#Shueisha to Replace All Reproduction Demon Slayer Chapter Manuscripts After Gotouge Intervened

Publishing giant Shueisha will be replacing all the sold reproduction manuscripts of the final chapters of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba after they were all found to be faulty and lacked the faithfulness that was advertised. Initially, Shueisha only refunded 166 buyers who complained, but after Demon Slayer creator Koyoharu Gotouge spoke to Shueisha about the issue, the company decided to re-make all the reproductions from scratch.

Over the last year, Shueisha had sold reproductions of the final Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba chapters at both Jump Festa in December and through the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. These reproductions were meant to be based on the turned-in manuscript by Gotouge, not the finished chapter, leaving some images in the cut-out areas and notes to assistants and editors. But after buyers got a hold of the items, they found that some were stretched versions from the original magazine printing and had some drawings cut off.

The Jump Festa set was sold for 38,500 yen (US$350) and were meant to be “faithful” reproductions at the same size as the original manuscript, while the Weekly Shonen Jump sets were smaller and were 3,850 yen (US$35) per set.

A spokesperson from Shueisha told Asahi Shimbun that they were “very sorry for how the product turned out, which would have made [them] angry even if [they’d] had bought the items.” The spokesperson explained that the issues occurred due to “specifications of reproduced manuscripts varying due to more manga creators drawing digitally.”

When customers originally filed complaints to Shueisha, the publishing company decided to refund 35% of the 472 copies sold from the Jump Festa versions, but wouldn’t initiate a full recall until Demon Slayer creator Koyoharu Gotouge wrote to Shueisha and said “these are not worthy to be called ‘reproductions’ [of my work].” 

Shueisha now is offering all the buyers (including those who were refunded) the chance to return the items they bought and get sent new copies. Those who got the refunds will have to purchase again. Shueisha are guaranteeing that these new versions will show all the imperfections in the manuscript, such as tape, blurred lines, and even drawings outside the fame for printing.

Source: Asahi Shimbun

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Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.