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NEWS: Kyoto Animation Arson Suspect Withdraws Appeal, Death Sentence Confirmed


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lucio542



Joined: 11 Apr 2015
Posts: 301
Location: Brazil
PostPosted: Tue Jan 28, 2025 11:17 am Reply with quote
You can rot in hell now, absolutely deserved.
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njprogfan
Collector Extraordinaire



Joined: 08 Feb 2007
Posts: 1240
Location: A River Named Toms
PostPosted: Tue Jan 28, 2025 11:49 am Reply with quote
You reap what you sow
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4707
PostPosted: Tue Jan 28, 2025 12:53 pm Reply with quote
I can still vividly remember first hearing about what happened. The radio news saying "Kyoto" and somehow knowing it was about Kyoto Animation, and then feeling physically cold despite it being a hot summer day when they said what happened.
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Banjo



Joined: 13 Dec 2010
Posts: 803
PostPosted: Tue Jan 28, 2025 3:21 pm Reply with quote
Hell awaits for him.
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I Am Audrey, how are you



Joined: 27 Apr 2021
Posts: 55
PostPosted: Tue Jan 28, 2025 4:55 pm Reply with quote
While I don’t normally support the death penalty, I think it’s right in this case
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Nate148



Joined: 24 May 2012
Posts: 528
PostPosted: Tue Jan 28, 2025 7:07 pm Reply with quote
How easy it is for someone's stance on issues to be undermined by passion. No one should be killed for crime even this monster.
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Silver Kirin



Joined: 09 Aug 2018
Posts: 1266
PostPosted: Tue Jan 28, 2025 7:55 pm Reply with quote
Frankly, I'm against capital punishment, but given the severity of the crime committed I don't blame anyone for feeling that this is the appropriate punishment for the criminal, I just hope that maybe it will give some closure to the families and loved ones of those who died, but sadly there is nothing to bring them back to life. Still, don't know if this the right place to talk about, but I've heard Japan has had a complicated history in regards to the death penalty, remember that an execution is irreversible and mistakes can be made. I think there was a case in Japan where a man called Menda Sakae was senteced to death in 1950 for a crime he didn't comit and after spending 33 years in death row he was declared innocent in 1983.
Obviously, in this case the arsonist is completely guilty of the crime, but it could create problems in the future for innocent people falsely accused of a crime.
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NOGI48



Joined: 14 Feb 2016
Posts: 75
PostPosted: Tue Jan 28, 2025 8:29 pm Reply with quote
In other words, your giving a criminal exactly what he wants. They should have given him life sentences so that he can torture himself and have sleepless nights.
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strawberry_milk



Joined: 28 Feb 2020
Posts: 93
PostPosted: Tue Jan 28, 2025 9:12 pm Reply with quote
On one hand, supporting the death penalty in this case is understandable.

On the other hand, do you trust any government to kill the right person every time and always?

I think feeling conflicted about this is also understandable.
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Shay Guy



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 2407
PostPosted: Tue Jan 28, 2025 10:05 pm Reply with quote
If anyone deserves to be executed, he does.

If.

As I said in December 2023:

I wrote:
I have strong moral objections to the death penalty and believe it should be abolished, in my own country and others.

I also believe that Shinji Aoba should be given the maximum possible sentence under Japanese law.

As I have no influence over how he will be sentenced myself, I feel no pressing need to resolve this contradiction.
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Zimmer



Joined: 08 Jul 2015
Posts: 204
PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2025 1:18 am Reply with quote
Nate148 wrote:
How easy it is for someone's stance on issues to be undermined by passion. No one should be killed for crime even this monster.
Can't say I'm for the death penalty, particularly because of the below, but when 100% guilty heinous people get it I don't lose any sleep.

