News

Kuroko's Basketball Dōjinshi Event Scheduled After Others Were Cancelled

Studio You, the company that organizes the Kuroko's Basketball-themed "Shadow Trickster" dōjinshi events across Japan, announced on Tuesday that it is hosting a new Shadow Trickster event at the Twin Messe event hall in Shizuoka on April 21. The event is accepting applications from dōjinshi circles until March 25.

The announcement comes one day after Studio You cancelled the Shadow Trickster Osaka 2 event planned for April 7, and asked that any circles planning on selling or distributing Kuroko's Basketball-related dōjinshi or merchandise at eight other area dōjinshi events on the same day to show restraint.

The staff noted that they originally had planned to hold the event while also strengthening security and conducting baggage searches, but after taking into account the other events being held in the area on the same day and the nearby businesses, the staff decided to cancel the event.

Studio You has cancelled various other Shadow Trickster events since October, including two events in Fukuoka that were scheduled for March 10 and May 6.

Background

Since October, more than 30 locations linked to Kuroko's Basketball creator Tadatoshi Fujimaki have received threat letters with powdered and liquid substances. A source in the investigation of the threats said there is a high possibility that the liquid sent to Sophia University (Fujimaki's alma mater) on October 12 could emit a lethal dose of hydrogen sulfide if vaporized.

Several Kuroko's Basketball dōjinshi events throughout Japan have been cancelled in the aftermath of the threats. The "Shadow Trickster 3" event did proceed without incident at the Big Sight on October 20, shortly after the center received its first threat. The official "Kuroko no Basuke produced by Namco Namja Town" event in Tokyo ended 19 days early as a result of the threats, and Animate Café Tennoji in Osaka cancelled a planned Kuroko's Basketball collaboration event.

Touhou Kamuisai 7, an event dedicated to the Touhou Project movement that was scheduled for last month in Sapporo, was also cancelled. The organizers later explained that its venue had received a threat letter specifically directed at the event.

Last month, the organizers of the Comic City dōjinshi events barred circles from selling Kuroko's Basketball items at March 17's Haru Comic City 18 event, after they received a request to do so from the management of the Tokyo Big Sight event complex. The same organizers had barred Kuroko's Basketball from the Comic City Osaka 92 event on January 6, and then cancelled February 10's Double Clutch event outright. However, they held the Comic City Tokyo 131 event at Tokyo Big Sight and insisted on allowing Kuroko's Basketball circles. Comic City Tokyo 131 proceeded without incident on January 27.

[Via Hachima Kikō]