A Japanese man who was wanted for murdering his own parents is blaming anime for his actions.
The Tokyo Reporter is reporting that Junji Matsumoto was motivated to kill his parents because they interrupted his anime viewing. “It was bothersome that whenever I watched anime, my parents interrupted me,” Matsumoto said, adding, “I couldn’t stand it.”
The 59-year old Matsumoto lived with his parents, who both required wheelchairs for mobility. “During a good scene in an anime, my father repeatedly called for me to take care of him,” Matsumoto reportedly said. “Because he complained about me, I killed him.” Matsumoto allegedly killed his father, age 88, by strangling him to death with an electrical cord. It is unknown what method was used to murder his mother, age 87. Police were called to investigate the residence after a relative couldn't get in touch with the parents and grew concerned. Authorities discovered the bodies in a refrigerator.
Matsumoto, who had fled the area days before the bodies were discovered, led police on a country-spanning manhunt as he ran from his residence in Fukuoka, located in southern Japan, to as far away as Akita prefecture, which is located on the northern half of Japan's main island of Honshu. Matsumoto continued moving through the country until he was eventually apprehended by authorities in Kyoto on July 5, where police finally managed to track him down by using hotel records. Matsumoto has reportedly confessed to the crime but police are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Source: Tokyo Reporter, Kotaku
