Short comics were accused of plagiarizing classic mystery novels, HARTA editorial department apologized: failed to fully confirm in advance

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Short comics were accused of plagiarizing classic mystery novels, HARTA editorial department apologized: failed to fully confirm in advance

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On the 13th, KADOKAWA’s comic journal HARTA officially announced that the short story of the mystery “Ghost はもめているか” published on X in July 2022 was pointed out by readers that the method in the play was suspected to be plagiarizing another Shimada Soji. The editorial department stated that it was not fully confirmed in advance before publication, and apologized to relevant persons, readers, and the original authors. It will review the editing process to avoid similar problems in the future.

The editorial department further explained that Sato Miyagi, the author of “Ghost Rising”, has not actually read similar existing works. He thought about the “method of fraud” in the plot, and thought about the same reasoning method on his own, and No intention to plagiarize.

After learning that there had been cases of “similar reasoning” in the past, the author took the initiative to consult with the editorial department, but the editor at the time felt that this was fine and still allowed the work to be completed and published as scheduled. According to the editorial department, they believed that the technique was considered a “general technique” at that time and did not deeply confirm whether this technique existed in the advanced work, so the work was eventually published.

The work was pointed out by readers that it was plagiarized by “Astrological Murder” and was exposed. The HARTA editorial department stated that it would conduct an investigation and delete the tweets published on the work. Unexpectedly, it was not until more than two years before the incident and the apology announcement were officially released.

The case of “similar reasoning” in the previous period was actually the 1997 weekly magazine Wenchun pointed out that one of the chapters of “Kinda Ichiko’s Event Book” “The Murder of Yirendang Village” was suspected of plagiarizing Shimada Soji’s “Astrological Murder” at that time. It even evolved into a civil lawsuit, and the “Murder in Yirendang Village” chapter, which has been remade into a Japanese drama, no longer exists in subsequent records, nor has it been adapted into a TV animation. Therefore, when “Ghost Rising” was pointed out that it was plagiarized by “Astrological Murder”, many old readers said, “I didn’t expect similar things to happen in the Reiwa era.”

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