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Remember that manga we talked about a while back which was a thinly veiled erotic retelling of beloved children’s story Doraemon? Or, perhaps more specifically, have you been unable to completely repress the memory and knowledge that it exists?

Nozoemon, which prominently featured an android of the same name that looked like an elementary school girl and whose moniker and design were clearly inspired by robot cat, was sure to be a decisive work. But while controversy can help generate attention and sales, it’s generally a good idea to keep the publisher on your side. Nozoemon, though, wasn’t able to do that, and it looks like the “Slightly Fakkin’” (the manga’s words, not ours) tale has come to an abrupt end.

The first collected volume of manga artist Hikari Fujisaki’s Nozoemon was released by publisher Nihon Bungeisha on June 9, and the company was also serializing the title in its Comic Heaven monthly anthology. Adult content isn’t a rare sight in the magazine’s pages, which have also served as home to manga such as It’s a Secret that I’m Married to My Younger Sister and The Younger Sister of the Saito Family is a Very Erotic Lolita-Like Angel and Devil.

Moreover, Nihon Bungeisha thought that as a wholly owned subsidiary of ADK, the company that handles the business aspects of the Doraemon copyright, it would be given an implicit OK to go ahead with Nozoemon. It seems, though, that Nihon Bungeisha and ADK’s close relationship only made it easier for the latter to apply pressure to pull the plug on the former’s sexy Doraemon-style project.

A few weeks after the release of the first Nozoemon collected volume, Nihon Bungeisha recalled all copies from retailers, citing “unsatisfactory elements in the contents.” Nozoemon was also absent from the newest issue of Comic Heaven, which hit newsstands last week. Instead, the end of the issue contained the following message:

“In regards to Nozoemon, which was scheduled to be published in this issue, our company has judged the title’s contents to be unsatisfactory, and its serialization has been ceased. We regret troubling out valued readers, and offer our deepest apologies.”

Oddly enough, the Comic Heaven website still prominently features Nozoemon herself on its top page (at the bottom right corner of the image below), along with a link to a planned Nozoemon Fair fan event in conjunction with manga and dojinshi retail chain Melon Books.

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The link, however, leads to an error message saying the page no longer exists, serving as proof that when Comic Heaven described Nozoemon’s first collected volume, and by extension the series in general, as something “humanity has been waiting and hoping for,” it may have slightly miscalculated how universal the manga’s appeal was.

Sources: Huffington Post Japan via Jin, Comic Heaven
Images: Comic Heaven (edited by RocketNews24)