The LDP has become so desperate they are now fielding a candidate willing to engage in on stage Evangelion cosplay (on the left), saying “With this cosplay, I’d like you to think the LDP has changed.”
Interestingly, the wording of his statement could also be read as “I’d like you to think the LDP is strange…”
Takaaki Mitsuhashi, an obscure 40-year-old economics writer and admitted 2ch denizen, is running for office amidst the remains of the LDP, the web of political dynasties which has run Japan in the post-war period.
In a publicity stunt to attract attention to his campaign, he recently held a “cosplay party” in which 200 cosplayers had a jolly time indulging in karaoke, headed up by himself – whether this strategy will have any effect remains to be seen, but ridicule and raillery on his native 2ch were instantaneous.
It seems he managed 5 lines in a sports tabloid – not the most useful of media splashes.
Unfortunately, it has been the LDP pressing the hardest for censorship of anime and manga, ironically enough proposing legislation which could see Evangelion condemned as hardcore child pornography for its treatment of sexual themes – running some eccentric as a fancy dress candidate seems unlikely to fool anyone actually likely to take any form of cosplay seriously.
Previously the LDP dug up a former idol noted for her nude posing as a candidate, so it seems anything is now possible with the ruined party.
NO. These governments are like Angels, they want to destroy are lively hood with censoring our anime and manga. We must DESTROY THEM, everyone of them.
It’s Gendo!!! Dunana…Dunana…Dunana…Oh baby!!!!
this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RsepQh342g
Mitsuhashi actually has a good shot of being elected to the upper house next month on the LDP list, since he’s running for one of the proportional representation seats and doesn’t need the geographical concentration of support in some particular district (that winning in a prefectural district would require).
Instead, by pandering to the NEET/Otaku/2ch crowd (seriously, he should’ve cosplayed Air King from Higashi no Eden), which is large but fairly dispersed – they don’t all reside in akiba!! – he could bring in enough votes for the party list to merit a seat.
Please tell me the LDP is one of those small-but-loud parties and not actually a major political player.
They really ARE getting desperate aren’t they? They just haven’t got anyone that’s otaku-friendly besides Rozen Aso.
Speaking of Japanese politicians, the new Prime Minister Kan Naoto might have a better chance of connecting with those genre-savvy otakus than his “alien” predecessor Hatoyama Yukio or the desperate LDP NERV commander above, starting with his name:
“The Wrath of Kan”.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_gt6ng02-VO8/TAai399tm9I/AAAAAAAAASk/ULq0LTUbrf0/s1600/wrath-of-kan.jpg