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Saint Seiya Creator Masami Kurumada Sues Former Manager, Others for 2.8 Billion Yen

Manga creator Masami Kurumada (Saint Seiya, B'tX, Ring ni Kakero) announced in a press conference in Tokyo on Wednesday that he has filed a lawsuit against a former board director and others from three of his companies for allegedly misappropriating funds without authorization. He is seeking an estimated 2.8 billion yen (about US$18 million) in damages. 

The three companies include Kurumada Productions, which manages the copyrights and merchandising rights of Kurumada's works. According to Kurumada's legal representatives, the former director was also his former manager who was in charge of accounting, and also took part in establishing Kurumada Productions. The former manager has known the manga creator for over 15 years. 

According to the lawsuit, the defendants at the three companies allegedly misappropriated funds between around 2018 and 2024 by unauthorized transfer of company funds to other accounts, and by having license fee payments transferred to accounts under different company names. 

The total misappropriated funds is estimated at 4.6 billion yen (about US$29 million), and Kurumada's legal representatives are seeking 2.8 billion yen in compensation, excluding the 1.8 billion yen (about US$11 million) that has already been repaid. 

Kurumada had announced in January 2024 that he would launch the first major exhibition of his manga art in June 2024, but his website announced in March 2024 the cancellation of the exhibition "due to various circumstances."

Kurumada published the original Saint Seiya manga from 1986 to 1990. The manga has inspired a number of television anime, original video anime projects, anime films, and spinoff manga. The original series has 35 million copies in print.

Saint Seiya: Next Dimension - The Myth of Hades (image right) launched in 2006 and ended in July 2024.

Viz Media published the original manga in English under the title Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac. ADV Films released Toei Animation's anime adaptation with an English dub under the title Knights of the Zodiac, and later released it unedited under the title Saint Seiya. New Video Group later also released the series on DVD.

Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya, the CG anime remake based on the original manga, debuted worldwide in July 2019. Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac - Battle for Sanctuary -, the second season, debuted in July 2021. Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac - Battle for Sanctuary - Part 2, the next part, premiered in April 2024.

A live-action film of the manga titled Knights of the Zodiac opened in 2023.

Kurumada recently launched the new series Saint Seiya Tenkai-hen (Saint Seiya: The Heavens Arc) in Akita Shoten's Weekly Shōnen Champion magazine on May 14. 

Sources: Mainichi Shimbun (菅健吾), TBS News via livedoor News, Yaraon!