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MF Bunko J Recalls Henneko Author's New Novel Due to Similar Lines From Yutaka Kōno's Novel

Kadokawa's MF Bunko J light novel label announced on Monday that it was recalling all copies of author Sou Sagara's new light novel Koi to Noroi to Sekai o Horobosu Kaijū no Hanashi (The Story of the Monster that Destroys Love, Curses, and the World) due to two lines of text that were supposedly copied from Yutaka Kōno's Inakunare, Gunjō (Go Away, Ultramarine) novel.

According to MF Bunko J's statement, Sagara himself brought the matter to the publisher's attention when, while searching for impressions of his recently released novel (the novel shipped on October 25), he spotted a comment on Twitter on October 27 talking about the similarity of the paragraphs.

MF Bunko J provided a comparison of the two paragraphs. The line is located on page 207, lines 2-4 of Koi to Noroi to Sekai o Horobosu Kaijū no Hanashi; and page 209, lines 7-9 of Inakunare, Gunjō. In the lines, the narrator dramatically compares the redness of the setting sun as artificially made by man, and the product of an ancient civilization passed down to us. The lines have a similar structure, and have a similar choice of words.

Sagara published an explanation on his Twitter account on Tuesday, saying that he had read Inakunare, Gunjō six years ago, and was attracted to the specific lines about the sunset. He explained that he had transcribed the lines to a plain text file that he kept as a reference for writing ideas. He claimed that at some point, whether by chance or accident, the text containing the source and author of the lines no longer appeared on the file. Thinking that the lines were his own writing, he supposedly then used them in his own novel, now unaware that Yutaka Kōno had written the lines. MF Bunko J said in its statement that it had judged that Sagara's actions were accidental, not intentional.

Kōno also made a short statement regarding the recall of Sagara's novel on his own Twitter account on Monday, saying that he accepts the explanation of the sequence of events, and did not deem it a problem. He thinks that there is no need for a recall of copies of the novels, and that Inakunare, Gunjō's publisher Shinchosha was also "not angry" about the events, but offered that the desire for a recall probably originated from MF Bunko J and Sagara themselves.

Sagara is the author of the The "Hentai" Prince and the Stony Cat. (often nicknamed "Henneko") light novel series, and also wrote scripts for such series as Qualidea Code, Girlish Number, and The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent (all series that author Wataru Watari was the head writer on). The "Hentai" Prince and the Stony Cat. inspired both a manga adaptation, and a television anime adaptation that premiered in 2013.

Kōno's Inakunare, Gunjō debuted in 2014 as the first in Kōno's "Kaidantō" series of novels. The novels inspired a manga adaptation that ran from April 2018 to July 2019, a second manga adaptation that debuted in April 2019, and also inspired a live-action film adaptation that opened in Japan in September 2019, and is currently available on Netflix. Kōno's Sagrada Reset novel series inspired a television anime in 2017, as well as two live-action films in the same year.

Sources: MF Bunko J's website, Sou Sagara's Twitter account, Yutaka Kōno's Twitter account via Otakomu