A Japanese man has been sentenced to death for an arson attack at a Kyoto animation studio in 2019 which killed 36 people and injured dozens more.
The incident, one of Japan’s deadliest in recent decades, killed mostly young artists and shocked the anime world.
Shinji Aoba, 45, pleaded guilty to the attack but his lawyers had sought a lighter sentence on grounds of “mental incompetence”.
Judges rejected this however, ruling that Aoba knew what he was doing.
“I have determined that the defendant was not mentally insane or weak at the time of the crime,” Chief Judge Masuda said on Thursday at Kyoto District Court.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A Japanese man has been sentenced to death for an arson attack at a Kyoto animation studio in 2019 which killed 36 people and injured dozens more.
Shinji Aoba, 45, pleaded guilty to the attack but his lawyers had sought a lighter sentence on grounds of “mental incompetence”.
“I have determined that the defendant was not mentally insane or weak at the time of the crime,” Chief Judge Masuda said on Thursday at Kyoto District Court.
In July 2019, he burst into the studio during a work day, splashing petrol on the ground floor and setting it alight while repeatedly shouting “Drop dead”.
Families of the victims were seen in the court room, with many visibly emotional as the judge read out the details of Aoba’s crime, NHK reported.
The KyoAni studio in Kyoto is a beloved institution, known for producing films and graphic novels that are well-regarded by fans as well as critics - including K-On!
The original article contains 534 words, the summary contains 157 words. Saved 71%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Japanese stans are next level crazy. Like the stories of idols being murdered and shit by crazed stalkers, I don’t get what breeds this level of extreme response to media.
The incels in western society are just as unhinged and bizarre imo. I’m not sure how prevalent they are in Europe, but they’re very much a problem here in the US and Canada.
In Japan a lot of idols aren’t allowed to be seen as being in relationships… it’s really fucking skeevy.
In Japan a lot of idols aren’t allowed to be seen as being in relationships
Not just Japan, is all Asia. One member of a female korean group said something to the effect of the fans want them sexy and unavaliable.
I don’t think he was a fan per se, he accused the studio of plagiarism.
Huh, I swear I was always told that America was the only modern Democratic country to still use the death sentence. It’s a “fact” that people bring up whenever there is a high-profile death-row case, like right now.
The only modern *Western country
To be fair, it’s quite generous to call a political system based on a 1700s document “modern”…
In terms of countries it absolutely is
Is it really, though?
Most modern countries don’t consider dissent terrorism, most modern countries don’t have mass shootings every week if not every day and in most countries, the color of your skin doesn’t determine whether you’re likely to survive a traffic stop.
“Modern” doesn’t mean “something I like”, it means it was created recently. So yes, it really is modern.
No, it means that it functions in modern ways. The US constitution is the oldest one in the world still in use and US politics and culture are both heavily influenced by bronze age myths aka Abrahamic religion.
“Modern” doesn’t mean “something I like”
That’s probably the most ridiculous strawman I’ve seen in 2024, well done!
Atlanta isn’t a country, which ones are you talking about?
Atlanta is far from the only place in the US that fits that description.
That’s a peculiar statement, considering the U.S. is essentially the most recent major nation (and one of very few) to be formed and grown, about as far from the intense pressures of previously established cultural or governmental influences (both from within, or from surrounding territories) as you can get, without leaving the planet.
…If that’s not considered relatively modern when compared to the rest of the world, what is?
the U.S. is essentially the most recent major nation
Which isn’t saying much at all since all other major nations are at least a thousand years old.
What IS saying a lot, though, is that the US constitution is the oldest national constitution still in effect bar none.
about as far from the intense pressures of previously established cultural or governmental influences (both from within, or from surrounding territories) as you can get, without leaving the planet.
Bullshit. The US is profoundly influenced by Christian norms and traditions for better and especially for worse. It’s one of the most conservative countries in the West both politically and culturally.
If that’s not considered relatively modern when compared to the rest of the world, what is?
Scandinavia, for example 🤷
That’s a particular statement, considering the US has the oldest democratic constitution in the world.
To be honest, I am genuinely surprised Japan has a death penalty.
That was the point of my comment as well.
the death sentence is a mercy. shame.
Shortening that to “Anime Fire” in the title was an awful choice by the BBC.
To be fair, BBC is also an awful choice of shortening in time of the adult internet ;)
I think they just forgot to capitalize the A. Whoops.
In all seriousness, they could’ve just said “studio fire”.
I hate anime as much as the next person that hates anime…. But that’s a bit unreasonable.
… there is no person next to you, is there? :P
There is. And they hate anime as much as I do.
Oh, then your og post checks out.
They usually do hangings, right?
From the article:
Aoba himself suffered burns to over 90% of his body in the fire,
and
Those convicted typically remain on death row for years, or even decades. The death penalty is conducted by hanging.
That’s going to be an agonizing wait for the hangman.
They apprehended him in May 2020 and he pled guilty in September 2023, maybe it took so long because of the burns?
He supposedly accused the studio for plagiarizing his work for the creation of Sound! Euphonium 響け! ユーフォニアム which is surprising to me because I expected something a lot more personal than that. The poor standards of living and working conditions for anime production leaves a lot to be desired, I expected him to just be a disgruntled employee.
