Act-Age Manga Writer Found Guilty for Indecent Acts Against a Minor - 3 years suspended sentence (no prison time for good behaviour)

Chairmanchuck (另一个我) · Dec 23, 2020

He will be serving a three-year suspended sentence and if found to break the terms of his good behavior, he'll be serving one year and six months in prison for the crime. If he stays on "good behavior", he will not go to prison at all.

The judge told Matsuki to "share your worries with your family and make sure this doesn't happen again."

Act-Age Manga Writer Found Guilty for Indecent Acts Against a Minor, Will Serve 3-Year Suspended Sentence

TRIGGER WARNING: Sexual assault against minors is discussed in the following article. Please exercise caution when reading. Act-Age manga writer, Tatsuya Matsuki, was sentenced in th

www.crunchyroll.com

Thank god he didnt take any drugs and just did harmless sexual assault!

Bonejack · Dec 23, 2020

Meanwhile, i, a pretty normal dude, sits here and thinks that being fucking guilty of --> INDECENT ACTS AGAINST A MINOR <-- is like the OPPOSITE of anything that i would even just remotely call "good behaviour".

Just ... jail this guy, ffs.

Princess Bubblegum · Dec 23, 2020

For fucks sake.

Mars People · Dec 23, 2020

Talk about a slap on the wrist.

StarStorm · Dec 23, 2020

That's like a slap on the wrist.

Amalthea · Dec 23, 2020

"He's such a good-mannered well behaving person, you know, aside from raping children."

Like WTF!?

Bard · Dec 23, 2020

What did they get the same judge as the Rurouni Kenshin guy's case? Fucking assholes.

Truly Gargantuan · Dec 23, 2020

But do something like sniff a little cocaine and Japan goes scorched Earth on you

Khanimus · Dec 23, 2020

Meanwhile, do some recreational drugs and your legacy is burnt to the ground.

Fuck right off with this weak shit.

Princess Bubblegum · Dec 23, 2020

How long before WSJ restarts the manga with him resuming writing? 6 months?

Naturally rape culture is present and horrible everywhere but WTF.

Budi · Dec 23, 2020

Shit, that's insane. And as already pointed out, the legal system there really seems to have their priorities straight.

BassForever · Dec 23, 2020

Fwiw his 3 years of "be a good boy" is longer then the 18 months of jail time he would have served. It probably means nobody will give him a second chance for longer since while he's on "probation" no one will touch him. Course 18 months of jail/3 years "probation" still feels light considering what he did

takriel · Dec 23, 2020

What did he do exactly?

DanarchyReigns · Dec 23, 2020

SapphiCine said:
How long before WSJ restarts the manga with him resuming writing? 6 months?

Naturally rape culture is present and horrible everywhere but WTF.

Won't happen. Act-Age was a collaboration with Shiro Usazaki, and she has zero interest in returning to the series. She's hoping to start a new project (she recently got a one-shot in Jump).
Considering Shueisha went totally scorched earth on Act-Age, he's likely not coming back. At most, he'll start writing light novels under a pen name.

takriel said:
What did he do exactly?

Molested a pair of middle school girls and fled on his bike. He got caught on camera. He's also done it multiple times before that.

Galkinator · Dec 23, 2020

Absolutely disgusting that the Japanese legal system once again treats a pedophile like he didn't do anything wrong.
Their laws and punishment about this need to change asap. Like that case with the Kenshin author who possessed underage pornography and basically got off scot free.

Truly Gargantuan said:
But do something like sniff a little cocaine and Japan goes scorched Earth on you

Yeah, they need to get their priorities right. Drugs in general is a big taboo in many Asian countries, but thinking that getting high is worse than sexually abusing underage kids, that's insanely fucked up.

DragonSJG · Dec 23, 2020

God damn it
hope shueisha doesn't give him another chance

SapphiCine said:
How long before WSJ restarts the manga with him resuming writing? 6 months?

Naturally rape culture is present and horrible everywhere

I want to be optimistic and assume his career has ended

DanarchyReigns said:
Won't happen. Act-Age was a collaboration with Shiro Usazaki, and she has zero interest in returning to the series. She's hoping to start a new project (she recently got a one-shot in Jump).
Considering Shueisha went totally scorched earth on Act-Age, he's likely not coming back. At most, he'll start writing light novels under a pen name.

Molested a pair of middle school girls and fled on his bike. He got caught on camera. He's also done it multiple times before that.

If he's done's it before, why is his sentence light?

Deleted member 16876 · Dec 23, 2020

As said in the other thread, this was too forgiving. Fuck this guy. He should have went to jail.

It is really fucked up that using drugs is a bigger issue than what this fucker did.

DragonSJG said:
I want to be optimistic and assume his career has ended

They can't. The artist who drew the manga said she won't come back after she found out about this POS.

Good for her. If this bastard somehow did get another chance by the manga company then I doubt it would be anywhere near as effective. Most of the manga work because of the artist's drawing.

