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Man Who Disrupted Neptunia Event Charged With Carrying Knife

The Tokyo police arrested a man who disrupted a Saturday screening of Chō Jigen Game Neptune The Animation (Hyperdimension Neptunia the Animation) for allegedly carrying a knife in violation of Japan's Swords and Firearms Control Law. The suspect is a man in his 30s from Tokyo's Adachi ward.

The Cinema Sunshine Ikebukuro theater hosted the event in Tokyo. The event screened the first two episodes of the upcoming anime and held a talk show with several guests, including voice actresses Rie Tanaka (Neptune/Purple Heart), Asami Imai (Noire/Black Heart), and Rina Satō (Vert/Green Heart).

According to the police at Tokyo's Ikebukuro station, they received a 110 call (the Japanese equivalent of a 911 emergency call in the United States) from the event's staff at around 1:40 p.m., about halfway through the event. The caller said, "There's a man acting violently on stage."

The suspect was allegedly carrying one knife with a blade 10 to 20 centimeters (about 4 to 8 inches) long on the sixth floor of the theater at around 2:00 p.m. The man was speaking unintelligibly, and the Ikebukuro station is investigating the details of the incident.

The official website for the anime posted a statement on Sunday, "The 'TV Anime Hyperdimension Neptunia's Earliest! Advance Screening Event' that was held on Saturday, June 22 was suspended due to unforeseen circumstances." The anime's production committee apologized to the audience members and asked them to save their ticket stubs. The committee will notify people of any updates regarding the event on the website.

Under the current Japanese law that was revised in 2009, people are not allowed to carry daggers or double-edged knives with blades 5.5 centimeters (2.2 inches) or longer.

Chiyomaru Shikura, the president of MAGES. (5pb.) and a multi-creator known for his own game/anime franchises such as Steins;Gate, posted this to his Twitter account about three hours after the incident:

Regarding the Neptunia incident. My staff and I have been talking, and there seems to be a need to rethink how events will be held. This of course includes having security guards and having more of a feeling of distance between the talent and their fans. It's really a shame.

The Hyperdimension Neptunia anime adapts Compile Heart's popular role-playing game franchise of the same name. The anime will premiere on July 12.

Sources: Sankei News, Sports Nippon

Image © 2013 Idea Factory, Compile Heart/Neptune Production Committee