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act-age Stage Play Canceled After Manga Writer Tatsuya Matsuki's Arrest
posted on by Egan Loo
The entertainment companies Hori Pro and Hori Pro International announced on Tuesday that they decided to cancel the stage play of Tatsuya Matsuki and Shiro Usazaki's act-age manga. Their message on the act-age ~Ginga Tetsudō no Yoru~ (act-age: Night on the Galactic Railroad) play's website explained that they took the August 8 arrest of Matsuki seriously and canceled the play after discussing the matter with everyone involved. The companies also canceled the accompanying audition for the heroine Kei Yonagi.
Shū Matsui had been directing the play for a planned 2022 debut.
The editors of Shueisha's Weekly Jump magazine had announced on Monday that they canceled the publication of the manga itself. The chapter that appeared in this year's combined 36th and 37th issue, which shipped on Tuesday, is the final chapter. Shueisha's MANGA Plus service announced on Saturday that it would not publish the final chapter on its platform.
NHK reported on Saturday that Matsuki was arrested on suspicion of committing an indecent act with a female middle school student. According to police, the girl was walking in the Nakano ward of Tokyo on June 18 at 8:00 p.m. when the suspect approached the girl from behind while on a bicycle and touched her inappropriately. Afterward, the suspect fled the scene on the bicycle. The girl went to police, who analyzed security camera footage to investigate. Police discovered through security footage that about an hour later, a similar incident on a nearby road with a different female middle school student occurred, involving a suspect who resembled Matsuki.
Matsuki reportedly told police "there's generally nothing incorrect" with their accusations.
Matsuki and Usazaki launched the act-age manga in Weekly Shonen Jump in January 2018. The manga was nominated for Kodansha's 43rd annual Manga Awards last year.
Viz Media published the first three chapters in English simultaneously with the Japanese release, and then began regularly publishing the manga digitally in December 2018. Shueisha's MANGA Plus website also published the manga in English digitally.
Sources: act-age ~Ginga Tetsudō no Yoru~stage play's website, Comic Natalie
