NHK Employee Arrested For Selling Pirated Demon Slayer Anime

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba became a monster hit after its anime adaptation was launched in 2019, and the recently released Demon Slayer Movie: Mugen Train earned about US$102.52 million in its first 10 days at the box office.

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NHK, or Japan Broadcasting Corporation, reported that a 40-year-old company employee in Fukuoka was arrested.

The employee was accused of selling pirated DVDs of the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba television anime series on an online sales website.

NHK Employee Arrested For Selling Pirated Demon Slayer Anime
Tanjiro Kamado | Source: Fandom

The suspect denied all the charges stating that he thought of them as bad-quality DVDs, which were officially licensed.

According to police, the suspect violated the Japanese Copyright Act by selling three DVDs to two women in Ibaraki prefecture. The website sold the DVDs at a lower price, and they were advertised as pirated versions.

Police caught hold of about 600 of the pirated DVDs which were imported from Malaysia last month.

11.5-million-yen (about US$110,000) worth of deposits made to the suspect’s bank account for one year, until April. Police are investigating whether the deposits are related to the sales of pirated DVDs.

About Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotoge. Its publication in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump began in February 2016 with 19 collected tankōbon volumes released as of present.

NHK Employee Arrested For Selling Pirated Demon Slayer Anime
Demon Slayer | Source: IMDb

In a world filled with demons and demon slayers, Kimetsu no Yaiba follows the lives of two siblings Tanjiro and Nezuko Kamado, after— the murder of their family at the hands of a demon. Their hardship does not end there, as Nezuko’s life is spared only for her to live as a demon.

As the oldest sibling, Tanjiro vows to protect and cure his sister. The story traces this brother-sister bond or, better yet, demon slayer and demon combo against the odds of an arch antagonist and society.

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