Manga/anime creator Kenya Suzuki arrested for importing child pornography from Europe

“No matter what, I wanted photos of nude children from overseas.”

Please Tell Me! Galko-chan debuted in 2014, and the manga about high school girl Galko and her friends got a 12-episode anime TV series adaptation in 2016, has had five collected volumes published so far, and is still in continuing serialization through online manga service ComicWalker. All in all, it’s a solid success for Galko creator Kenya Suzuki, even if it hasn’t reached the cultural phenomenon-level of popularity as, say, Demon Slayer or Attack on Titan.

Suzuki is now at the center of attention, though, from the police, as the manga author was arrested for importation of child pornography,

The 40-year-old Suzuki’s arrest stems from a total of six photo albums containing nude photos of children that were sent to him from Germany via registered mail. The albums arrived in Japan split into two shipments, which arrived in September and October of 2020 and were discovered by customs officials in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.

On Monday, Japan’s Kyodo news service reported that Suzuki has been arrested on suspicion of importing prohibited items in violation of customs laws, and that a police search of his home in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture found 46 books containing child pornography. In regard to the books sent to him from Germany, Suzuki told the police “No matter what, I wanted photos of nude children from overseas, which you can’t get in Japan.” Due to the structure of the Japanese language’s grammar, it’s unclear if by “photos of nude children from overseas” Suzuki was referring to nude photos of non-Japanese children specifically, or simply to photos from overseas of nude children regardless of the children’s nationalities.

Earlier this month, Suzuki was reported as missing on Twitter from someone claiming to be an acquaintance. The tweets, sent on December 14, say that Suzuki was not in his home, answering his mobile phone, or responding to emails, and had not been seen since December 8. The Twitter user also said that Suzuki’s family had reported him as missing to the police, and in a follow-up tweet on December 14 said that he had been safely found.

Coincidentally, the report of Suzuki’s arrest comes one day after the announcement of a new TV anime series for Rurouni Kenshin, whose creator was also arrested on child pornography charges in 2017, prompting a seven-month hiatus for the Rurouni Kenshin manga. As of this writing, Please Tell Me! Galko-chan remains available on ComicWalker.

Source: Kyodo via Livedoor News via Jin, Matome Matome (1, 2), ComicWalker
Top image: Pakutaso
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