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That's just weird... I mean, I could completely understand it if it was a Char action figure, but a Gundam? | |
Dear lord, you know this is why japan should have guns.(sarcasm!) Also 29 and that into his toys and living with mom? Come on now, although now i wish to play your "Super Arson Setting Master Ectasy" game... You think they can make it a series? | |
Wow I mean wow I never even watched Gundam but I doubt it's that great...is it? | |
I have a cousin in Taiwan who collects these things, so I know that they can get pretty pricey at times, but SUICIDE? Over TOYS? Someone needs to get laid...
Well, it's a pretty big deal in Japan. Literally.  | |
Much like Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, etc., it has it's audience. EDIT: I almost wish I could identify which Gundam series each helm belongs to in that OP picture. That'd be cool. | |
Oh, and to answer my own riddle, here's my guesses: No cheating, now! | |
SharPhoe has an audience too. Yeah, you heard me, SharPhoe! STICK THAT IN YOUR OVEN! | |
There are a bunch of different series, some in the same universe, some in entirely different universes. Think of it kind of like Final Fantasy, in a way? Not all the stories are connected, but some are. Some of them are great, classic sci-fi series - to Japan what Star Wars is in the West. Others, um. Not so much. | |
...Well, I would've been completely wrong anyway. The only Gundam series I've ever seen are G Gundam and Gundam Wing. (Don't hit me!) | |
Gotta love Newgrounds. | |
This is patheticness taken to a whole new level. | |
In the Anime FLCL, one of the characters is obsessed with a game called Firestarter and then starts rapidly oxidising buildings. Sure enough, checking google, someone has made this game real. | |
Hmmm, well it occurs to me that this was probably the result of an ongoing arguement about how deeply the guy was into his models or something. I'm just making a wild guess that there is more to the story. As a disabled adult living with his parents and playing way too many video games I am not going to criticize. I will say that there are plenty of people in my generation who live at home and do very little for one reason or another. Back when I was working casino security I was aware of MANY people in such situations, and also that we were warned this was going to happen ahead of time by sociologists. Generation X is the "lost" generation as Baby Boomers are living so long and staying so healthy that they have not stepped down from the jobs they have been holding and thus opening the door for Generation X to ever "Come into their own". This combined with technology that allows for downsizing is responsible for a lot of the periodic employment problems. Today, more than ever before, there is also a clear differance between a job, and a job you can support yourself at. Sure, it's always possible to go work at a Mcdonalds or something, but they rotate people quickly there to avoid seniority, and don't pay enough to live on anyway (for example). I actually make more from social security than I would holding most low-end jobs (though only a fraction of what I once made). I mention Social Security because social security is a pittance when you've only worked 14 or so years all together. The point of the above rant is that I think the situation isn't inherantly that unusual, and I'm actually a bit surprised you don't see stuff like this happening more often. I am also guessing the models were some kind of "last straw" rather than the entirety of the events leading up to this. I mean god forbid, living with your parents is NOT the easiest thing in the world no matter what many people might think. | |
Reminds me about how my grandmother (we call her nanna) threw away my dad's comic book collection when he went to college. He estimates it would have been worth a lot of money by now. He was a little upset, but thank god he didn't go berserk like this joker! | |
I remember having three models, but they were nowhere as pricey as that guy's. Good grief. I feel sorry for the guy, though. I mean, collecting is a pricey hobby, unless you're passionate about it. I have a collection of comics I started a year ago, and, according to this site, have a total value of $1.5k. But my sympathy ends at his suicide attempt. That's just not worth it. If my mom threw out all my comics, I would move out and rebuild. Gundam's might be a different story, but it wouldn't hurt to move out. | |
It's a cover up story. What really happened was his house was destroyed when the Gundams were no longer there to defend it against... whatever it is Gundams defend people against... the stupidity of armed conflict, if I remember the anime correctly. | |
Yeah, that's a totally reasonable reaction. | |
I remeber when I was younger I use to watch that along with DragonBall. Not really for the story but becuase I liked it when they fought (I was 6. Sue me.) Now I'm more into Family Guy and Heroes and Lost....Man I miss those days. | |
Dude, it is NOT cool to mess with someones models.... Sure, he over reacted, but it takes a lot of time, presision, and effort to make those models.... I'd be pissed if anyone broke or got rid of all of mine. Not pissed enough to commit suicide by burning-down my mom's house.... but still pretty pissed.... | |
Id be very upset if my Gunpla was thrown out, he went a bit too far though. *Goes off to construct his new MG Exia" | |
that doesn't look right, the medium kits are worth 250-300 while the high quality are only worth 150-200? sorry, just looks odd | |
I meant all of them combined.
Envy! The MG Exia is a thing of beauty. I saw a goddamn beautiful 1/100 00-Raiser a few weeks back, though. | |
thanks I was wondering which gundams were in the picture | |
Godsdamned moron... This is the type of person I hate, they go way the frak over the top in their actions and give the rest of us (read nerds) a bad name. | |
More likely they went rouge and the fire thing is just a cover up. | |
His mother is a bitch! | |
*flips couch over in rage* | |
That would be Mamimi, she burned down her old school! | |
I can understand his pain. The guy is a 29 year old factory worker who lives with his mom. I doubt he has much else besides his gundam figures. I blame his mom. She must have had some idea how important those figures were to her son before she threw them out. | |
I'd have probably beat the shit out of my mum (if she'd done the same and I was that into my Gundam... Which I'm not) But I wouldn't burn the house down. | |
*is crushed by an inexplicably falling couch* | |
really tWo things come to mind. weird laughter and a certified WTF | |
Japan:Loon Capital since 1979. | |
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Japanese Man Burns Down House Over Gundam Models
A 29-year-old man in Japan has been arrested after burning his house to the ground following a fight with his mother over models from the Gundam anime/manga franchise.
Yoshifumi Takabe, a 29-year-old factory worker from a town near Kobe, Japan, was arrested this weekend after he allegedly burned down the house he and his mother lived in. Takabe doused his room in kerosene and set it on fire in a suicide attempt while distraught after learning that his mother had thrown away his "valuable" models from the iconic Gundam franchise, the suspect reportedly told police.
Despite intending to kill himself, both Takabe and his 55-year-old mother escaped the fire unharmed. The two-story, 2,700 sq. ft. house, on the other hand, was completely burned to the ground.
Okay, you know what? On the one hand, I can understand the guy being upset. Beyond obviously being a (rather passionate) fan of the franchise, Gundam models can get kind of pricey. Right now, I have nine or so models on my desk here at the office, probably worth anywhere from $250 to $300, ballpark. And those are medium-quality kits, even.
The highest-quality model kits (like, say, this Perfect Grade Astray Red Frame, for example) can run you anywhere from $150 to $200, and if this guy was as devoted a fan as he appears, he probably had a few of those in his collection. So, we're potentially talking a loss of a few grand here - he was perfectly right to be angry.
But... driven-to-suicide-and-burning-down-the-house angry? That's a bit much, wouldn't you think? On the bright side, this is unlikely to be blamed on a videogame, for once. For all Japan has odd taste in games, I don't think they have Super Arson Setting Master Ecstasy ... yet.
(Now for a completely unrelated game, Gundam fans: Can you name all of the Mobile Suits in the above image just based on their head design?)
(Kobe Shinbun via ANN via Kotaku)
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