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NEWS: Jump Force Game Adds Rurouni Kenshin's Kenshin Himura, Makoto Shishio as Playable Characters

I know that there were some responses to this news with, "Guess I'll be canceling my pre-order now," which is understandable considering the things we've found out of Nobuhiro Watsuki in the past year. At the same time, though, Rurouni Kenshin is just too iconic of a series in the history of Jump, so I feel it will be easier to simply expect the likes of Kenshin & Shishio to be crossover games like this & act accordingly, instead of pre-ordering early & hoping that Shueisha will have simply forgotten that Rurouni Kenshin was a thing that existed.

Some have even tried arguing that, since Jump Force is aimed primarily at the Western market, Kenshin would be skipped over, since Viz canceled releasing more of Hokkaido Arc, but my answer to that is simple: I highly doubt Viz Media, & whoever has the rights in other territories, has been consulted in any way when it comes to the roster in Jump Force. This is still a game designed & developed by Japanese people, so don't go expecting choices to necessarily be made in response to how America & Europe reacted to stuff like Watsuki's crimes.

Also nobody expected this of him, it's entirely possible anyone involved in anything you've ever enjoyed has done some crime. We don't know entertainment creators personally and can only hope they're good people. It's just interesting to me how we're such a thin line away from boycotting anything and anybody.

given how Shueisha basically gave Watsuki the green light even after he was charged.

HoboSoup wrote:

Also nobody expected this of him, it's entirely possible anyone involved in anything you've ever enjoyed has done some crime. We don't know entertainment creators personally and can only hope they're good people. It's just interesting to me how we're such a thin line away from boycotting anything and anybody.

Watsuki has proven he will use his money to support a pedophilic industry, full stop. This isn't hypothetical, and this isn't some misdemeanor like shoplifting or something. But honestly, this was likely put into the game long before Watsuki's crimes came to light, and there might be technical, legal, or monetary reasons for deciding to keep his characters in. It'd be one thing if the game were already out and they got added in as DLC (that'd be pretty tasteless, IMO), but the company behind it probably had their hands tied, given how Shueisha basically gave Watsuki the green light even after he was charged.

That said, while I don't doubt the majority of prospective customers either don't care about/can ignore the inclusion, I feel for the folks who might feel emotionally conflicted about buying this product due to this announcement.