Fuji TV focuses on Akihabara killer’s love of anime
June 9th, 2008 by James
Fuji TV went all out during this evening’s news broadcast about Tomohiro Kato. Frightening music, dramatic panning/zooming, and a focus on how he liked anime:
- Look! Tomohiro Kato is holding a pink mobile phone! Ridiculous music plays while showing footage of the carnage he caused.
- One of Kato’s co-workers tells reporters that Kato was a pretty average guy, a serious worker, generally got along well with others at the factory. He liked cars and would sometimes go to car races with work friends.
- All of that changed on Thursday, when Kato came to the factory and found his work clothes were missing. Kato left the factory in a rage, perhaps thinking that he had been fired. [more details at Mainichi]
- Kato was very interested in military equipment, and had once asked the co-worker (a former member of the Self-Defense Forces) where he could buy SDF stuff.
- Coworkers who had visited Kato’s apartment described it as pretty much empty. Kato’s only notable possessions were a bunch of doujin manga.
- When Kato would go to karaoke with co-workers, he would only sing anime songs. He allegedly told them that he was only interested in anime and the 2D world.
The obsession with military equipment and a rage over what happened at work seem like they could have something to do with his crime. But does reading comic books and singing anime songs turn people into killers?
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Yes.
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Of course it is! From the time of Tsutomu Miyazaki, we know all the otaku are either killers or pedophiles. (Here, “otaku” means anyone who can use Internet.)
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In any case, if I get caught killing people I would blame it all on Anime or GTA or Movies, not my fault, no sir!
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I love it. So Pokeman really WAS a murder simulator all along!
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I didn’t notice any real focus on how he liked anime. The clip is 3 mins long, and it’s not until 2:45 that they mention anything about it.
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The beginning of the clip flashes text on the screen about him liking anime songs, and it builds to a conclusion about his taste in anime and manga.
You might not see it that way, but I saw it as focusing on the anime/manga as something about as important as his workplace anger and taste in military stuff.
I agree the parts on his interest in animation and comics feels kind of out of place here. I don’t really see it as relevant.
Maybe they’re just included as a way to highlight Kato’s escapism (“only interested in 2D stuff”) v.s. his life problems. If so, beginning and ending the segment with a focus on it is a poor editing choice, promoting sensationalism at the expense of relevancy.
The real problem is the music though. What’s up with the overly dramatic buildup at 0:40, when the interview starts you almost expect to see Jack Bauer rush on screen to beat the crap out of some terrorists.
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Seriously, I know this guy is a killer, but this news broadcast is a melodramatic, hyperbolic mess.
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Never think ive heard music in a news broadcast before. Now i think i understand why.
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É o fim! as pessoas chegaram no limite. Até acontecer algo, somos todos animais. acabou o amor.
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digo normais…o captalismo selvagem, a falta de DEUS..permite que os jovens de hoje nao tenham mais perspectiva.
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…what?
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I work at a Japanese High School and some of the younger teachers are admitted otaku. Some of the older teachers are *jokingly/not jokingly* inquiring if they are carrying knives.
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Typical “masugomi” sensationalism.
“Only interested in 2-D” is a cliche line, on the same levels as “There are no girls on the Internet”.
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I guess it’s a pity that anime and manga didn’t teach the rest of people walking around Akiba to violently defend themselves again him then.
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Being an otaku doesn’t make you a killer. It’s either mental illness or bad parenting. The mentally ill cannot distinguish reality from their delusions, and therefore have trouble telling right from wrong. Good parents can tell when their kids are having problems, and should at least try to talk to them about not going on a murderous rampage. (At least, that’s what American parents have been doing ever since The Colombine shootings)
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