Harassment is a terrifying thing and can take on many different forms. Being in the public eye can make one a target for this kind of behavior as you open yourself up for more people, the good and the bad. Kunihiko Ikuhara, the director of various anime series including “Sailor Moon R” and “Revolutionary Girl Utena,” has been subject to some of this behavior for some time now. It started over a year and a half ago but we’re just finding out about the extent of it today.
Back in April of 2022, Ikuhara received a Twitter DM from a self-described voice actress and illustrator. She claimed that Ikuhara had plagiarized her. She reiterated these claims again when an associate of Ikuhara’s posted additional art from a series that the director had also worked on. The situation only escalated from there as the currently unnamed woman began reaching out to various companies that Ikuhara had worked with across different forms of media.
It’s the latter part of that which differentiates this from an artistic dispute and disturbing behavior. If Ikuhara really had plagiarized her works, than the recourse would be through a lawsuit, not contacting everyone connected to the director. What makes this scarier though is how the situation is eerily similar to a situation that happened in 2018 at Kyoto Animation. Back then, a person accused the studio of plagiarism and then committed arson; setting one of the company’s buildings on fire and killing more than 30 people.
Ikuhara, likely knowing full well of this, took steps to respond to the harassment by contacting the police. Authorities began monitoring his home during the course of the day to ensure his well-being. Additionally, Ikuhara struck back by suing the woman in a lawsuit filed back in June of 2022. Ikuhara filed for damages totaling to around $30,000 and hopefully sending a message that this kind of behavior is unacceptable. The woman, as of October of this year, still claims that her work was plagiarized. Ikuhara continues to deny it.
A verdict in the case is expected on December 13th.