Silver Kirin wrote:
Frankly, I'm against capital punishment, but given the severity of the crime committed I don't blame anyone for feeling that this is the appropriate punishment for the criminal, I just hope that maybe it will give some closure to the families and loved ones of those who died, but sadly there is nothing to bring them back to life. Still, don't know if this the right place to talk about, but I've heard Japan has had a complicated history in regards to the death penalty, remember that an execution is irreversible and mistakes can be made. I think there was a case in Japan where a man called Menda Sakae was senteced to death in 1950 for a crime he didn't comit and after spending 33 years in death row he was declared innocent in 1983.
Obviously, in this case the arsonist is completely guilty of the crime, but it could create problems in the future for innocent people falsely accused of a crime.
A similar story, Iwao Hakamada, the longest death row in the world, was just acquitted last October. I encourage everyone to look into it.
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Ulf Jarl



Joined: 03 Aug 2018
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2025 2:34 am Reply with quote
This news coming out the day after ANN posted an article about hikikomori is great timing since Shinji Aoba is one of them.

A reclusive social misfit who grew up in poverty and bullied in school, he developed mental health issues and eventually went on to commit crimes and got thrown into prison. Instead of protecting and helping people like him, Japanese society stigmatize mental illness.

Considering Japan's low crime rate, I am sure this tragedy would be written off by Japan as just an isolated incident rather than a consequence of a systemic issue. From Japan's point of view, Shinji Aoba not only failed in his responsibility and duty to serve the collective society like many other hikikomori but also inflicted harms and he would have been better off commiting suicide like many before him instead of lashing out.

I honestly thought for a second that the popularity of My Hero Academia and its villains would also cause Japan's society to embrace its message that society creates its own villains. But turns out of course not. Sociology and criminology have little power in conservative Japan very much willing to execute mentally ill criminals.

Most people support the death penalty and they always begin the sentence with a variation of "I am normally against the death penalty BUT".

ANN writers should publish an article about all this.
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Snomaster1
Subscriber



Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Posts: 2967
PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2025 3:09 am Reply with quote
I'll be honest here. I'm in agreement with those who say that Aoba's death sentence is a just one. Considering what happened,it's richly deserved and I hope it happens soon. This guy's a monster and the sooner he's sent to Hades,the better. The world's better off without this animal. Also,there are those who might have sympathy for this guy. Although,Aoba had mental problems,that doesn't excuse what he did. Those people died because of him in the most horrible way imaginable and they didn't deserve to. Their families and friends will never see them again and it's all due to Aoba and his delusions.
Does Japan need better mental health treatment? Yes,I can agree with that. But,we shouldn't forget that this guy killed innocent people. People who might have had great careers in animation elsewhere were lost due to the actions of this lunatic. I'm sorry,but my sympathy is with the dead,the injured,and their families and loved ones,not with Shinji Aoba. He did the one of the worst things you can possibly do,kill innocent people. He definitely should pay for it. He deserves his sentence,and I have no compunction in saying it.
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Jabootu



Joined: 17 Jan 2024
Posts: 292
PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2025 5:47 am Reply with quote
NOGI48 wrote:
In other words, your giving a criminal exactly what he wants. They should have given him life sentences so that he can torture himself and have sleepless nights.


This has always been an extremely unconvincing argument, and you hear it all the time (in other words, this note isn't aimed at NOGI48 per se). If life in prison were so much worse then the death penalty, then prisoners would be killing themselves all the time to avoid it. That rarely happens. In this case, I imagine the murderer withdrew his objection because he knew it wouldn't stop the sentence anyway, and because he also knew that, given the nature of his crime, his "life" in prison would probably be very short and highly unpleasant.

Also, the story doesn't need to use the word "alleged." He's been convicted.

I hope the sentence brings some small degree of comfort to some of the victims and families and loved ones of the deceased.
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NeverConvex
Subscriber



Joined: 08 Jun 2013
Posts: 2620
PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2025 5:53 am Reply with quote
Huh; did not realize Japan was one of the few wealthy nations still with the death penalty:

Quote:
Only the United States, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan retain the death penalty for ordinary crimes, and Israel for crimes under exceptional circumstances (such as during war).


Anyway, nothing really to add over what Shay Guy said above. Sadly, even this won't really close this chapter for the families of the KyoAni employees, but despite my misgivings about capital punishment, I guess I hope they find what solace they can in things ending this way.
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