A Sexual Misconduct Scandal in the Manga Industry: Editorial Authority in the Age of Platforms

Generational Clash in Manga Editing In August 2024, a conversation between two prominent manga editors unexpectedly turned into a sharp debate about the future of the industry. One participant was Kazuhiko Torishima, the legendary editor who helped shape Dragon Ball and later became editor-in-chief of Weekly Shōnen Jump during the period when the magazine launched global hits Naruto and One Piece. The other was Shihei Rin, a younger editor associated with a different generation of successes, including Chainsaw Man and Spy × Family. Shihei Rin (born 1982), former Shōnen Jump+ editor who now works as a freelance editor on titles including Chainsaw Man. What began as a casual podcast conversation soon exposed a fundamental rift in how editors understand their role. Torishima spoke from the perspective of the magazine era, when manga publishing revolved around weekly anthologies and editors exercised strong authority over authors. In that system, editorial judgment developed through long collaboration with creators, and reader feedback arrived gradually through circulation numbers and postcard surveys printed in the magazine itself. Rin, by contrast, described a professional environmen...