Police are investigating Square Enix for allegedly using copyrighted SNK characters in the manga High Score Girl. Square Enix, which publishes the manga, says it didn't receive requests from SNK to halt publication and SNK says it never gave Square Enix permission to use its characters in the manga.
According to Sankei News, characters from SNK's The King of Fighters and Samurai Shodown games appear in the manga, which is set during the early 1990s, over a hundred times.
High Score Girl is slated to be turned into an anime, and it wasn't until a production company contacted SNK about using characters and sound effects, that SNK apparently realized what had happened.
The police are conducting a search of Square Enix's headquarters and will question those connected to the manga.
人気漫画に他社のゲームキャラが…ドラクエの「スクエニ」を著作権侵害容疑で捜索 大阪府警 [産経ニュース]
Top photo: K-Kinoppy
To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft.
Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.