戦士症候群[senshi shoukougun]
It’s not uncommon that the press always blame anime or video games whenever jevunile crime happens now in Japan. Since when did this pointless accusation start? Is everything because of Miyazaki Incident which a geeky man who was obsessed with little girls killed four girls? Was there such a person who really mixed up 2D and 3D and did such a crazy thing so far?
I do not want to admit, but there was such a time when such a thing actually happened. Back to around 1987, there was a shoujo manga named 僕の地球を守って[Please Save My Earth] by Saki Hiwatari. This story follows a schoolgirl and two of her classmates who coincidentally have the same dream. In their dream, they mutually know each other, each of them has a different name, and observe the Earth. Having heard of the dream, she slips into the same dream for some reason. There are some more persons in the dream, but none of them do not even know. So they start to find them using the advertisement which you can seek for pen pals.
The weird thing happened because of this manga. At that time, some fangirls did the same thing like the characters did so. I mean, they insisted they got reincarnated to fight against something and tried to seek for the buddies who also got reincarnated somewhere in this present world. Sounds far-fetched? I know. But this really happened. Such posts used to be seen on the magazines for SF fans like トワイライトゾーン[Twilight Zone] or ムー[Moo]. The passege is like below…
“If [name] rings a bell to you, call me. I am resurrected. I am seeking for [name] and [name]. And I have the Philosopher’s Stone.”
“If you are resurrected, come see me! I might be the one you need to see!”
バカみたい…At that time, this kind of thing was called 戦士症候群[senshi shoukougun] or warrior syndrome. In other words, this is to seek for your buddy in your past life(or a different space). There was another saying, 前世の仲間探し[zense no nakama sagashi] or searching for a buddy in your past life. A word 前世[past life] could be the trend at that time because there was a term 前世ブーム[zense boom].
Having too many posts from such 電波readers, the editors of the magazines prohibited the readers to make such a post on the ads. However, things went too far. Some of the fangirls who believed they could get back all the memories in their past life, got together and tried to kill themselves. I am not too sure they really died or not. Maybe they didn’t. But such a thing happened a couple of times, and this was called 自殺ごっこ[jisatsu gokko] or suicide game. Nah, that is not funny at all.
At any rate, once something weird happens, it brings about 連鎖反応[rensa han’nou] or chain reaction. In Japan, this truly happens. This is what I hate because no good things come out. In the end, this is going to give the press a good excuse to blame otaku…
Come to think of it, I am following the anime, 炎の蜃気楼[Mirage of Blaze]. This is pretty old, but quite embodies 戦士症候群. Ugh, not knowing what it is, I was following it…No no no, I am okay! I won’t mix it up! I am not Kagetora-sama! ^^
You are Kagetora-sama.
Japanese words of anime fans, by anime fans, for anime fans 
mochie said,
September 28, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Ah, yes the media always seems to like to blame video games, anime and manga for people’s crimes. It’s like this in Australia as well. If a violent person steals a car or beats someone up and they happen to find a video game at their home, they will blame the influence of video games. When I used to go to school, our teachers discouraged us from playing video games because they believed it to promote violence. I do not believe such a thing because a game is just a game, an anime is just anime, they are all fictional. Sigh.
I do believe in past life but I think if you want to find about it, go to a psychic, killing yourself won’t do you anything because you will get reicarnated and forget about all your past lives again. Hopefully all this blaming game will stop soon because I don’t think that Otaku, let alone any animator, manga-ka or game developer deserves any of the blame when they have done nothing wrong.
bangin said,
September 28, 2008 at 2:15 pm
I have never thought this happened elsewhere. Japanese people often target otaku.
Even if reincarnation is true, people can’t keep any memories in the past life. However, in fictional world like Mirage of Blaze people can possess the past memories in the present life. There seems to be a connection beween the reality and the fiction, and deep fans want to believe it. Those fans were seemingly ordinary schoolgirls…
khim said,
September 28, 2008 at 7:32 pm
is it the same when we were child, playing sentai or kamen rider etc
in my country anime is often blamed, despite everyday every hour soap operas by gives far more terrible themes, act and quality
bangin said,
September 29, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Whatever they do in the soap operas should be fine whereas anime is blamed. 😦
I truly hope this ends.
mochie said,
September 29, 2008 at 2:17 pm
It’s quite upsetting actually because what khim said is true. The soap operas here cover a lot of issues like violence, sexual harrassment (seeko in japanese I think) and even murder cases but the news will cover the fact that they are teaching children to grow up faster and that is it. It’s the same as music, a lot of music here promote death, drugs and violence yet they are always being played on the radio and heard in advertisements.
Just because people cannot understand otaku, we get blamed for everything. A lot of video games have been banned in Australia as well, because they believed that it promoted violence.
Neohybrid_kai said,
September 30, 2008 at 9:24 am
Whoah, Please Save My Earth, it bring back memories, that’s one of the shoujo manga that I read in my early days as otaku (the other one was Hikawa Kyoko’s Kanata Kara) that makes me choose shoujo and drama over shounen XD its quite long, 21 volume if I’m not wrong and I’m glad the publisher here released it till the final volume.
I don’t know that those kind of manga could lead into such horrible event. I mean, yea, the idea of reincarnation, though it may sounds silly but I find it romantic, like, you know how Kunisaki Yukito traveling around to find the winged girl in the sky? XDD but suicides is just wrong.
And people likes to blame on anime manga or game here because they still think that those kind of things are targeted to children. Actually, back then I thought that this kind of thing wouldn’t happen in Japan, since people there must be realized that anime and the like isn’t just for kids, but I’m wrong. Though the reason isn’t the same, but it seems that otaku always get the blame.
bangin said,
September 30, 2008 at 1:45 pm
mochie: Whatever users do depends on users, not the makers. Normally stickers tell there contains some violence in the game. I assume there are not so many people who really go insane, but the press tells everyone seems to get brainwashed. I don’t like the way they say.
Neohybrid_kai: Oh you know Please Save My Earth? This is a really old shoujo manga.Don’t reveal your age. lol This lasted for 7 or 8 years…
Reincarnation is almost a 2D thing because there’s no proof. Though sounds romantic. I am such an otomen that I sometimes feel like trusting it. But I am too sissy to kill myself. lol
Fritzs said,
October 3, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Behold the true horror! Horror from beyond realms of sanity! Behold otakukin:
http://otakukin.otherkin.net/
http://enchant.wondershock.net/
Yes it’s as bad as it looks. Thankfully I have never meet, online or IRL one of these, but acording to some sites I read and forums I lurk, these people really do exist and it’s not some stupid joke.
Seeking buddy from past life, because plot of some manga build on this and thus popularised concept of reincarnation looks way more saner, than claiming to be reaincarnation of… I don’t know… Ikari Shinji…
bangin said,
October 4, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Whoa, so the truth is more bizzare than the fiction!!
The more mysterious it is, the more people want to figure it out…even if it meets death??
Neohybrid_kai said,
October 5, 2008 at 12:18 am
WOW, I didn’t know that kind of thing exist in the first place, the concept of reincarnation really sounds way more saner now, lol
bangin said,
October 5, 2008 at 1:11 am
No one has proved it, so that’s why people might be obsessed with it.