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Space Adventure Cobra Creator Calls Out Pop Team Epic for Using Design Without Permission
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
The Pop Team Epic manga and anime are known for spoofing other franchises. However, crossover copyright issues sometimes land creator Bkub Okawa in hot water, especially on Twitter. Okawa had to post a new apology on Wednesday after borrowing content from Buichi Terasawa's Space Adventure Cobra manga and anime series.
Okawa's birthday was Wednesday, and he made a celebratory tweet. Terasawa retweeted the post with the following message: "This is someone with no manners. Stop using Cobra's Psycogun as you like! Get permission from my manager!" Terasawa's tweet has since been deleted.
Although Terasawa apparently erased his initial tweet, he posted several more times to clarify that he was referencing an official Pop Team Epic sweatshirt. The sweatshirt depicts Pop Team Epic character Popuko as the title character from Space Adventure Cobra. The sweatshirt is a collaboration with Japanese apparel company Candy Stripper, and the company unveiled the design late last year.
In a tweet from November, the company described "Popuko holding a Psychogun in her left hand" on the shirt. The Psychogun is Cobra's trademark item in Space Adventure Cobra. Terasawa also retweeted that tweet, which Candy Stripper has since deleted. Internet users following the controversy soon reported that the listing for the sweatshirt was removed from the Pop Team Epic anime's official website.
Okawa tweeted an apology to Terasawa and Space Adventure Cobra fans on Wednesday, including a second apology for responding to the situation late. He added that he hopes that people in charge of managing copyrights can deal with the matter swiftly.
Sources: Buichi Terasawa's Twitter account, Bkub Okawa's Twitter account via Yaraon! (link 2)
