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Illustration: Arson. (Image via LitReactor)
Preventing Kyo-Ani incident, man arrested over arson threat
Following the Kyoto Animation (Kyo-Ani) arson incident, a studio closely related to the development of the visual novels from animations made by the studio, Visual Arts, received several threats of violence. On a side note, the company donated ¥10 million for the recovery of Kyo-Ani. About 35 staff of Kyo-Ani died due to the arson attack in mid-July.On 4 and 5 August, multiple death threats spread on Twitter directing to the visual novel studio from the same Twitter account. The first time, the suspect tweeted that he was getting his gasoline ready. On the second tweet, it was revealed that the target was Visual Arts.
These clues were but a nod to the upcoming occurrence which would be the same as the Kyo-Ani arson incident, done by a 41-year-old man who accused Kyo-Ani as a thief.
Japanese Police Force reacted quickly to the tweet. Turned out, the suspect, named Saiki Akagawa, was a 25-year-old man from Hamamatsu, Shizuoka prefecture.
Since the Kyo-Ani incident, many death threats or violent threats had been circulating the net. In August, Square Enix became the target for the threat. The 40-year-old suspect was demanding a refund or he would recreate “Kyo-Ani” arson to Square Enix building.
The other threat was not targeting any specific animation industry, but it was quite menacing for the police. In Sapporo, Hokkaido, just a week after Kyo-Ani arson, a 60-year-old man sent a message to his former superior on a communication app, LINE, stating that he was about to get revenge & create the Hokkaido version of “Kyo-Ani”. It seems like for these violent people, “Kyo-Ani” had just become a code for arson.
For some people, Visual Arts might not ring any bell. But, when we look at the marvelous visual novel works for Clannad, Air, Kanon, Angel Beats, and more by Key Studio, it is none other but the subsidiary company of Visual Arts. With refined quality and detail, Visual Arts had been sustaining close relations with Kyo-Ani by its visual novel works.
Source: https://japantoday.com/category/crime/man-arrested-for-arson-threats-to-kyoto-animation-related-video-game-company
