Mangaka Araido Kagiri Receives Death Threats After “NTR-Like” Artwork

Do you know the anime Jiisan Baasan Wakagaeru?

Created by Araido Kagiri, the series originally started as a web manga published on Pixiv. Its popularity continued to grow, and in 2020, the series began receiving a physical release from Kadokawa.

In 2024, Jiisan Baasan Wakagaeru received an anime adaptation. The story follows an elderly couple who suddenly find themselves young again.

From there, we get plenty of cute situations as the two of them experience their youth together all over again.

And what about Osananajimi ni Najimitai? Do you know that one?

The story follows a boy who, as a child, was friends with a rather masculine girl. Years later, they reunite, and he discovers that his childhood friend has grown up to be incredibly beautiful (he literally thought she was going to turn into a gorilla).

So, as you can probably tell, Araido Kagiri became known for stories centered around cute romance and wholesome relationships.

Until…

Mangaka Known For Wholesome Romance Angers Fans With “NTR-Like” Artwork

At the end of August, Araido Kagiri posted an artwork on X that left some of his fans seriously worried.

The post reached 2 million views and sparked plenty of complaints from some fans who absolutely hated the possibility of the author abandoning pure romance and moving into netorare (NTR) territory, as other artists have done before.

Many fans began feeling betrayed by Araido Kagiri, and the situation escalated far beyond simple complaints.

Araido Kagiri started receiving death threats because the artwork gave some people the impression that the story might be heading toward an NTR development.

The Problem Became Even More Serious Because Of His Audience

The situation was particularly delicate because Araido Kagiri has a Fanbox, where fans pay a monthly subscription to get early access to new illustrations and other content.

A large part of that audience follows him specifically for the kind of romance he usually creates: cute couples, pure relationships, and romantic situations without this kind of twist.

So when an artwork appeared to suggest that things might be going in a different direction, some people reacted extremely strongly, with death threats being directed at both him and his family!

Shortly afterward, he posted another image and made it clear that the story would continue down the path of pure and wholesome love.

Araido Kagiri published a statement on Fanbox, explaining what was happening.

“I apologize to all my readers for continuing such an unsettling development in the story for about three weeks.

At present, my family and I are continuing to receive death threats and other threats. This work was originally scheduled to be released this coming weekend, but given the circumstances, I decided to make the entire work publicly available early on my support site.

At this point, I have already almost finished the illustrations for the next seven weeks, so it is not as though the story’s development is going to change based on the reactions of my readers.

It is also completely false that I, the author, added the ‘NTR’ tag on Pixiv. Other people added that tag even though they had no way of knowing how the story would end.

With that in mind, I have just one last thing to say:

‘The childhood friend is, without a doubt, completely pure, and there will absolutely not be an ending that tarnishes this pure love.’

From now on, rather than answering with words, I intend to respond through the work itself as much as possible.

I hope you will continue to support both the work and me going forward.”

So, for anyone worried about the possibility of NTR, the author himself was pretty clear: there will not be an ending that destroys the romance between the characters.

And there’s another interesting detail in his statement.

Araido says he had already almost finished the illustrations for the next seven weeks. In other words, according to the author, the story’s development was not being changed based on the reactions fans were having at the time.

This Isn’t The First Time Fans Have Threatened Authors Over NTR

Unfortunately, the case involving Araido Kagiri isn’t an isolated one.

And this is where an important distinction needs to be made: I’m not saying that Araido Kagiri actually intended to draw NTR. It’s entirely possible that he never intended to go in that direction and that the first artwork simply gave some readers that impression.

In 2023, for example, mangaka Wakana received death threats telling him not to include NTR in his pure-romance doujinshi.

Another case involves Mosu, who used to create much cuter manga and later began publishing a lot of NTR-focused works.

At the beginning of that change, the artist also received death threats from people who had been following his pure-romance works.

There have been other cases as well, involving authors who moved toward NTR—or tried to—and subsequently began receiving death threats.