Op-Ed: KyoAni, #MeToo, Dayton, and Navigating Through The Anime Industry’s Most Challenging Month

It’s summer 2019. For years anime fans who have watched Akira would wonder “What’s 2019 gonna be REALLY like, is it gonna be like this?” Of course, a Neo-Tokyo did not happen and there is nowhere near the amount of corruption or violence happening in one of the most populated cities in the world as first depicted in the 1988 classic. Unfortunately, we will remember this Summer for what may be one of the most trying times in the history of the anime industry, a true benchmark that will be looked back on one day as one in which the industry was able to not only survive the recent horrific events going on, but be even stronger and more important.

It started on the morning of July 18th @ 1030 am JST. Reportedly annoyed that someone stole his intellectual property for the purposes of profit, 41-year-old Shinji Aoba walked into the headquarters office of Kyoto Animation and dumped gasoline all over the place before setting the building on fire thereby killing half of the 70 people employed and injuring the other half. Since then, Kyoto has reopened for business, probably showing the bravery and resolve of the industry more than any signifying moment, but the anime industry had responded helping raise a slew of funds to help the families and facilities of Kyoto rebuild and return to making some of the best known works in the industry.

Last weekend, August 3rd, would gain news from Texas thereby putting this one on the backburner. An El-Paso mass shooting helped blanket the newswires while quietly a new DallasNews expose was released detailing sexual harassment allegations against English dubbed voice actor Vic Mignogna. Vic has been in hot water for a while now, allegedly committing sexual assault against various anime personnel in the industry including major names like Monica Rial and Jamie Marchi coming forward to talk of their run-ins with the now disgraced voice actor who has since been fired by Funimation for any future voice dubbings.

And last, but certainly not least, video games, anime, and heavy metal were to blame according to the GOP for the recent mass shootings in Dayton Ohio as perpetrated by Connor Betts. This after Connor killed ten people as part of a horrific attack without questioning why an individual who was diagnosed with having OCD and bipolar disorder was able to purchase guns and ammo so as to commit these atrocious acts.

Every industry, everything, goes through it’s ups and downs. In fact, I think it’s best summed up by Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight when he says, “The Night is Always Darkest Before the Dawn”. He’s right, and it appeals to everything. Ever since grammar school I’ve been challenged by my own personal interests by school students and faculty, my friends, and even family. I remember a time before games had ratings. I remember a time before music had “Parental Advisory” stickers. For some reason, that was the type of shit I was most interested in. “Wait, Oprah Winfrey says Mortal Kombat is bad? Well, I gotta try it!” or “The FCC fines Howard Stern? Welp, count me in!”. How about when South Park hit the air? Dear Lord, did the “mom” groups come out in droves and boy did my mom jump in. Not totally military, but she became conservative enough that when I finally did leave organized religion behind, it was the most cathartic experience in my life.  For some, religion is a good thing. It’s a great way for people to cope with an unfortunate reality and get easy answers to questions that those not interested in an education can use to get answers and maybe that’s enough. It’s easy for someone who hasn’t lost a child in a mass shooting to just” pray it away” until it happens to them and subsequently realizing that praying doesn’t do anything, only action does. Entertainment? That’s just a scape-goat for politicians to have us look elsewhere long enough to cash another check from the NRA instead of putting forth any meaningful policy that could make a serious change.

The one thing I do know, content is made with love for those who love that content. Video games are produced by gamers who love to game. Anime is produced by people who watch and love anime and get dressed up to go to conventions. Heavy metal is produced by musicians that love making music. There’s way more of a correlation between mental health issues, the over-prescribing of drugs in America to treat said mental health, and access to guns. No matter the atrocity or social cause, there’s never been any evidence to support those that think entertainment is the cause of harassment or violence. Maybe it’s time we start looking inward and handle these issues with more science and reason and less prayer.