Forum - View topicNEWS: Japan's Killing Suspect Says He Is a Precure, Kitarō Fan
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Dargonxtc
 Posts: 4463 Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋 |
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Uh... Okay. Good to know. I don't know why people are being so defensive. Because one despicable human likes doing the same things many of us do? Let's say this was a bike riding website, and everyone here loved riding bikes. And this news story broke about a bike rider in Japan who murdered a little girl. And in this case let's say that this Japanese man did nothing but ride bikes, talk about bikes, build bikes, write about bikes, all the time and not much else. How would you write a story of what this person is like? My guess is at the very least you would mention that he was in to bikes. Or perhaps you would just makes something up and say all he did was sleep and work and nothing else, so as to protect everyone else whose bike riding hobby was the same as the murderer's. I mean really in a similar situation Lance Armstrong would be the prime suspect, right? |
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abunai
Old Regular
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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On the subject of why ANN reports this:
In another thread, tempest has made it clear that ANN reports any news item that involves anime/manga, even if it is a peripheral issue. Since the public perception of our fandom is highly relevant to all of us, it's worth reporting cases like these -- even if we can all agree that the murderer's anime interests were unlikely to be related to the murder. On the subject of the death penalty, for or against: This discussion is off-topic for this thread. If you feel you must debate this issue, it belongs in the Community forum, where not-anime-related topics are permitted. Please, let us have no more of it here. - abunai |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14761 |
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The murderer should've instead paid more attention to his non-anime/manga collections, then we can all just blame Hollywood as always and get on with our lives. Why can't more otaku murderers be that way?
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vastoceans
 Posts: 107 |
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I heard he has every Marilyn Manson album as well. I guess the way the mass media operates is universally alike.
Last edited by vastoceans on Mon Oct 11, 2010 2:01 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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Not everyone with a bias against Hollywood wishes to blame them for happenings like this. |
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britannicamoore
 Posts: 2618 Location: Out. |
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Dear God,
Why did the media write this? Why did I leave it open on my computer and my mother just happened to stroll by, and see the article. Why did I ever teach her what an otaku was, and why does she think I'm going to be lead to murdering anyone. Give me some thoughts on this. Personally? I think she's stupid. 
As for the situation itself. It sucks that anime fans gets bad press like this. It makes some people think the worst instantly. Kinda like how video games are the devil. |
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ConanSan
Posts: 1818 |
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Good grief, they're coming out of the woodwork all at the same time...
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CCSYueh
 Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
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So the issue WASN'T SHELVES FULL of Precure manga, just shojo. The press is doing what the press does. This is THE sensational story of the minute so they are digging thru everything, hoping they will be the news source that uncovers the big clue that answers all the questions the public has right now. Most average citizens can't conceive of killing a child, so they are wondering what sort of freak CAN conceive of it which is why the news would be putting up every tiny little tidbit they can find. Considering the prior connection of a famous child killer & anime/manga, of course the connection will be pointed out. Not to mention they can hardly condone reporting the same news for several days. In order to seem like they are working the case, they have to have new info. The cops also want to look like they are doing their job, so they have to hold press events to let everyone know the latest bit of non-vital to the investigation info they can release to assure the public they are indeed on top of this. Here in the States, we would be seeing "Experts" (shrinks, law enforcement types) with no attachment to the case being questioned by the newscasters as to their opinon of what sort of a sick brain could do such a thing just so their channel could maybe edge out the competition for more complete coverage. Someone who has written a book on child murderers or serial killers would probably be pretty popular for interviews on talk shows right now. Strike while the iron's hot & all that. |
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Goodpenguin
Posts: 457 Location: Hunt Valley, MD |
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Speaking of overreactions, a lot of this thread is sillier than the article is being argued to be. Not meant with offense, but I tend to think a lot of the modern anime/internet community has perhaps a higher 'in-the-spotlight' opinion of itself than is reflected in reality. It's kind of foolish to postulate the 'media' is 'out to get anime again'. 'Otaku' are already viewed as complete bottom o' the barrel misfits for the most part in Japan to begin with. In America, anime is essentially a mostly invisible niche from the mainstream, unless talking about Pokemon/Dragonball/Speed Racer material for young kids.
If 'The Media!!!' is indeed going to use something as a lighting rod, it's not going to single out something that a. perhaps 3% of the population follows, most of that under 18, or b. in the case of Japan, a group/medium that's already long been the agreed upon dysfunctional whipping boy. |
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BlackJaded
 Posts: 332 |
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In worst of detail, the so called experts would point out the same thing as newscaster would acutally target of, that's the real irony on how the media takes form. |
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enurtsol
Posts: 14761 |
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"Do you kiss your mama with that potty mouth?" Heheh. 
