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Sunrise States It Has 'No Connection' to Tokyo Governor Candidate Cosplaying Lelouch (Updated)

Sunrise posted a notice on its official website on Wednesday that the anime production studio has "no connection" to Tokyo governor candidate Teruki Gotō, who has been cosplaying as the Code Geass character Lelouch Lamperouge for his election campaign.

The full statement is translated as follows:

There is a candidate for the 2020 Tokyo governor election who has been using a poster in his campaign depicting a cosplay that strongly evokes the image of the Code Geass character Lelouch. However, this has no connection to Sunrise, the production committee, and to the people related to the work in question.

Gotō, a musician who often runs as a perennial candidate in various Japanese elections, cosplayed as the Code Geass character Lelouch Lamperouge in his latest campaign poster. He showed off his poster on his YouTube channel on Saturday. The poster reads, in commanding tone evoking Lelouch: "I, Teruki Gotō, command you: Vote for me."

In the 2016 race for governor of Tokyo, his campaign poster showed him naked while holding a katana over his head. Infamously at the time, his speeches and posters were cut from television coverage due to his verbal profanities and militaristic presentation.

Code Geass tells the story of Lelouch vi Britannia, who is able to control anyone to do what he says after obtaining the mysterious power of the "Geass." The Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion TV anime first aired in Japan in October 2006. A second season, called Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 premiered in April 2008. Director Goro Taniguchi and many of the key staff members returned for the Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection movie, which opened in Japan in February 2019.

Voting for the 2020 Tokyo governor election will take place on July 5.

Update(6/26): Gotō reacted to Sunrise's statement on Wednesday, tweeting: "I am sorry. I apologize for causing trouble." As of Saturday, Gotō's Lelouch-cosplaying posters have been removed from political ad billboards around Tokyo.

Thanks to dormcat for the news tip.

Source: Sunrise's official website