In an unlikely turn of events, popular Japanese dojin game Tohou Project, a shoot ’em up featuring shrine maidens has hit the news due to the actions of a crazed fan.
When one woman dubbed over the voice of a Tohou Project character, she found herself faced with death threats from a man who revealed her real name on the internet forum 2ch.net, along with comments such as “I’ll cover you with kerosene”. Although the man has now been arrested, the story portrays the darker side of the Japanese internet.
Netizens were surprised at the news, with some confusing the “Tohou” in the headline with the popular Korean boyband, Tohou Shinki.
From Yahoo! Japan:
Man Arrested On Suspicion Of Threatening Woman Who Dubbed A “Touhou Project” Character’s Voice
On June 16, police in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture arrested a 26 year old unemployed man from Toyohashi, Aichi on suspicion of threatening a woman who had dubbed the voice of a video game character. He is alleged to have written comments such as “I’ll cover you in kerosene” on the internet message board 2ch.net
At around 5pm on June 14, the suspect is said to have written comments such as “I’ll cover you in kerosene and let you burn to death” to a 22 year old woman who had dubbed the voice of a character for a video based on the popular computer game “Touhou Project”.
According to the police, “Touhou Project” is a game featuring female lead characters, and fan-videos with fans doing things such as dubbing the original characters’ voices are gaining popularity. The man exposed the woman’s real name and wrote comments such as “she has completely destroyed the character” and “she needs punishment”.
Comments from Twitter:
亜晃:
What the…. This guy is such an idiot….
ファルコン:
SCARY
木場貴志@6/22 SC64 A-01a:
Why threaten someone….? If you don’t like it, just close it.
ﾛｲﾄﾞﾉﾐｾﾃﾞｰｽ:
Seems like she had a good lawyer, doesn’t it…?
じゅん♂:
Otakus are like this, so….
ご注文はアイオーエス園児ニャーですか？:
He’s from Toyohashi? Scary
Tisit:
This is awful
なつき:
I’ve also been told that I’ve “destroyed the image of a character”
浪花:
For real? The Touhou fandom is the worst
ぴよてん:
I’m flabbergasted.
目隠しイワン:
There’s no way I thought I’d ever see the word “Touhou” in Yahoo top news (笑) ROFL
可零:
Aaaah, the name “Touhou” (as in Touhou Project) is going to become widely known in this way…
紅咲 湘魔@無意識:
Really..? Someone was arrested in relation to Touhou…?
ららな:
Madmen are scary, aren’t they?
吉田3:
The fact that Touhou made Yahoo top news due to this…. (;´д｀)
けいし@FLIGHT山形奈々コス参戦♪:
Touhou in Yahoo top news wwww
有栖川うさきち:
Instead of “unemployed man”, what’s his real name?
ゆゆポリ:
The Touhou fandom is scary
多色:
What the heck are you doing, doing these things at the age of 26…
shaitama:
I thought they were talking about Touhou Shinki [Korean boyband] (*_*;
