Net users agree that the antics of these so-called fans were just plain rude.
Since it was first held in 2009, Japan’s Animax Musix anime music festival has served as a forum to unite fans of anime music and talented voice actors who lend their voices for hit anime productions. This year’s event, held last weekend at Osaka-jo Hall in Osaka, included popular voice actors and associated acts such as Takuma Terashima, GARNiDELiA, Run Girls, Run! and Minori Suzuki.
However, something went amiss in the aftermath of this latest event.
The general population often pictures groups of anime or idol otaku wielding glow sticks as they dance along to their favorite tunes. Think of a scene similar to one in World Order‘s “Have a Nice Day” music video starting around the 2:30 mark:
While the use of glow sticks at concerts seems to be the accepted standard to have fun but at the same time not to cause a nuisance, occasionally some unruly otaku may try to bring in larger handheld lights that emit a harsh glow. These lights can be blinding to others and obstruct their view of the performances, similar to this one decked-out fan.
Unfortunately, that exact scenario seems to have happened at the Animax Musix 2019 Osaka event. Japanese Twitter user @yui0_a shared a photo after the fact of a group of rowdy concertgoers that had tied multiple glow sticks together to create blinding fans of light:
▼ “The light pollution that was the cause of the incident.”
When others started to become irritated with them, tensions escalated and culminated in physical contact, including the emergence of a lead pipe and a swift police response:
▼ “A scuffle over light-emitting devices is happening now… is this really the scene of a voice actors’ concert?”
The shrill male voice halfway through the video can be heard yelling, “Get back, get back!”
@yui0_a posted some follow-up tweets of the aftermath of the brawl as well:
▼ “By the way, here’s the broken smartphone of an otaku that obstructed the path of a lead pipe.”
▼ “Even the police are here”
Netizen reactions were critical of the unruly group and berated their lack of common decency:
“They’re just like nasty bugs gathering at a flame.”
“If they don’t follow the rules, then they’re not real fans to begin with.”
“The guy who stopped the iron pipe is a true hero.”
“Why the heck did someone have a lead pipe at an anime concert in the first place?”
“It seems there are some shady characters who can only exist with other idiots in a group.”
“They were definitely an eyesore at the event. Plus they loitered around the arena and rudely drew attention to themselves.”
Apart from the cracked smartphone pictured above, there didn’t seem to be any resulting human injuries. Why the group felt a need to disrupt the peace in the first place remains a mystery. Next time, let’s hope that they just stick to the usual wotagei dance routine.
Source: Twitter/@yui0_a via Hachima Kiko
Featured image: Twitter/@yui0_a