“UQ Holder” Creator AKAMATSU Ken Going Into Politics

UQ Holder Creator AKAMATSU Ken Going Into Politics

If I had to guess, I’m known in the anime and manga fandom for two things. One being the canon Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki series. The other would be for AKAMATSU Ken-sensei’s work, mainly Negima! and UQ Holder. I used to get spoilers for both those series, though it was the Negima! spoiler stuff that really brought the traffic my way.

UQ Holder Chapter 189

As such, folks often ask me what I think Akamatsu-sensei will do now that UQ Holder is almost done. My own opinion had been that he’d either become a manga editor. Or he’d continue to work on his campaign to protect manga-ka from Western pressures (and subsequently, internal pressures) to change manga and make it less “problematic”. But as someone pointed out to me, there’s no money to be made lobbying or campaigning. So what to do?

Running for Government Office

It should have been bloody obvious to me, considering Akamatsu-sensei’s passion to defend the manga industry. He has repeatedly testified before the Japanese legislative body, known as the National Diet. And so on December 16, 2021, Akamatsu-sensei announced his intention to run for office.

(In case the Tweet gets jacked, here’s an image of it.)

AKAMATSU Ken Tweet Politics

And the old Google machine translation of said Tweet.

As mentioned in some reports, we had an interview at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters.

I am determined to run for the Upper House election next summer in order to protect my freedom of expression.

We are currently in the process of selection, and if there is a formal announcement from the party, I would like to reiterate my intentions.

For those who don’t know, the Upper House, known as the House of Councillors, is similar to the Senate in the United States. A Councillor holds office for six years and the Upper House cannot be dissolved by the Prime Minister.

AKAMATSU Ken

Wishing Sensei the Best

I really do wish Akamatsu-sensei the best when it comes to his new life in politics. Whatever you may think of his works, he has been a strong proponent of freedom of speech in Japan. I’m always of the opinion that we need less Government intrusion in our lives, not more. And though I may not like the hentai stuff (and a lot of the super ecchi stuff) that comes out of Japan, it isn’t mine or anyone else’s business if you like said materials.

I’m going to try to pay attention and see what happens. If he gets selected to run this summer, and later elected, it will be interesting to see what he can do to help protect Japanese anime and manga industries from Western and other pressures to change things ’cause “reasons”.

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14 Responses to ““UQ Holder” Creator AKAMATSU Ken Going Into Politics”

  1. Access says:

    Considering everything he has ever been involved in since the end of Love Hina has been half-assed or an outright failure I’m not expecting much. I have too much resentment towards the man to really support him anyway. Even if it is a good cause.

  2. OverMaster says:

    Yeah, what Access said.

    If he can’t handle the stress of a weekly manga’s workload and he has a spotty record dealing with editorial interference without torching his stories and running away, I don’t think he can handle the incredibly demanding needs of political minefields.

    He’ll either break down or be outright rejected or become another accomodating yes-man just to be seen by the manga community as a sellout.

    Most likely, he’s understimating the stakes of the job or he’s placing too much trust on his own capacities.

    • AstroNerdBoy says:

      Most likely, he’s understimating the stakes of the job or he’s placing too much trust on his own capacities.

      Well, he’s going into this as a single issue candidate. But he’ll have to vote on other things as well.

  3. arimareiji says:

    I wish I had something apt to say, but I just find myself smiling that Kitsune was right after all (about Keitaro possibly becoming a politician, since he was a Tokyo U student).

  4. Dave says:

    “MAKE SHONEN MANGA GREAT AGAIN”
    Best of luck to him honestly. As for anyone who thinks he can’t handle politics, they need to get over the idea that there is anything special about politicians. They are hardly our best and brightest in the US and I doubt there are too many Perecles of Athens level ones in Japan either.

  5. Rob C. says:

    Its going to be messy in deed. I hope he thought out other issues. I’m not sure if people will go with one-issue candidate.

    • AstroNerdBoy says:

      The whole election process for the House of Councilors is kinda convoluted to me. I’m guessing Akamatsu-sensei is going to be part of the Councilors who are national candidates, not prefecture candidates.

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