One of the most complex things about contemporary times is the culture of cancellation. The capitalist era in which we live leads us directly to the consumption of works and their connection with the authors, which in turn leads us to consider the authors of our favorite anime and their serious mistakes, and, after becoming aware of this, to ask ourselves: what is left for us as consumers?

We recently learned that Koichiro Ito, one of the producers of Your name: Kimi no Na wa, was charged with possessing and consuming illegal child exploitation material, the producer pleaded guilty, and then he was charged, fined, and so on. Now, as much as you like the movie, it's a beauty! But, The money from your reproductions supports the person who uses it to consume material that targets innocent children. Where does your support go? Certainly not, it is not limited to Makoto Shinkai, the film's director, it expands to many other workers.

There are – have been and will continue to be – terrible things that should not happen, and although we have individual power, many people think it makes no difference, but I think they are wrong, in substance, in you make and maintain your own defined construct. The most important and immediate change, and the one whose fruits we can enjoy, is the one we generate in our daily lives.

Cancel culture and Funasa are complex, I won't deny it, but it depends on the situation and the determination of each one of us; in the end, it all comes down to what you can tolerate?

Tolerance is a very important value, but it is also easy to lose track of it. Furthermore, why do you tolerate this or that situation? This is also something to be considered at all times.

I think there are things we cannot ignore and one of them is the consumption of illegal child exploitation material. The rights of the most defenseless are under our care, and we must also highlight the context, Japan is one of the largest consumers of this type of content. What is encouraged by allowing this? Definitely to maintain the market, since offenders do not face any real retaliation.

On the other hand, what is the importance of an anime author from the shonen demographic -that is, aimed at children and adolescents have this type of behavior and this type of audience? The fact is that the illegal child exploitation material mentioned is far from being a “contemplative” issue, it is sinister to frame it that way. Therefore, I invite you to read about the mangakas behind important anime titles so that you can meditate on this issue in the end.

Nobuhiro Watsuki from Rurouni Kenshin

Rurouni Kenshin is one of the most popular samurai anime, however, its author is also known for having been caught carrying MANY tapes of illegal material. Obviously, not that there is an “acceptable number”, but the guy had so many that it was even considered that he could be a producer of the materials.

The creator of Rurouni Kenshin pleaded guilty to the charges and, after the commotion died down, continued working on the manga.

Some time later, the remake of its anime came out and fans were able to watch it again, which meant that the moral and capitalist conflict that fans had to ponder before deciding whether or not to consume the anime was revived.

Although, as I read at some point, the exploitation of large industries and the abuse of animals, among other terrible things, “could” be seen in the same line as the case of this anime, the truth is that it is not like that, it is different when a crime has a huge mask that is whispered and very different when it is completely discovered -.not that one is more serious or cancelable than the other, but it changes the way we receive it and what we can do about it-and yet the support is maintained without any kind of nuance.

Of course everyone does what they think is right from their own position – so that was it. extremely popular anime authors such as Naruto and One Piece came out in support of Nobuhiro Watsuki-. However, it is terrible to see this kind of thing present in the anime industry, whose audience is usually formed since childhood. Maybe we should think more before consuming certain titles.

Kenya Suzuki from Cuéntame, Galko-chan

When I was 40 years old, Kenya Suzuki has decided to order illegal child exploitation material from Germany, According to authorities, the manga author claimed that “He wanted to acquire desperately photos of naked foreign children that cannot be purchased in Japan.”

What he did next was to order illegal material directly to his home, and this consisted of six sets and 46 books of the same material. In other words, we are dealing with child predators who consume disgusting amounts of illegal child exploitation material, because It’s one thing to consume something – so to speak – and another to be a convinced fan of it.This is outrageous!

Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro from Toriko

Toriko was destined to be one of Shonen Jump's flagships, as much as Naruto and Luffy, so bright was the series' future!

However, everything changed when, days before consummating a collaborative illustration – only with these authors – the police arrested Mitsusoshi for pay a 16-year-old girl in a settlement. Furthermore, the guy lied to her and said he was from a high-end technology company. He paid her 80,000 yen – currently around 10,000 MXN, although the incident took place in 2001.

After that, the business ended, however, this criminal went far beyond the consumption of illegal material, which is no less reprehensible.

It should be noted that, Toriko has just returned to Shuēisha's catalog; yes, that's what I mean when I say the reprisals are overly lenient.How is it possible that he is back in the catalog of one of the most important manga distributors?

Ichiro Kurata from Amahada shojo

Ichiro Kurata is responsible for uploading over 2,000 photographs of naked babies to the Deep Web, was arrested on this charge. It is worth noting that even though his work is quite criticizable, it certainly shows one of the most controversial and dangerous facets of the anime industry.

Act-Age's Tatsuya Matsuki

The attacker sexually assaulted a couple of high school students while riding their bikes, fled, and the victims later testified to police.

The young author – aged 29 – was arrested a few months later, accepting the charges without any remorse, according to the report. After that, the serialization of his work was canceled, as well as its live-action adaptation.

Do you realize that they were all charged for the same reasons? Deplorable! More than reprehensible. And most of them accept this without complaint, of course, knowing what kind of sanction they will receive, because they simply pay a fine and not only go home, but continue working as if nothing had happened, how desperate!

And you, What do you think about separating the author from the work in such specific cases as the ones I mentioned above? If you still have questions, I invite you to read a previous article that focuses on the recent launch of Rurouni Kenshin. Take a look here. I read your comments.