Valkerion · Dec 23, 2020

DragonSJG said:
If he's done's it before, why is his sentence light?

He "deeply thought about his actions and expressed regret towards the situation he put his family through by his decisions as well as bowing to the judge and representatives of the victims"

It sounds sarcastic, but watch the nightly news in Japan on any random day and this is all it takes for people to get off with light sentences. Government officials stealing money (or having end of the year parties after telling the country to not do it this year because of corona), companies causing accidents resulting in illness or death, so on and so forth. Of course, unless its minor amounts of drug use in the privacy of your own home... then your fucked.

Brawly Likes to Brawl · Dec 23, 2020

Is this a consistent thing with Japan's rulings on charges related to pedophilia?

Mr. Snuffleupagus · Dec 23, 2020

Sexual crimes in Japan rarely result in large sentences.

In this case, I can see he professed at every stage, making the job on the prosecutor easier - so he will have earned points for that.
Furthermore, I'm going to guess that he paid a settlement, received a letter of forgiveness from the family(s) involved and finally, I'm guessing the judge will have given him a 'less strict' sentence due to the girls being minor, but not 'very young' (eg. toddler etc.)

lorddarkflare · Dec 23, 2020

Valkerion said:
He "deeply thought about his actions and expressed regret towards the situation he put his family through by his decisions as well as bowing to the judge and representatives of the victims"

It sounds sarcastic, but watch the nightly news in Japan on any random day and this is all it takes for people to get off with light sentences. Government officials stealing money (or having end of the year parties after telling the country to not do it this year because of corona), companies causing accidents resulting in illness or death, so on and so forth. Of course, unless its minor amounts of drug use in the privacy of your own home... then your fucked.

Any sector of the Japanese population think this is as topsy-turvy as westerners do?

DragonSJG · Dec 23, 2020

Valkerion said:
He "deeply thought about his actions and expressed regret towards the situation he put his family through by his decisions as well as bowing to the judge and representatives of the victims"

It sounds sarcastic, but watch the nightly news in Japan on any random day and this is all it takes for people to get off with light sentences. Government officials stealing money (or having end of the year parties after telling the country to not do it this year because of corona), companies causing accidents resulting in illness or death, so on and so forth. Of course, unless its minor amounts of drug use in the privacy of your own home... then your fucked.

Oh FFS

HardRojo · Dec 23, 2020

Ah yeah, I remember this case because of how close his name was to Watsuki, the RK mangaka. Japan needs to do something serious about this shit, for real.

Sanka · Dec 23, 2020

I'm not that good with law would the sentencing result in jail time if it was a european country for example?

Chairmanchuck (另一个我) · Dec 23, 2020

Sanka said:
I'm not that good with law would the sentencing result in jail time if it was a european country for example?

Its essentially just a probation sentence. As long as he doesnt commit any crime in 3 years, he doesnt need to go to jail.

Kwigo · Dec 23, 2020

Sanka said:
I'm not that good with law would the sentencing result in jail time if it was a european country for example?

Sexual assault on a minor?
More often than not you end up in jail.

Mr. Snuffleupagus · Dec 23, 2020

Sanka said:
I'm not that good with law would the sentencing result in jail time if it was a european country for example?

Really does depend. The article is not clear what the 'sexual harassment' was so it's difficult to say. I can find several examples of actual rape of 16/17 year olds in the UK being given around 5-6 year sentences, which they would only have to serve around half of before being released on parole. In this case, maybe it was groping and the judge didn't view that as severe as rape. I'm sure his Defence team would have argued that a lack of penetration meant he should get towards the lower end of the scale when it came to punishment.

Valkerion · Dec 23, 2020

lorddarkflare said:
Any sector of the Japanese population think this is as topsy-turvy as westerners do?

Of course. There are a number of people who want various changes/advancements for all kinds of things like same sex marriage, work culture, sexism at work, and even being able to choose to be under one surname after getting married. All of which are met with officials saying "we will seriously consider it" meaning they have stopped talking about it currently and will probably not reappear in the next 5 years ala something seemingly so simple as name changes or not.

The Japanese government/officials are surprisingly good at straight up just not listening/ignoring the general public and doing whatever they want, further fueling said apathy. People might tell you they disagree with thing x, if you ask them directly but very few people or groups with gather and hold those responsible to the fire here in person.

Psittacus · Dec 23, 2020

Bonejack said:
Meanwhile, i, a pretty normal dude, sits here and thinks that being fucking guilty of --> INDECENT ACTS AGAINST A MINOR <-- is like the OPPOSITE of anything that i would even just remotely call "good behaviour".

Just ... jail this guy, ffs.

Amalthea said:
"He's such a good-mannered well behaving person, you know, aside from raping children."

Like WTF!?

You've misread the title. He's not been given a light sentence because he's displayed good behaviour. It means he won't serve prison time unless he reoffends.

