Switch Manga, Rin Yoshi Accused of Plagiarism

Rin Yoshi's manga Switch, one of the titles currently serialized in the "Cookie" manga magazine, will no longer appear in the magazine as of the April issue due to accusations of copyright infringement.

In a statement on their official site, Editor-in-Chief Umeo Kamitsuo has stated that the opening pages of Switch, from the January issue of Cookie, were a reproduction of images from the "Gravure" fashion magazine.

"Cookie" publisher Shueisha has also stopped distribution other works by Rin Yoshi, including Kurabeyou mo nai Hodo ni (”Uncomparable”) and silent summer snow due to further instances of plagiarism. Umeo also announced that the magazine will step up checks for potential copyright violations and make sure that staff are aware of the problems associated with such issues.

In October 2005, similar controversy plagued Yuki Suetsugu, who was confessed to having plagiarized images from Takehiko Inoue's manga Slam Dunk! and REAL for her manga Flower of Eden. Publisher Kodansha pulled the title from the market and Tokyopop canceled its plans to release Flower of Eden in English. Kodansha also canceled serialization of Suetsugu's then current manga series, Silver.