Kodansha promises worldwide prosecution of illegal uploaders of Attack on Titan

Warning posted in English and Japanese comes just days before manga’s series finale.

Some anime and manga series are all about maintaining the status quo, their whole appeal wrapped up in allowing fans to leisurely spend time with the settings and characters established in their earliest segments. That’s not the case for Attack on Titan, though, whose rollercoaster ride of mysteries, betrayals, and warfare is about to come to an end.

The final chapter of creator Hajime Isayama’s tale of fearless heroes and pantsless monsters is set to be published in the next issue of manga anthology Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. No matter how Attack on Titan’s conflicts resolve themselves, though, publisher Kodansha is making it very clear that its fight against manga pirates continues, and will be a worldwide one as well, as shown in a tweet from Shintaro Kawakubo, the Japanese editor for the Attack on Titan manga.

Regarding illegal upload and pre-release leakage of Attack on Titan.

We’ve begun to take legal actions against several accounts & individuals. We'll take measures against illegal uploads of images & texts regardless of country.
Thank you for choosing our official products!

— 「進撃の巨人」担当編集者バック (@ShingekiKyojin) March 30, 2021

While Kawakubo doesn’t mention Attack on Titan’s final chapter specifically, the timing, coming just a little more than a week before the next Bessatsu Shonen Magazine issue’s street date, can’t be a mere coincidence. Of particular note is the assertation that Kodansha will pursue legal action against unauthorized uploads “regardless of country,” implying that the company is in no way willing to turn a blind eye to uploaders located in countries where the final chapter is yet to go on sale and/or local fans may object to the pricing and/or localization choices of the officially license version.

▼ The same statement was issued in Japanese (with the Japanese tweet currently having some four times as many likes as the English version).

「進撃の巨人」違法アップロード、発売前漏洩について

複数の個人、アカウントに対して訴訟の手続きを進めました。
今後もインターネット上での画像やテキストによる違法投稿について、国を問わず対応します。

正規商品をお楽しみいただいている皆様に感謝します。引き続きよろしくお願いします。

— 「進撃の巨人」担当編集者バック (@ShingekiKyojin) March 30, 2021

Attack on Titan’s series finale will appear in the May issue of Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, which actually comes out on April 9.

Source: Twitter/@ShingekiKyojin via Otakomu
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