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Gundam 00 Assistant Director Masaki Kitamura Charged for Massacre Threat
posted on by Ko Ransom
42-year-old anime technical director Masaki Kitamura was charged on Friday with interfering with a public official's duties after being arrested in August for allegedly writing "I will commit a massacre" on the city's website. According to the police, the suspect denied the charges, saying, "I'm completely innocent."
The suspect is accused of going to Osaka's inquiry page on the Internet and writing, "I will commit a massacre in Otaroad [in Osaka's Nipponbashi area] next Sunday. I will ram into pedestrian paradise, and after stabbing indiscriminately with a knife, I will commit suicide" on July 29 at about 9:45 p.m. "Pedestrian paradise" is the traditional practice of cordoning vehicles off a particular street or streets and limiting the area to foot traffic. Nipponbashi's Otaroad is essentially Osaka's otaku shopping counterpart to Tokyo's Akihabara.
Kitamura was an assistant director on both seasons of Mobile Suit Gundam 00. He was also a director of the 10th installment of Gundam Evolve and an episode director on Ergo Proxy, GUNxSWORD, Intrigue in the Bakumatsu - Irohanihoheto, Planetes, Wolf's Rain, and other series.
Source: Nikkan Sports
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