News
Ayana Taketatsu's Agency: Threat Suspect Was Not Her Fan Club Leader
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Voice actress Ayana Taketatsu's agency Link Plan, which she joined on January 1 of last year, told Buzzfeed News that the man arrested for allegedly sending a threatening email to Taketatsu was not a former leader of her fan club. Link Plan said that the suspect Hidehiko Yokoyama, a 32-year-old unemployed man from Shizuoka Prefecture's Kikugawa City, is a fan and acquaintance of Taketatsu who called himself a leader of her fan club. However, Link Plan stated that both Taketatsu's office and the company that manages her fan club have never had a leader.
Following Yokoyama's arrest on Wednesday, news outlets such as NHK had reported that he was a former leader of Taketatsu's fan club. Fans then began posting on Twitter that they believed Taketatsu's fan club does not actually have a leader.
Taketatsu also posted a message to her fans on her official blog on Thursday. In the message, Taketatsu said 10s or 100s of thousands of threatening emails have been sent over the past several years, and there have also been "scary" incidents that were not reported.
Taketatsu said she feels a little relief mixed with sadness following the arrest. She said she plans to do her best in her work in the future, and she asked fans to look forward to her appearances. Taketatsu hopes incidents similar to her current circumstances will decrease, and she asked fans not to worry about her.
According to police, Yokoyama sent Taketatsu a message that said, "You've been so full of yourself lately. I'll never forgive you. It'd tick me off if I do nothing. Die die die," via an email to her agency. He had allegedly sent the email from a manga cafe in Kakegawa City, Shizuoka at about 10:20 a.m. on July 14 last year. Police are reporting that the suspect has admitted to the charge.
According to police, Taketatsu's agency has received around 7,000 threatening emails directed at Taketatsu since 2014. Police are investigating if the suspect has any connection to previous messages.
Taketatsu has voiced characters in such anime as K-ON! (Azusa Nakano), High School of the Dead (Arisu Maresato), Star Driver (Aragon Simone), Oreimo (Kirino Kōsaka), Guilty Crown (Tsugumi), Sword Art Online (Leafa), High School DxD New (Koneko Tōjō), KanColle (Yamato), Girls und Panzer der Film (Arisu Shimada), Dagashi Kashi (Hotaru Shidare), and Classroom of the Elite (Kei Karuizawa).
Source: Buzzfeed News (Tatsunori Tokushige)
