Many anime fans remember what happened in 2019 with regards to Kyoto Animation. An arson incident happened at their studio that took the lives of many people and wounded several others. The suspect who did it themselves was noted to have a history of mental health issues. A proper court resolution happened recently with the suspect accepting full responsibility for their actions and facing the death penalty.

Before the court sentence, an article I read in the Otaku USA newsletter highlighted the doctor who saved the suspect’s life, who had some words to say about how do we stop horrible tragedies like mass murder from happening.

The doctor, Takahiro Ueda, was in charge of healing the arson suspect, Shinji Aoba’s wounds. At first, he hesitated. But Ueda said that no one should die before facing justice. After some time, Ueda was able to talk to Aoba about what happened that day. Aoba would say that he was pushed into a corner. Then he would say something that fascinated Ueda. Aoba said the hospital treated him with a lot of kindness, more than anyone ever did in his personal life. Ueda realized that Aoba went through a lot of personal trauma which started with familial abuse and got worse from there.

Ueda said the following while lamenting that there needs to be more action on how to prevent people from going over the edge and end up hurting society as a whole. To quote from the Manichi Shimbun,

“His was a particular kind of upbringing, but he isn’t the only one out there. We have to consider the possibility that this could happen even in the communities we live in.”

I know this whole ordeal has made a lot of anime fans sad. It’s a lot more complicated for me because of my own history with mental health issues. When violent incidents happen, lawmakers always point to poor mental health as the case. Some people in my past have teased that I would hurt someone when I express negative emotions in an aggressive manner. Most people with mental illness do not partake in violent crime. But in this particular one, I do feel that poor mental health combined with other factors has led to this tragedy.

Is this all Aoba’s fault? He definitely has some blame and has to face responsibility for his actions. I just know that it’s not all on him.

I say this out of a habit I have of telling people that I can do great harm to others when I’m pushed to despair. Back at Anime NYC last year, I ran into a friend I hadn’t seen in a while and we talked about our lives. I told him that I was doing alright and even said that I could have been an incel-type if things weren’t working out and didn’t know how to process my emotions. I don’t think I’m that good of a person.

I think of all the people I’ve met in my life and have shown some kindness towards me. I realize how lucky I am. I know some of you might be like “No way you would commit a crime! You seem like you’re a really good guy.” But I will gladly remind you that we can all turn out to be bad people when our life situations become very dire. Who doesn’t want meaning and connection when we become isolated for no good reason? When we’re starved of those two things, we can get pushed so badly by certain ideologies and manifestos towards a point of no return.

Aoba’s words about hospital workers being kind to him do hold value. While he did something that’s unforgivable, I want him to help others for the rest of his life (that should be his “punishment” if possible) while getting the help he really needs.

Ueda’s words about preventing future tragedies also hold value. What can we do to be more proactive instead of being reactive? How do we even start with tackling on trauma that is almost always complicated and requires more than just a quick fix?

Kindness is a start for now, I guess. Be kind. Give people who are so cynical some measure of hope that there’s still goodness in this world. When I say show kindness, it doesn’t mean that you have to be a total doormat. Setting constructive boundaries with those in need is a sign of kindness because you want to be at your best (not your worst) to be kind and more importantly, you believe in the other’s person ability to be better.

I still hope the families of the victims are able to find peace in their own way and I hope that the people in charge are able to create better circumstances that lead to everyone in life finding peace in general.

Note: As I was finishing this post, I found out about Hinako Ashihara and her death due to a possible suicide. I’m just devastated. The circumstances surrounding what happened are awful and my point still stands that even if circumstances do become bad, we can absolutely do better to make them not any worse for the sake of everyone affected by them.