Namco Bandai faces controversy over inclusion of Rurouni Kenshin characters in Jump Force

Comicbook.com

Many fans are looking forward to Shueisha and Bandai Namco's crossover anime brawler Jump Force, which takes characters from Weekly Shonen Jump's most popular series, but the latest additions of Rurouni Kenshin characters has sparked major controversy.

Bandai Namco recently announced the addition of Rurouni Kenshin's Kenshin and Shishio to the Jump Force roster, and now fans are debating whether or not to support the game following Rurouni Kenshin creator Nobuhiro Watsuki's conviction for possession of child pornography.

As noted by @shrapnelhorn on Twitter, Watsuki was convicted for possession of child pornography earlier this year. Ordered to pay a fine of 200,000 yen (roughly $2,000 USD), his work on Rurouni Kenshinresumed in Shonen Jump this past June. Arrested in 2017 for possession of DVDs (reportedly a high number) featuring of nude girls in their teens, Watsuki admitted during his deposition that he "liked girls in late elementary school to around the second year of middle school.”

While Watsuki has resumed his work in Japan not long after his conviction, the situation is much different in the United States. Viz Media, publisher of Weekly Shonen Jump's English language release, has yet to bring the series back from its now indefinite hiatus.

Fans in the United States also now are coming to grips with what that means as Rurouni Kenshin's characters are featured in another major Shonen Jump crossover. Now they have to decide for themselves whether or not to support a game featuring a series with such a major stigma.

Jump Force is currently slated for a release for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on February 15, 2019. Originally created by Nobuhiro Watsuki for Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 1994, Rurouni Kenshin is set during the Meiji era of Japan and follows the story of a former assassin named Kenshin Himura who has dedicated his life to atoning for his past sins as the "Battosai." Determined to leave senseless violence behind, Himura and his comrades travel Japan and stand up for oppressed underdogs everywhere while vowing to never again take a life.

The series has sold over 70 million copies, and has spawned an anime (which enjoyed a run on Cartoon Network's Toonami block), video games, and a live-action film trilogy. The series has been licensed for an English language release by Viz Media, and the series was put on an indefinite hiatus in the West following Watsuki's conviction for possession of child pronography.

I thought Viz Media would've done more in the era where Weinstein and Spacey were dropped by Hollywood like a ton of bricks (Barnes and Noble is still selling Kenshin 3-in-1's and I bought a few of them until that day...). But as for the game itself, admittedly this puts ME in a rut on whether or not to buy the game, as I have not bought any further issues of Kenshin since the news on Watsuki came out (which I shared in the OT forums). But damn... don't be surprised if this game bombs in the west because of this.

I donno if I'll be able to go through the day hearing about this, I'll try.

Hopefully Himuaruia doesn't do anything untowards.

Not sure what to make of it. Kenshin is one of the greatest manga and anime series of all time. Yet its author is a scumbag.

Can we separate the art from the artist?

Absolutely ridiculous. Hope the characters stay in the game.

You can respect the work, while disrespecting the actual Human being scum.

Not in this case. I'll never support that shit ever again.

I'd like to think the younger author who created the manga in the 90s was a different person from the old scumbag he's become today, i.e. he lived long enough to become a villain... not unlike the antagonist Shishio.

The fact that even SW is torn on this shows just how delicate of an issue this is.

Erm..no ..there's no separating if the pedo is still running Kenshin...if someone else takes the helm & in charge of writing Kenshin & this pedo rot in jail ..then yea sure.

Maybe my numbers are off, off off basis, but isn't it normal for people in Japan to like girls of that age? Maybe that is for fictional girls...

It seems that the $2,000 fine for the offense of having child pornography is a slap in the wrist. If this light sentence was given in the U.S., there would be public outrage and the judge in the case would be recalled by voters from the bench.

Yikes. Well that certainly doesn’t put a favourable light on this game now does it.

Uh, "we"?

Some people can and some people can't. Don't worry about what other people are doing, just make sure that you're okay with what you're doing.

Oh, if he's still running and earning from it then its a different story.

Fun fact, almost everyone in the United Kingdom i.e. everyone paying for a tv licence was directly funding, and helping Jimmy Savile get access to children, while the BBC knew about it. And then he died and got away with it.

Companies should be crucified. if they are choosing to support shit like that otherwise they'll happily ignore it.

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Unless it's James Gunn being funny on twitter.

Hell yes, I love Rurouni Kenshin, gotta separate the art from the artist guys.

I guess we should all hate Michael Jackson too right?

He wasn't actually convicted of being a Pederfile.

Being "abit weird" and presuming guilt is how we end up with cases like Christopher Jefferies, which was another British embarrassment.

Okay whatever let’s assume Michael Jackson is innocent of that. Point still stands, look at various other artists that have moral lapses.

I love Rurouni Kenshin regardless of if the creator has child porn.

Paul Gauguin would have been a better example. He was a drug addict, pederfile, and all round pretentious prick.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/8011066/Is-it-wrong-to-admire-Paul-Gauguins-art.html

I'm actually a bit sick of hearing about James Gunn, especially when it comes to topics like this. Because just as what James Gunn did wasn't even in the same ballpark as child pornography, the response wasn't in the same ballpark as how people respond to child pornographers.

James Gunn didn't get crucified. His employer fired him, then he was quickly hired by WB. The only one who REALLY seems to give a damn in this scenario is Disney. And yeah...if they care that much then they're totally free to fire him so that the competition can scoop him up.

The talk about people like Watsuki, Weinstein, Cosby, Polanski, etc is more about if they deserve to have a job. That's just completely inapplicable to Gunn. Apples and oranges. Gunn just did something dumb, got fired, and then quickly got another job.

Weinstein, Cosby, Polanski, were all protected until it became public domain. Some still defending Polanski and willing to work with him. Disney was more concerned with it's image than morality, otherwise they probably wouldn't give a shit. Which is how it works regardless of measurement. Jimmy Savile being the quintessential example.

@uninspiredcup: So...what's your point exactly? "Unless it's James Gunn being funny on twitter" kind of implies that the James Gunn situation is different. That he was "crucified" more than the others. But again, as I point out, WB quickly hired him once he was done with Disney.

So...what does people willing to work with Weinstein/Cosby/Saville/etc make a difference? Yeah, Polanski makes movies still (or at least did relatively recently, I haven't been keeping up), but what does this show other than that some people will work with a dude and other people won't?

correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm under the impression that very few (if any) of the movies that Weinstein was involved with are public domain yet. Still, there's a vast difference between James Gunn and Harvey Weinstein. Only months after his termination, James Gunn got hired not for some small indie flick but for a big budget DC superhero movie. By contrast, I have a hard time believing that Harvey Weinstein is ever going to get hired for a job anything close to what he had before. Bill Cosby isn't ever acting again either. And the only reason that Polanski still gets to make movies is because he's a fugitive who fled the country.

Is this relevant to System Wars? Why is is this thread not in the Political Gamers forum?

He was punished by law. Ive no problem with the art. I like to think the setencing and especially the public shame and embarassment are enough of a torture on his conscience and dignity. I can move on from that.

He didnt actually rape anyone or sexually assaulted a minor, did he? The way some are reacting its like he actually did.

Controversies , controversies everywhere.

We had similar threads on this and games with an Eternal Darkness/Shadow of Eternals dev team member, Ken McCulloch.

It was a question for the thread, I never worry about what others think, hence my support for metal gear survive lol.