I Live Alone producers deleted the controversial scene, but viewers' criticism continues.
On the 13th's broadcast of I Live Alone, webtoon artist Kian84 was shown visiting Japan to meet Japanese horror manga artist Junji Ito. Kian84 visited the Shogakukan office in Japan with Kangnam and met Junji Ito.
However, after the broadcast the scene became the center of controversy. Shogakukan was being criticized on allegations that it had helped a writer with a history of child sexual offenses return under a pen name in Japan. The incident was widely reported locally in Japan and caused an uproar, and the web platform issued an apology.
Shogakukan said, "We did not know that the writer serialized works under a pen name," and apologized to the victim, but because the incident is relatively recent, criticism continues in Japan as well.
Because of this, some viewers pointed out that it was inappropriate for the producers to air the footage of visiting the publisher as it was.
In addition, images related to Detective Conan, introduced as Shogakukan's representative work, also became controversial. The broadcast showed a poster for the Detective Conan film Detective Conan: The Detective of the Abyss, a work that was not released domestically because the film includes a scene featuring Japan's wartime rising sun flag.
Viewers also pointed out that the poster shown was for an unreleased work rather than the Detective Conan film slated to be released domestically this month, Detective Conan: The Magician of the Century's End.
As the controversy spread, I Live Alone producers did not issue a separate official statement. However, apparently conscious of the controversy, the episode's VOD released on the OTT platform on the morning of the 15th was edited to remove all Shogakukan-related scenes and mentions of Detective Conan.
But viewers' reactions remain cold even after the scene was deleted. Online, critical comments have continued, such as "Deleting it doesn't seem to make it go away," "I can't believe a film that couldn't be released domestically because of the wartime flag appeared on the broadcast," "It's a sensitive issue and the producers should have been more cautious," and "An official apology is needed."
Some argue, "The producers may not have known about the controversy," and "They probably did not intend to promote the publisher," but public criticism still does not readily subside over exposing content related to sensitive historical and social issues on terrestrial television.
[Photo] OSEN DB, broadcast capture
[OSEN]