Mr. Snuffleupagus · Dec 23, 2020

If people feel like reading more on Japan updating it's laws when it comes to this topic: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/07/14/national/social-issues/sex-crimes-violence/

So looking into this, he was charged with Indecent Assault (強制わいせつ) which carries the following punishment:

A person who commits an obscene act using assault or intimidation against a person 13 years or older shall be punished by imprisonment with work for not less than 6 months and not more than 10 years. The same shall apply to persons under the age of 13 who have committed obscene acts (Article 176 of the Penal Code).

Punishment for 10 years would be pretty much unheard of, and would probably be against multiple girls, including violence and with intimidation/abuse of power. Even then, I would expect a 6-8 year sentence. Your usual groping still classifies as Indecent Assault though at the lower end of the scale (6 months to 2 years imprisonment with a 2-4 year suspended sentence).

Fun Fact: Homosexual Indecent Assault is almost always (99+% of the time) punished less severely.

arcadepc · Dec 23, 2020

Kwigo said:
Sexual assault on a minor?
More often than not you end up in jail.

Preferably in solitary confinement

Gunny T Highway · Dec 23, 2020

Meanwhile you do some drugs, you get the book thrown at you and society shuns you. Fuck, Japan's ruling law is messed up.

caliph95 · Dec 23, 2020

Mars People said:
Talk about a slap on the wrist.

That implies it hurt more than it really does

Mandos · Dec 23, 2020

SapphiCine said:
How long before WSJ restarts the manga with him resuming writing? 6 months?

Naturally rape culture is present and horrible everywhere but WTF.

Won't happen, he's not an artist and Jump has plenty of writers, and he wasn't even the more well recieved part of the series(the art was), and he didn't make any strong connections since it's not like he was an assistant. Also the other case people quote was after A 10 year gap with a clean record

Surakian · Dec 23, 2020

Yet again Japan's legal system is absolutely backwards with how they treat sexual crimes against minors vs stuff like drug use. Fucking pisses me off every time.

Rendering... · Dec 23, 2020

I'm just relieved he didn't do anything truly heinous like pirate copyrighted music or call someone a simp on Twitch.

NeonZ · Dec 23, 2020

DragonSJG said:
If he's done's it before, why is his sentence light?

I think he wasn't actually charged for the previous times since there isn't evidence that's considered strong (video/pictures/existing reports against him specifically) - as in, the other cases weren't even taken by the prosecution to trial. He was only charged for what happened the day he was caught.

Akainu · Dec 23, 2020

But let him get caught with some weed and his life would be over.

Cajun · Dec 23, 2020

He should absolutely be in jail for this. Does Japan have any type of public sex offender list like in the states?

andymcc · Dec 23, 2020

DragonSJG said:
God damn it
hope shueisha doesn't give him another chance

lol he'll have another jump manga in less than two years

if he had a 1g joint-- dude would be in jail for five years lol

Night · Dec 23, 2020

I feel bad for women in Japan.

NoKisum · Dec 23, 2020

Quick, someone plant a dime bag of weed in this guy's pocket.

FormatCompatible · Dec 23, 2020

Said it on the other the thread but fuck this sentence, the definition of a slap on the wrist.

And please for the love of god Shueisha don't pull another Shimabukuro with this asshole. PLEASE.

sibarraz · Dec 23, 2020

Japanese laws with pedophiles/ Japanese laws with drug addicts

PSA: Never put "Fucking Donkey" on google

Keyouta · Dec 23, 2020

Yet you do weed and you're fucked for sure.

DanarchyReigns · Dec 23, 2020

Matsuki has less of a chance to come back than Shimabukuro.
Because he's not an artist, just a writer. Writers are dime a dozen at Jump, what they really needs is artists. Hence why Usazaki has a greater chance of getting a new series.
Also, Matsuki didn't network during his time at Shueisha.

formasymphonic · Dec 23, 2020

NeonZ said:
I think he wasn't actually charged for the previous times since there isn't evidence that's considered strong (video/pictures/existing reports against him specifically) - as in, the other cases weren't even taken by the prosecution to trial. He was only charged for what happened the day he was caught.

which is terrible but I have heard similar about proseciuter unwillingness to try unless they have a guaranteed win

Deleted member 68874 · Dec 23, 2020

Pedophilic Mangaka and getting a slap on the wrist seems to go hand in hand unfortuneately.

Deleted member 5865 · Dec 23, 2020

I guess he'll go pal around with Mr. Rurouni Kenshin and Mr. Toriko

DragonSJG · Dec 23, 2020

lorddarkflare said:
Any sector of the Japanese population think this is as topsy-turvy as westerners do?

Can we not do this and act like its a surprise Japanese people are not pleased with this

Act-Age Manga Writer Found Guilty for Indecent Acts Against a Minor - 3 years suspended sentence (no prison time for good behaviour)

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