Kodansha Cancels "Oshiawase ni, Konyakusha-sama" Manga: Artist Matsurika Admits to Plagiarism

Kodansha's popular magazine Monthly Shonen Magazine has made a decision that has sent shockwaves through the manga world. According to an official statement released on March 31, 2026, the serialization of the manga Oshiawase ni, Konyakusha-sama. Watashi mo Watashi de, Shiawase ni Narimasu no de. (Wishing You Happiness, My Fiancé. I'll Be Happy in My Own Way.) has been completely discontinued. Behind this radical decision is the admission by the series' artist, Matsurika, that they had imitated (traced/plagiarized) the works of other artists.

The incident began when the editorial team detected "problematic similarities" between the manga's illustrations and other published works. As a result of investigations and discussions with the artist, Matsurika admitted to crossing the boundaries of reference usage and resorting to direct imitation. The magazine's management stated that this situation violated the principles of artistic integrity and apologized to the readers and the artists whose rights were infringed. The sale and distribution of the manga on digital platforms (Palcy, Getsumaga Kichi, and Comic DAYS) have also been halted immediately.

The effects of this scandal were not limited to the current series. Kodansha has also removed Matsurika's previously published one-shot work, Shinitagari no Hashi no Ue, from platforms due to similar suspicions. The manga adaptation, which began its run in February 2024, has thus come to an end while still in its early stages. However, there is some consolation for fans of the series: the original light novel series, written by Gorogoro Mikan with character designs by HIROKAZU, will not be affected by this situation and will continue its publication.

Plagiarism and "tracing" cases in the manga industry are among the violations most severely punished by publishers. It is known that many series have been canceled or have undergone artist changes due to similar incidents in the past. The Monthly Shonen Magazine team has pledged to further tighten their editorial control processes to prevent such situations from occurring in the future. Whether the manga version of the series will restart with a new artist remains unclear.