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Pixel Sprite Artist Calls Out Plagiarism in Kodansha's Homeroom Web Manga (Updated)

Pixel sprite artist and indie game developer Skipmore wrote a blog post on May 24 calling out plagiarism of their work in Chiyo's Homeroom manga, which is serialized on Kodansha's online manga site Comic Days. They posted comparison pictures of their own designs with the manga, as shown below.

Skipmore claimed that the sprite art depicted in the manga were lifted from their game Michibike Dungeon, which they first released in 2008. They claimed to have contacted Comic Days via Twitter direct message about the issue on May 21, and were told by the manga's editor that the art would be changed. Skipmore noted that although they received an apology from the editor, no public apology was issued on the site.

Homeroom first began serialization on Comic Days in March 2018. The "psycho love" manga tells the story of a girl who has been the victim of mysterious pranks, and who falls in love with her seemingly gentle teacher, who has secrets of his own.

Skipmore is an indie game developer specializing in Retro Game design. They handle the concept, direction, art, script, and game and level designs in all of their games. Some of the titles they have worked on include Fairune, Kamiko, Transiruby, Picontier, 1-Bit Rogue, and Drancia.

Update (6/3): Young Magazine issued a formal apology on May 31. Chiyo also issued an apology on their Twitter account.

Source: Skipmore's blog via Otakomu