Recently, it was revealed that Apothecary Diaries is among the top-selling manga for the first quarter of 2024, partly thanks to the television anime; however, a black cloud was cast over that success when it was revealed that Nekokurage (real name Erika Ikeda), the manga’s artist, plead guilty to tax evasion totally ¥47,000,000 ($298,887).
As of now, there is no telling what will happen to the manga at this point.
Ikeda stated that she had become a manga artist in 2010 and that despite her knowing that taxes were a legal obligation, she chose to prioritize her deadlines instead. Due to this, she does have a record of declaring multiple years’ worth of taxes at once.
Ikeda has since posted an apology on Twitter, accepting full responsibility for her actions. She stated that she had paid off all of the taxes and fees that she owed and had settled her debt with the government. She clarified that her issues had nothing to do with the manga, its creators, or its publisher and that this was strictly a personal issue.
Despite this, the case is still ongoing and there is no word what the punishment will be nor the manga’s status.
Source; Siliconera
