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When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace Creator's New Novel Series Cancelled After Fans Claim Prince of Tennis Plagiarism
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Publisher SB Creative and its label GA Bunko announced on Friday that publication of the second volume of author Kota Nozomi and illustrator Yūnagi's Isekai Tennis Musō: Tennis Player Toka Iu Nazo no Otoko ga Chōtto Tsuyosugirun Desu Kedo! (Alternate World Tennis Warriors: But The Mysterious Man Who is Called a Tennis Player Among Other Things is A Little Too Powerful!) novel series has been cancelled. The publisher cited reports that the novel has various resemblances to another work or works. The publisher apologized to readers and staff related to the series' production.
SB Creative released the first volume of the novel series on January 15. A Twitter user then posted images last week that compare illustrations of the characters from Isekai Tennis Musō to Takeshi Konomi's The Prince of Tennis manga.
Isekai Tennis Musō began to create a buzz online due to The Prince of Tennis fans' criticism of Nozomi and Yūnagi's work. Some fans debated whether the novel is an homage to Konomi's work or intentional plagiarism. Twitter users said that the creators had previously acknowledged Konomi's popular manga and tweeted about it. Other fans suggested that The Prince of Tennis fans may be overreacting.
Without mentioning The Prince of Tennis, Nozomi posted an apology on Twitter on Friday. He apologized for upsetting fans and said he is reflecting on the situation.
The story of Isekai Tennis Musō centers on high school tennis prodigy who finds himself summoned to another world as a hero. The magician who summoned him believes his could be indispensable in the land. Using his tennis mastery, the boy can defeat a dragon in one hit or crush a demon army. He sets himself apart from other elite forces battling evil, but the demon king is also a tennis player.
Game developer Koei Tecmo Games filed trademarks for "Baseball Musō," "Tennis Musō," and "Soccer Musō" on January 5. However, there is no confirmation whether the "Tennis Musō" trademark is related to Nozomi and Yūnagi's novel series.
Nozomi launched Isekai Tennis Musō this month after ending his Inō-Battle wa Nichijō-kei no Naka de (Inou-Battle in the Usually Daze) light novel series. Inō-Battle wa Nichijō-kei no Naka de inspired the When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace anime adaptation from Studio Trigger in 2014. Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired, and Sentai Filmworks released the series on home video in North America.
[Via Nijipoi]
