Kadokawa Pulls I May Be a Guild Receptionist Light Novels' Existing Volumes, 2 More Publications Following Illustrator Gaou's Sexual Acts with Minor
Print copies of the I May Be a Guild Receptionist light novels' volumes 1-8 have been recalled and are out of print, and digital distribution of the novels has been suspended. Kadokawa plans to re-release the volumes with a new illustrator in the future, but no date has been decided yet. Gaou's 2021 Selfie Girl Gaou Sakuhin-shū (Selfie Girl Gaou Work Collection) illustration book has also been recalled and out of print, and digital distribution has been suspended. Kadokawa also suspended the digital distribution of all three volumes of Kōzaburō Yamaguchi's Hallelujah Vamp light novels, which Gaou drew the illustrations for. Kadokawa's subsidiary ASCII Media Works published the light novels' first volume in 2012.A person claiming to be Gaou allegedly admitted during a livestream program in Japan on June 29 to engaging in sexual acts with a minor. According to "exposé YouTuber" KoreKore, who hosted the livestream with the alleged victim and the person claiming to be Gaou, the alleged victim said she was 14 when the incident occurred. She is now 17. She also stated she met with him again earlier this year when she was 17. They started dating, then recently stopped dating (the archive of the livestream itself bleeps out both the acts committed and her age, but KoreKore stated her alleged age on his X/Twitter account).The alleged victim stated during the livestream she plans to first consult her parents before deciding whether or not to go to the police. The person on the livestream claiming to be Gaou also apologized during the livestream, and said he thinks "he has no choice but to retire" from being an illustrator now.In Japan, the legal age of consent was 13 until 2023, when it was raised to 16. However, certain sexual acts with someone under the age of 18 are considered a crime, regardless of the legal age of consent.Gaou's Wikipedia page states he was born in November 1985, and if it is accurate, he would currently be 39, and 36 when the alleged incident occurred.Following the incident, publishers Dengeki Bunko and Overlap Bunko released separate statements on July 1 and 2, respectively, and announced that they were removing Gaou as illustrator for I May Be a Guild Receptionist and Yūki Kimikawa's Welcome to the Outcast’s Restaurant! light novels series. Dengeki Bunko stated then that handling of existing novel volumes was in discussion, while Overlap Bunko is replacing Gaou in its existing volumes.DMM GAMES' EXNOA company had explained in a June 30 statement that illustrator Gaou had indeed drawn designs for two characters as well as both designs and stills for three more characters for its Girls Creation role-playing game. However, the game's management team added that other content is being created by the team and other collaborating illustrators, and that Gaou is currently not creating content for the game. The game's staff said that there is a possibility that some character designs in the game may change.Also on June 30, Gaou's name had been removed from the website and X (formerly Twitter) account for the anime adaptation of the Welcome to the Outcast’s Restaurant! light novels. The anime premiered on July 3. The anime's promotional videos were also removed on the anime's website on June 30, but have been posted again as of July 8.Shogakukan's Gagaga Bunko imprint announced on July 1 that it has delayed the July 18 publication of the new novel 1/n no Watson and will replace the illustrator "due to circumstances related to illustrator Gaou." Yuki Sakuna, one of the VTuber artists for whom Gaou draws illustrations, also announced on July 2 that she will refrain from using Gaou's illustrations, and stated that the possibility of hiring a new illustrator is under discussion. On July 3, the KAI-YOU pop culture website noted that Gaou's pixiv and pixiv Fanbox accounts had become inactive, with his pixiv account page displaying the "An error [has] occurred" and "Profile not found" messages. It is not clear whether Gaou or the pixiv management had removed the accounts.As of press time, Gaou has not yet released an official statement regarding the incident.Gaou is also the illustrator for Jyogesayuu's Hikyō-shada to Yūsha Party o Tsuihō Sareta node Hatarakukoto o Tomemashita (Working Seems Pointless After the Hero Labeled Me as a Coward) and Sui Juuichiya's Nido Tensei Shita Shōnen wa S-Rank Bōkensha to Shite Heion ni Sugosu (The Re-Reincarnated Boy Lives Peacefully as an S-Rank Adventurer) light novel series, among other works.Sources: Kadokawa, Dengeki Bunko's X/Twitter account via Otakomu
