The Ameba News portal has gathered Masami Kurumada's words from the press conference he held at the Kasumigaseki Judicial Journalists' Club in Tokyo to announce the lawsuit against his former accounting manager (see my previous post).
According to the portal, during the conference, Kurumada himself explained the situation at the time he suffered the fraud: "I just want to convey this." Kurumada stated: "First of all, at the beginning, when this embezzlement case was discovered, our company's bank balance was minimal, and it was impossible for us to pay our substantial tax burden. This was due, of course, to the fact that the former employee 'A' had been stealing almost everything from us for many years. One misstep and Kurumada Production would have gone bankrupt, and I myself, Masami Kurumada, could have ended up ruined as a manga artist. During the two and a half years that followed, amid anxiety and frustration, I managed to keep going with my creative and writing work; I believe I was able to endure only thanks to the support of many of the people involved. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude once again."
Kurumada referred to the former employee "A" by saying: "We reached this point without me having any idea at all that he had been continuously embezzling funds for more than 10 years. When it was discovered, I couldn't believe it; more than anger, I felt an emptiness that overshadowed everything else. To think that there are people who, for pure personal gain and greed, betray without batting an eye those who trusted them. It's an indescribable sense of helplessness. For a time, I myself was on the verge of losing faith in humanity. However, I intend to keep striving to write for all the readers of the world, and for the people who love Saint Seiya and Kurumada's manga."
Additionally, when a reporter asked him what his feelings were toward the former employee "A," he replied: "From time to time, you hear about embezzlement cases like this in the news, right? But I never expected to encounter a bad person in the world of anime and manga. And that's despite the fact that I've been in this industry for over 50 years myself. That's why, at first, I really couldn't believe it; that feeling was the strongest—I kept wondering 'why?, why?'. Yes, that's my true feeling."
Ameba News also gathered the words of his lead attorney, who confirmed that the former employee, who had a long relationship with Kurumada, had been telling the following lies to the interested parties regarding contact between him and those parties: "He told the interested parties a string of lies, saying that Masami Kurumada, the author of Saint Seiya, was a misanthrope, that he was an artist and therefore couldn't meet with people, and that he claimed he wouldn't interact with anyone but him, which prevented his associates from contacting Masami Kurumada for a long time." In response to this, Kurumada expressed: "I've had reader events, like those with Jump, but this is the first time I'm at a press conference like this."
Afterward, the lead attorney commented: "I think the fact that (Kurumada) didn't have much media exposure or appear in that kind of space is also related to these circumstances." Likewise, regarding the former employee, the lead attorney stated: "By centralizing the communication channel solely on himself, and by making himself the only one capable of controlling all accounting matters, he committed a really wide variety of frauds."
On the other hand, the bengo4 portal reports that the former accounting manager transferred funds from Kurumada Pro to his own account or to accounts of affiliated companies he controlled, money from licensing fees that should have been paid. It also reports that Kurumada nearly lost faith in people because the acts were committed by a man who had supported his career for twenty-five years and in whom he trusted like a family member. Finally, The Sankei Shimbun reports that the fraud came to light around February 2024 following a complaint from the Tokyo Regional Tax Office.
So, everything seems to indicate that this was the main reason why the event for Masami Kurumada's 50 years in the industry was canceled... let's remember that the cancellation announcement was posted on March 26, 2024, a month later. It all adds up.