you forgive that person or not, theres no objective and universal "alright they are good now" line, its a choice you make for yourself about them
Manga authors put their personal experience, thoughts and things that they like into their manga. Kenshin full of beautiful ideas that's I like very much. in the manga he shows good understanding of the world and human soul. So, I think that he understands that what he did is actually make a lot of children suffer. He knows that's bad. When he understand it clearly he never could have peace at heart. But, maybe everything happen because he also didn't get help when he needed it, that's why he became like this. Pedophilia is sexual deviation, after all. Sometimes it's can be connected with hormones, or traumas. Even some physical changes in the brain could influence it. So, it's always need at least medical checks. People who suffering from it should have the chance on the therapy. Not just blaming and canceling. So, I hope he could find the way how to fight this problem without bying cp. I hope someday world will have good therapy for this deviation . Pedophiles also suffer all their life. And I would very interested to listen true story of life of this author. Ideas that created this author in his manga are absolutely beautiful and I never stop love them.
I like some animes but they got a problem with weird sexual shit with Lolis and just random incest or rape when that shit just uncalled in the story I can understand a story like beserk it’s supposed to be something that’s as dark as imaginable and it does it well but then u got random shit like sword art online where his sister wants to fuck him for no reason and and either his gf or his sister gets touched twice by orcs and a elf or at least they threatened it just so random and honestly doesn’t even fit into the story well it’s like just wanted to add it just to add it
What the fuck are you even talking about none of those things matter its fiction. Its either rape or it isn't... there is no rape light or incest light.
3:58-4:00 disagree with that statement but nonetheless it’s absolutely fucking sick that Watsuki is not in jail and is considered redeemed or paid his penance in Japan.
Rurouni Kenshin transcends its creator. Hand it over to someone else, come up with an equitable arrangement to distribute the earnings, reconsider the creator's punishment for his actions (as in, actually punish him), AND monitor him highly using some of the money from his earnings to pay for the resources needed to do so in order to prevent repeating the actions. We are all dark and light. His creation has given us a lot of light. Unfortunately his dark really hurts the innocent. Keep the light going, give him enough to live on, and use the rest of what he would have earned to go towards resources to heal those who've been hurt by his (and others') actions in the realm of child porn. and trafficking. Good can come from keeping Rurouni Kenshin going. The proceeds just need to go towards the solution instead of the creator's accumulation of wealth.
I honestly wished that's what the outcome was. That would've probably been the best outcome for everyone. But iirc I think Watsuki didn't want to hand off his IP to anyone else. And I guess companies wouldn't say no to him either. Which is depressing to think about
@@mehlover Very depressing to think about. Although I only just learned, sorry to say, about Japan's Comfort Women in WWII. (sigh) There is so much I love about Japan. That said, it, as a country, has some real work to do in the of prevention and punishment of sexual transgressions against innocent parties. All countries have things to work on, mind you. This is one of there's.
yyyyeeeeeeeaaaaahh, I ain’t gonna cap, I’m not ever gonna stop watching Ruroni Kenshin but AY, nice on you to shine light on what bro did. I’d imagine he will never be treated well in America so good on you keeping this in the lime light. Definitely still gonna be rewatching the anime tho.
although i do seperate art from artists, hear me out - in his manga, rurouni kenshin, kenshin is hated for have a very bad past of killing and showing no mercy. But this story shows you can move on from your past, even though what he did is very very wrong, you have to move on eventually, just because he did something this bad doesnt mean he cant atone, he may be sorry and guilty for his actions, which i want all new readers to understand. dont hate the show because of the artist, its amazing and will teach u alot.
I’ve heard of Kenshin but doesn’t have the intrigue for me personally. Regardless his actions are inexcusable and he should’ve been greatly punished. The fines seem like a slap on the wrist.
Along with Oda, Hiroyuki Takei was taken under his wing, the creator of Shaman King (my fav anime series) and you can really see his inspiration reflected in his pupils, with Zoro and his strong sense of loyalty and Amidamaru an honorable Samurai spirit that serves the Protag in Shaman King. SK also makes a point to value non-violence (ironic for a shonen) as Kenshin did, a shame this message gets blurred given the creators actions
One thing to keep in mind, making CP was illegal before then in Japan. It was the ownership of said material that was legal until 2015. Japan wasn't okay with the creation of CP, but it's still fucked up though, I agree.
Idk man. I love Rurouni Kenshin and I will watch it. Although he deserves more severe punishment, I believe in redemption. I mean if the manga thought me something, it's that redemption exists and one shouldn't be judged by their past actions, but by their current efforts. I would love to believe that he's trying his best to redeem himself, and I will support him in his effort.
With this series in particular I still really like the series and love the characters but it's harder to separate the art from artist with this one for me since it sucks even more since it's getting a new anime adaption but I don't plan on watching it like how I haven't been able to reread the manga
