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Refunds Offered for Cotoh Tsumi Pokémon T-Shirts
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
The Pokémon Company Japan announced on Thursday that refunds and returns will be accepted for a T-shirt design featuring art by Cotoh Tsumi. The artist has recently come under scrutiny after they admitted to tracing parts of photos and other media as "references, homages, and recreations" without permission.
The company issued a press release for the planned release of the Piplup Ringer T-shirt at PUBLIC TOKYO shops. According to The Pokémon Company Japan's investigation, Cotoh Tsumi's artwork for the T-shirt was original but due to the current allegations surrounding the artist's other work, returns will be accepted at the PUBLIC TOKYO Jingumae store and customers may cancel their online orders.
The ringer t-shirts went on sale at Public Tokyo's online store and Tokyo Jingumae location on January 29. Cotoh Tsumi was one of seven up-and-coming artists participating in the Public Tokyo merchandise project. Allegations regarding Cotoh Tsumi tracing other people's work brought attention to another T-shirt design they created in August for the ANARC fashion brand. The design includes a motorcycle that strongly resembles Kaneda's iconic bike from Katsuhiro Ōtomo's Akira. Manga publisher Kodansha issued a statement on Wednesday that "We have not authorized the illustration used in this product." The illustration in question is also alleged to be similar in composition to a photo of a toy product of the AKIRA motorcycle, which Bandai reissued in May last year. The girl in the illustration also resembles a photo of the actress Mei Nagano standing next to a bicycle.
The Pokémon Company launched the "Project Piplup" social media campaign last year to help promote the release of the Pokémon: Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl video games. The campaign website highlights the various tie-ins to the campaign, from merchandise and mascot meet-ups to music videos.
Source: Pokemon Company Japan, Fashion Press via Otakomu
