Danica Davidson
December 16, 2024 
The Nagano Aniera Festa 2024, an anime song festival that took place in Nagano’s Komaba Park in September, was supposed to be about multiple days of fun. Those plans came to a halt on September 22, when a stabbing attack occurred and caused the next day to be called off.
Thankfully, no one was killed. The suspect, who has not been named, is 38 years old, and allegedly got into a quarrel with another person at the event. Both of them apparently had the same favorite voice actor, and the suspect found this offensive. The victim received multiple stab wounds.
The suspect was brought in for attempted murder. Reports say that he admitted he meant to kill the victim he had stabbed. Authorities theorize that it’s possible the suspect had meant to attack someone else he’s had a grievance against, and the victim got assailed instead.
There had been rumors swirling that the victim had harassed the suspect. The Nagano District Public Prosecutor’s Office publicly stated that this was not the case.
Considering the circumstances, the suspect received a psychological evaluation, starting in October and just recently finishing. Though the details of the results are not public, they must have pointed to severe mental illness, because the Nagano District Public Prosecutor’s Office has decided not to charge the suspect.
The crime has some parallels to other upsetting incidents Otaku USA has covered. Fighting over a favorite voice actor seems a little reminiscent of a time when a Kyoto man said he was assaulted for giving away spoilers about Oshi no Ko.
In even more serious news, Otaku USA has covered an incident of idol Mayu Tomita being stabbed at a fan event that left her hospitalized and in critical condition. Thankfully she pulled through. Voice actress Yui Ishikawa (Mikasa in Attack on Titan) has also had to deal with a stalker who threatened to stab her. That man received a year in prison.
Source: ANN
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
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