Otaku Sent Human Bones after TV Station Delayed Their Anime
Based on a light novel written by Arisawa Mamizu, the Inukami anime premiered on TV Tokyo on April 6, 2006, airing weekly at 1:00 AM. The series ran until September 28 of the same year. Inukami follows the story of Kawahira Keita, a young man from a family of Inukami (supernatural beings) tamers, who is abandoned for lacking the necessary skills. His life takes a turn when an Inukami named Youko forms a contract with him.
Youko is a troublesome Inukami that no one has been able to tame, and Keita quickly finds himself caught in chaotic situations. The anime, blending romantic comedy and ecchi elements, gained moderate success during its run.
However, what should have been a lighthearted anime became part of one of Japan’s most bizarre stories.
Otaku Sent Human Bones after TV Station Delayed Their Anime
In 2006, the World Table Tennis Championship was held in Germany. As is common with such events, TV Tokyo had to adjust its schedule to accommodate the broadcast of a match featuring Ai Fukuhara, who won a bronze medal for Japan. Due to the match’s extension, the episode of Inukami, originally scheduled for 1:00 AM, was delayed to 1:30. This caused frustration among fans, especially since streaming services were not prevalent in 2006. Many Japanese viewers relied on TV recorders to capture late-night anime episodes, planning to watch them the next day.
Because of the schedule change, many fans missed the episode, as their recorders were set for the original time. One fan, however, took their frustration to an extreme level.
One week later, TV Tokyo received a package. Inside, employees found a bag with a letter on top, which read:
“Due to the World Table Tennis Championship broadcast on April 26, I couldn’t watch the anime that airs at 1:00 AM.”
While the letter seemed like a typical complaint, when the package was opened, the staff discovered ten small pieces of human cremated bones.
TV Tokyo immediately contacted the police, who confirmed that the bones were real. Authorities attempted to trace the package but found that the sender had used a fake address, leaving only a postmark from Yokohama as a clue. To this day, the identity of the sender and the source of the bones remain a mystery.
The incident became known on Japanese internet forums as the “Inukami Human Bone Incident”. Theories range from the angry otaku having stolen the bones to the more disturbing possibility that they murdered someone, cremated the body, and sent the bones to the TV station.
source: Voce Sabia Anime