Fans of the Manga, Act-Age were dismayed recently as news of the series cancellation reared its head. The writer of Act-Age, Tatsuya Matsuki was arrested for charges relating to the indecent assault of an underage girl.
Despite the popularity of the series, it was absolutely the right decision by Shonen Jump, and even die-hard fans will come to see that when the shock has subsided.
Since the incident, there hasn’t been much word from the talented artist of Act-Age, Shiro Usazaki, who has since found herself out of a job due to the reprehensible act of someone else.
That has now changed though, as the artist has broken her silence with a letter to the fans.
Here’s an abridged version of what she said, if you want to read the entire letter, you can do so on Twitter where it has been translated in full by @Otakujp:
On August 8th, Mr Tatsuya Matsuki was arrested and detained on suspicion of indecent assault and sexual crime on a junior high school girl. I would like to express my heartfelt sympathy to the victim and her family. It truly is an act of courage that she spoke up. I would like to take seriously the fact that the case has been filed based on the victims report.
I fully accept the Jump editorial department’s response to the cancellation of Act-Age.
The artist then goes on to thank fans for their support of Act-Age and requests that fans should not shame or blame the victim for the cancellation, as it’s not her fault that the series has been canceled, and what she’s going through is much worse than not being able to read your favorite manga.
It’s a shame that Act-Age has had to finish in the way that it did, but Usazaki’s words couldn’t be truer. This isn’t the victims’ fault and the cancellation is the right call.
It surely won’t be long until we see her artwork again though, as Usazaki undoubtedly has talent. Be sure to let us know in the comments what you’d like to see her tackle next.