On September 6, the second trial against shinji aoba45, charged with murder and other crimes in case of arson attack on studios Kyoto Animationin which 36 people died and another 32 were seriously or slightly injured.
In connection with the defendant’s allegation that Kyoto Animation had stolen his intellectual property (specifically his novels), the prosecution alleged that the works by Kyoto Animation, such as “Tsurune: Kazemai High School Kyudo Club,” “K-ON!” and “Free! Iwatobi Swim Club”, were shown during this second session and contrasted with the content of the novels written by Aoba. All three are popular works that represented Kyoto Animation and were “school stories” set in a school.
According to the investigation report presented by the prosecution, in “Free! Iwatobi Swim Club“, which shows a group of teenagers in a swimming club, there is a scene where the swimming club banner on the high school building is blown up by the wind, revealing the words “Judo Club” written below. On the contrary, the depiction of the school in Aoba’s novel features a banner that remains up after the deadline as a symbol of the school’s free spiritaccording to the defendant.
Furthermore, in “K-ON!“, which takes place in a high school light music club, there is a scene in which one of the girls says to another: «I have failed the school year, from now on we will be partners!», and then hugs her. In contrast, in a work that Aoba submitted to the Kyoto Animation Awards, the protagonist, A high school boy is informed by his teacher that if he doesn’t try harder, he will have to stay another year..
In “Tsurune: Kazemai High School Kyudo Club“, which portrays a high school archery club, there is a scene in which the protagonists put meat with a 20 percent discount in their shopping baskets in a supermarket, while Aoba’s novel shows the heroine buying all kinds of garnishes at 50 percent off.
In the first trial, held on September 5, the prosecution referred to Aoba’s novels in their opening statement. They explained that after the defendant was unsuccessful in winning the Kyoto Animation Awards in 2017, he became paranoid that his “novel ideas” had been stolen and became increasingly angry with the studio. Kyoto Animation has consistently denied any plagiarism since the incident.
Fountain: Yahoo! news japan
