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The story
Masami Kurumada, the manga artist known for Saint Seiya and Ring ni Kakero, has filed suit at the Tokyo District Court against former directors, seeking about ¥2.8 billion in damages over a total of roughly ¥4.6 billion allegedly diverted without authorization from three companies where he serves as representative director. About ¥1.8 billion of the diverted funds has reportedly already been repaid. On 5channel, the thread’s reaction focused less on the details of the case and more on sheer shock at the scale of the sum — conversation spread to the size of Saint Seiya’s licensing revenue, its pachinko/slot-machine business, and the income gap between manga artists and novelists.
Masami Kurumada, the manga artist known for the hit series Saint Seiya (Seinto Seiya), held a press conference in Tokyo on the 2nd,
revealing that he has filed suit at the Tokyo District Court against former directors of three companies where he serves as representative director, seeking a combined roughly ¥2.8 billion in damages over funds allegedly diverted without authorization.
The total amount diverted reportedly comes to about ¥4.6 billion, and he argues that the roughly ¥2.8 billion remaining after subtracting the approximately ¥1.8 billion already repaid constitutes the damages.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
licensing alone can make you this much money.
I don't know why, but I loved how peeling the sticker off would make the armor come off.
Even Eiichiro Oda is from a much earlier generation.
then Athena descends and he wins in one hit — same pattern every time.
now we know that was a total lie.
no match for manga, which can build a whole character-merchandising business.
I started reading Weekly Shonen Jump because I wanted to read Ring ni Kakero,
and I stopped reading Shonen Jump because Ring ni Kakero got too ridiculous.
Thanks to that I fell way behind on Shonen Jump —
I only read Slam Dunk for the first time about five years ago, and I've never read Dragon Ball.
Natsuki Owada and Shinji Ono are examples of that.
Shigeru Nakamoto also recalled that he would've died if he'd kept up the Dream Kamen serialization.
Saint Seiya is insane.
Or was he pulling a Tiger Mask, secretly donating it to orphanages? (Tiger Mask refers to anonymous donors nicknamed after the manga hero)
came off as this hardcore, aesthetics-obsessed take on creation —
like a photo of some passionate wrestler,
like a one-man art movement.
If you bare your sensibility that raw,
it's no wonder the kind of thinking needed to
rigorously manage money and finances
would end up completely different.
Kind of like Eikichi Yazawa, if he'd just stayed a boy forever.
Kurumada's six hours
You're supposed to write it as 'MY six hours' there.
That's exactly why people say your comedic sense is weak.
Since even Kurumada could have this much embezzled from him, his actual assets must be so massive it's impossible to even guess (lol)
'Further discussion is pointless.'
'I'm not asking you to judge right from wrong.'
'This is a battlefield — the ones who get deceived are the ones at fault.'
'This is my master Camus's Fist of Punishment.'
'Dead End Climax.'
'Your Cosmo is tainted.'
Then guys like Toriyama or Oda must be beyond imagination.
Background and Talking Points
It’s worth noting that this lawsuit is a civil claim for damages — it is not a criminal case, and no criminal charges or conviction have been established. Masami Kurumada serves as representative director of three companies that hold the rights to Saint Seiya, Ring ni Kakero, and other titles, and he alleges that funds from those companies were diverted by former directors. Of the roughly ¥4.6 billion total allegedly diverted, ¥1.8 billion has already been repaid, and the suit seeks damages for the remaining ¥2.8 billion. On the thread, the sheer size of the sum shifted the conversation toward the earning power of the Saint Seiya IP itself — its pachinko/slot-machine business and licensing revenue — before branching into the income gap between manga artists and novelists, along with nostalgic reminiscing about Kurumada’s works. The specific details of who moved the money, by what method, and how the diversion was even possible remain unclear from current reporting, and will be contested in the upcoming trial.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Hello! Project board) thread “Saint Seiya manga creator Masami Kurumada sues former directors, alleging about ¥4.6 billion diverted from funds of three companies where he serves as representative director.”
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