An interview has surfaced in which Saint Seiya creator Masami Kurumada discusses being defrauded of ¥4.6 billion by his former manager. The embezzlement came to light after a tax audit two years ago, and Kurumada revealed he had entrusted the manager with everything — his bankbook, his personal seal (the stamp used in Japan in place of a signature), all of it. His remark that he “would have laughed off a few million yen” sparked plenty of discussion on 5ch given the sheer gap in scale, with commenters drawing parallels to the fund misappropriation scandal involving Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, and others expressing surprise that Saint Seiya still commands huge popularity in China and Latin America.
A bus wrapped in Saint Seiya artwork without the creator’s knowledge… Masami Kurumada speaks out on the ¥4.6 billion embezzlement — plus a tearful plea letter from his former manager
The embezzlement came to light after a tax audit began in early two years ago. Kurumada’s reported income looked too low, and suspicious money movements were flagged, raising suspicion of tax evasion. As authorities and Kurumada’s side went back and forth during the investigation, it emerged that Mr. A, the former manager, had been embezzling funds.
“I had entrusted A with everything — my bank passbook, my cards, my personal seal. That’s how completely I trusted him. When the problem first started coming to light, I never imagined he’d swindled such an enormous sum. If it had been a few million yen, I figured I’d yell at him and then laugh it off. But once I saw the full picture, I realized just how thoroughly I’d been betrayed, and it left me feeling utterly hollow.” (Kurumada)
How do you not notice something like this for so long? Guess you really can't trust anyone.
8AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:03
Re: #5 Well, Ippei (Shohei Ohtani's interpreter) also ran up a pretty insane amount…
92AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:36
Re: #5 Apparently he'd bought off everyone around him, so yeah — I guess a creator type might not notice.
10AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:04
You'd end up the same way if hundreds of millions rolled in every year while you just goofed off. You just don't know it yet.
12AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:05
Re: #10 Wait, is Saint Seiya still making that much money? Wasn't it a hit like 40 years ago?
22AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:08
Re: #12Re: #14 It's Chinese money — Saint Seiya is massively popular across Asia, including China.
26AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:09
Re: #12Re: #14 The merch still sells well, and for some reason it's huge right now in Latin America, especially Brazil.
14AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:05
Wait, is it really making that much? Pachinko money? (anime IP often gets licensed to pachinko/pachislot machines, a major revenue source)
15AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:05
The more you look at it, the more this feels like a second Ohtani-Ippei case. Really shows you shouldn't trust people. When it comes to money, maybe you need to be paranoid to the point of not trusting anyone.
17AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:06
Re: #15 Even Shinjo got scammed by someone close to him, and even Yanikki (nickname for Yu Darvish) got scammed by someone his family was close with.
16AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:06
A saint who'll forgive you if it's only a few million yen.
20AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:07
Re: #16 Considering more than half would've gone to taxes anyway, it's basically a rounding error.
24AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:09
Re: #16 Well, the revenue scale is just different.
18AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:06
"Please rehire me" — lol. What kind of job do you even give someone who's not a creator and has negative trust? A professional punching bag or something?
108AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:50
Re: #18 Maybe a stunt double who gets punched and face-plants on the ground.
36AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:14
What's wild about cases like this is there's never a 'just skim a reasonable amount' — they always push it right to the edge of what would blow up into a scandal.
40AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:16
Re: #36 Even skimming a little is already a crime, so if you're going to do it, you might as well go all the way. A few million yen isn't worth the risk, but a few billion is.
50AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:21
Re: #36 Maybe keeping it modest is exactly what lets you get away without it ever making the news? 🤔
48AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:21
Funny that Saint Seiya got so popular when it's basically just guys fighting with made-up mystery techniques.
53AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:22
Re: #48 Is there any fantasy battle manga in this genre that doesn't have guys fighting with mystery techniques? lol
54AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:23
Re: #48 It got big because of the anime.
58AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:25
If even someone at Kurumada's level can make this much, no wonder everyone aims to be a Jump manga artist. Even legends at Magazine or Sunday probably couldn't touch this amount.
Re: #58 Reminder: it was so embedded in daily life it practically created its own social hierarchy among elementary, middle, and high schoolers.
59AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:26
"Please hire me again" — lol
63AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:28
Re: #59 Gives off real 'Yamaguchi-member' vibes (referencing an idol-group scandal figure known for self-pitying apologies) — he probably sees himself as the tragic hero of the story.
70AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:30
Re: #59 The sheer nerve is hilarious.
72AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:30
If the victim here had been Eiichiro Oda instead, I wonder how you all would've reacted.
80AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:31
Re: #72 Of course you'd forgive a 'nakama's' mistake, right? (referencing One Piece's famous 'nakama'/friendship theme)
86AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:35
Re: #72 Ugh, a trial would probably mean a long hiatus for the series.
76AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:31
Re: #55 Dangling over a hundred million yen in cash in front of someone and going 'come on, you've got a conscience, you wouldn't take it, right~?' — morally speaking, that side is pretty messed up too.
81AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:32
Re: #76 Blaming others gets to this point, it's basically a sickness.
83AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:33
Re: #81 It's not blame-shifting — it's just that both sides bear some responsibility.
84AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:34
Re: #83 That's exactly what blame-shifting is.
88AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:35
Re: #83 No, it is blame-shifting, and it is a sickness.
105AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:49
Random thought, but do other countries even have the concept of the 12 zodiac signs?
117AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:54
Re: #105 If anything, it's the other way around — the ones used today trace back to ancient Greece and Egypt. Japan used to use the 'Twenty-Eight Mansions,' constellations from Chinese astronomy.
118AnonymousSep 18, 2026 08:56
Re: #105 Greece: "…" Well, from Greece you can only see the northern hemisphere's sky, so having as many as 88 Saints (constellations) doesn't really add up anyway.
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
The embezzlement came to light after suspicious money movements were flagged during a tax audit two years ago; Kurumada has revealed that he had entrusted his former manager with everything, from his bankbook to his personal seal. The thread’s central hook was the gap between the ¥4.6 billion total and Kurumada’s own remark that he “would have laughed off a few million yen” — this was by far the most talked-about point. Many commenters drew parallels to the fund misappropriation case involving Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, with a number of posts framing it as a cautionary tale about placing too much trust in people close to you when it comes to money. There was also plenty of surprise that Saint Seiya, seen domestically as a work from over 40 years ago, still holds strong popularity across Asia (especially China) and Latin America (especially Brazil) — which offered something of an explanation for where such a huge sum of money could have come from. Note that the perpetrator was a man in his 50s who served as the former manager; some early posts in the thread mistakenly assumed a different gender, but that confusion has been left out of this write-up.
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