During the never-ending trial of Shinji Aoba, the perpetrator of the arson attack at Kyoto Animation four years ago that resulted in the deaths of 36 people, effectively tarnishing one of the only few Japanese animation studios that seemingly haven’t outsourced their production to Korea.
The prosecution requested the death penalty during the jury trial.
Within the courtroom, Aoba offered his first apology, stating, “I’m sorry.” In its closing statement, the prosecution emphasized the gravity of the incident as “an exceptionally high number of victims in the history of Japan’s criminal trials” and highlighted that “the defendant was well aware of the danger.”
The prosecution criticized Aoba for providing only superficial apologies, consistently neglecting the feelings of the victims, and asserted, “There are no reasons to avoid the death penalty.”
Throughout the trial, the prosecution maintained that Aoba bore “full criminal responsibility,” while the defense contended that he was “in a state of insanity or exhaustion,” creating a direct clash between the two stances. The verdict is set to be delivered on January 25th next year.
I for one am hopeful of a responsible and respectful outcome, the death penalty obviously. He signed his life away when he burned KyoAni to the ground. I am sick and fucking tired of these bullshit “insanity” pleas, vicious and violent criminals are seemingly let off with slaps on the wrist simply because they’re “insane”, or because they happen to be of a marginalized group / ethnicity.
Concerning the plea for the death penalty, Aoba, responding to questions during the defendant’s interrogation on the 6th, stated, “I have only words of apology.” For the first time in court, he expressed remorse, stating, “I had to disclose everything to prevent such a tragedy from recurring and to impart a lesson.” In response to the bereaved families’ calls for the death penalty, he remarked, “I can only solemnly accept it.”
Though I do find it fucking hysterical how upon the notion of the death penalty, now he’s “sorry” because for the several months preceding this revelation Aoba has been screeching like a banshee stating how Kyoto Animation “stole his work”.
That’s why he set the building ablaze, because Kyo-Ani had apparently stolen this poor guys work, and apparently used his work across several anime adaptations such as K-On! and Free!
During the earlier trial periods, Aoba showed absolutely zero signs of remorse for his actions, when asked about what he thought about the victims he rebutted with a simple “what did you think about Kyo-Ani stealing my work”.
The question of criminal responsibility remains a significant point of contention in the trial. Aoba admitted to the charges but explained the motive for the crime as “resentment that Kyoto Animation ‘plagiarized’ his work.”
But now he’s “sorry”, when the notion of the consequences of his actions arise suddenly he’s remorseful and has only words of apology to spew, what benign nonsense.
The prosecution argued that the motive, stemming from Aoba’s life history of “envying Kyoto Animation’s success despite his own failures,” was normal. Although the prosecution claimed Aoba suffered from delusional personality disorder, they contended that the delusions did not influence the crime.
Conversely, the defense argued that “Aoba has been unable to distinguish between delusion and reality for many years, and experiences in the delusional world have deprived him of the ability to judge right from wrong.”
The defense countered, stating, “Certainly, responsibility cannot be unequivocally attributed.” The jury will deliver the verdict on January 25th next year after the judgment trial, spanning 22 sessions.
Kyoto Animation have produced some of the most iconic and memorable anime adaptions, many series’ that anime fans hold dear.
Kanon (06), Lucky Star, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Clannad, K-On!, Nichijou, Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!, Amagi Brilliant Park, Myriad Colors Phantom World, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid and Violet Evergarden just to name a few.
One of the most earnest Japanese animation studios that could continue to proudly call themselves and everything that they’ve produced fully Japanese, one of the only few animation studios remaining that actually put in the goddamn effort from an animation standpoint and art direction, senselessly massacred by some fucking lunatic.
The prosecution wants it and so do I, Shinji Aoba deserves nothing less than to be sent to the gallows and made an example of, tax dollars should not be wasted to allow such a vermin to breath and eat.
Not just for murdering 36 innocent lives but for outright damaging one of the most defining animation studios in all of Japan, who were still at their peak in terms of animation quality given that Violet Evergarden is one of the highest quality animations for anime in the modern era.
This goddamn bastard deserves to die, and so does anyone else who promoted and supported his actions, because they’re out there, delusional Twitter locusts who celebrated the Kyoto Animation arson attack, simply because their work is considered “pedophilic” in their eyes.
