The rerun of Doraemon in Monthly CoroCoro Comics may have ceased due to the series' treatment at the hands of Shogakukan.

As reported back in April, Fujiko F. Fujio Masterpiece Theater: Doraemon came to a sudden stop with the story "“A Loooooong Day with the Time Gate" after 49 years of publication. While new stories featuring the futuristic cat have not been produced since 1996, the Masterpiece Theater series reprints various Doraemon adventures from across the series' various iterations for the new generation.

Given that there was little in the way of advance warning or subsequent celebrations, foul play was immediately suspected. Takeshi Yamanaka, former editor in chief of the Weekly Gendai magazine, is now claiming on X that the Masterpiece Theater came to an end because of a falling out between Fujiko Pro and Shogakukan.

Back in March, the Monthly CoroCoro Comics was forced to make a public apology following an incident where the same story of Doraemon was accidentally printed in the second and fourth issue of the magazine. When explaining the situation to Fujiko Pro, editors from Shogakukan reportedly described Doraemon as an "incredibly important IP," causing the Fujiko Pro representatives to storm out of the meeting.

In a blog post from July 13, Yamanaka further laments the transformation of manga from art into mere IP across the entire industry. The word IP certainly lacks a certain kind of respect, so it's easy to see why Fujiko Pro would see red.

Shogakukan has yet to offer a statement on the situation.