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.
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.
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 ;)
Though the BBWs are pretty fond of getting their news there.
They usually do hangings, right?
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.
To be fair, it’s quite generous to call a political system based on a 1700s document “modern”…
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 🤷
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.
To be honest, I am genuinely surprised Japan has a death penalty.
That was the point of my comment as well.
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 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.
