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Kodansha Editors Apologize for Death Note Plagiarism (Updated)
posted on by Evan Miller
On Friday, manga publisher Kodansha Inc. issued an apology for the alleged plagiarism of the popular Death Note manga that appeared in the January 11 issue (released on December 12) of Weekly Shōnen Magazine Extra: Magazine Dragon.
According to Kodansha, the manga Megabaka by Naka Gomura was flagged after its release by readers. Those readers noticed that the manga included some images similar to those found in popular manga such as Death Note, Air Gear, and MPD-Psycho. After Kodansha representatives ruled that a large portion of Megabaka contained plagiarized images, Gomura admitted to the acts, and an apology was issued.
Source: Sankei Shinbun
Update: Two postings on livedoor.biz have collected sample images of the alleged plagiarism from the 2ch bulletin board system. Kodansha itself has pulled images of Megabaka off its website and said that the manga has been withdrawn from the magazine issue's Dragon Cup competition for new artists.