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Tempest
 I Run this place.ANN Publisher  Posts: 10420 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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Note: My post has nothing to do with ANN's editorial guidelines. That issue has already been addressed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Discussing the relevance of this guys infatuation with shoujo anime can indeed be interesting. Let's look at some of the facts 1) Guy kills girl (or is accused of doing so); 2) Guy is found to be a fan (obsessed?) of material geared towards young girls and generally not popular with adult males. These facts alone suggest that there might be some sort of link between the two. Of course, in my opinion, the link is more likely one of common cause, not one of cause and effect. It's not like he's some random murderer who just happened to like anime. He's accused of killing a young girl, and has an abnormal interest in material aimed at young girls. I think it's very legitimate for the press and the police to consider the possibility that his man might have had an unnatural obsession with young girls that first manifested itself in an interest in shoujo anime and eventually became much worse. Of course, that's only part of the story. The Japanese newspapers also pointed out that this man also had an interest in material aimed at boys that, while geared towards people younger than himself, remains quite popular with men his age. Additionally he had interest in other media that wasn't geared towards children at all. So he had fairly rounded media interests that included a significant interest in material that might be linked to the crime, but also included lots of other material. The unfortunate side of things like this, is that they do cast a very dark shadow on other people who have abnormal but perfectly healthy interests in similar material. The "otaku" killings in the 80s are the perfect example of this. Although it's obviously a little odd for any 21-year-old man to be a fan of shows made for young girls, it's certainly not an indication of a problem. It would be very nice if his interest in shoujo turned out to be completely unrelated to the girl's murder, but I doubt we'll be so lucky. -t |
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pparker
 Posts: 1185 Location: Florida |
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There are different definitions for "common cause". I assume you mean there is not an A causes B situation (manga causes murder), but that some potential common interest or urge caused him both to like pictures of underage girls and to ultimately murder a young girl. Although you do seem to say that his access to (and obsession with) manga could have initiated an obsession with young girls. The availability of some form of input can certainly affect behavior. In a country where there is no representation of sado-masochism allowed, it is reasonable to expect less of that practice in the populace, simply because a smaller percentage of people would "think of it" with no examples. Does manga about young girls make it more likely that someone will murder a young girl? I don't think so. People are predisposed to certain behavior. The criminal is the individual who cannot withhold themselves from taking actions considered immoral in their society (i.e., agreed by the majority to be "wrong" and thus made illegal by that society) or actions against their own ethical code. Both types of action (in milder cases) make them withdraw from society (to protect it from themselves), thus reducing their communication level and "reality" (agreement) level with that society. As criminal behavior becomes more extreme, this withdrawal isolates them from others, making it easier to develop a pathological viewpoint toward other humans and to develop delusions that justify criminal behavior. The worst criminals are those fully unable to withhold any action, right or wrong, and who have deluded themselves fully into thinking that their behavior is "normal". Manson was the classic case. The truest criminal never actually believes they are guilty, despite what they may say in court in order to avoid punishment. The guy may or may not have committed the murder if he had no access to manga. But that is unprovable by any objective means. He apparently wasn't reading manga about "murdering little girls", just manga about little girls. Hundreds of thousands of people read manga about young girls and do not commit murder. One does. A strong correlation can be postulated in a case where, for instance, someone inclined to murder becomes obsessed with literature about murderers and methods of killing people. It's entirely possible that the person would not have committed murder had they not had access to these materials, though still unprovable. Would the bomber have actually built and set off a bomb if they had no access to others with similar intent and to the information necessary to build bombs? Maybe not. But that's the slippery slope that the First Amendment is there to prevent. Yes, once in awhile a person's access to some type of information may influence them to commit a crime they would not have committed otherwise. But to remove access to that material by the entire society in order to stop the potential .005% that will commit murder because of it brings far greater threat to the society overall, if only by setting a dangerous precedent that can ultimately lead to burning books. Restriction of access for minors makes sense, but almost never for adults. I believe information is a primary requisite for freedom and for protecting human rights, which far outweighs the potential damage to a few individuals by a tiny percentage of the population. Hopefully that made sense. Great point for discussion. |
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Richard J.
 Posts: 3367 Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis. |
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Although he was talking about misogynistic sadomasochistic pornography, there's a similar thread of logic being explored in a section of The Anatomy of Motive. He basically said people who were already prone to thinking in certain ways "did have their passions inflamed" by the material and sometimes got ideas from it. At the same time, the material itself didn't cause anything. The person's pre-existing mental state did. (He traces the usual patterns of development way back to childhood, exploring the patterns of behavior leading up to actually committing a crime. Lots of fantasies of power/dominance, obsessive behavior and inferiority/superiority complexes.) I know this is a Westerner's understanding of the criminal mind and might not necessary apply to a Japanese man but it gives the impression that what entertainment a criminal is interested in is ultimately little more than a symptom of the real motivation, not the motivation itself. Whatever the reasoning behind the crime, the murderer still had to make the choice to committe the crime and no amount of manga or porn or whatever can just make a person chose to do that, at least according to Douglas's study of criminals. Which is why I wish the media would stop obsessing over this sort of thing. The guy was likely screwed up long before he read his first manga. Instead of focusing on that, I wish they'd talk more about some of the thought processes that develop in childhood that can potentially lead to this sort of thing or just how to engender in children a stronger sense of empathy and decency. That might actually help keep a few people from becoming like this murdering bastard. |
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Tempest
I Run this place. ANN Publisher Posts: 10420 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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No, my intent was to say that his interest in shoujo anime/manga and this murder may share a common cause. Which isn't to say that access to such material could further intensify the problems within a seriously disturbed person. Just that they don't cause the problems in the first place. -t |
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