After months of taking shit from left and right and three agricultural ministers later, Shinzo Abe finally announced today that he is resigning as prime minister of Japan (YouTube video). The Liberal Democratic Party, which is the ruling party and controls the lower house of the Diet, will be likely to pick one of their own people to replace him.
Rozen Maiden + Taro Aso = Rozen Aso
The most likely candidate is Taro Aso (麻生太郎), AKA Rozen Aso, the secretary general of LDP and foreign minister in Abe’s cabinet. Mr. Aso is probably the most well-known politician among the 2ch and Akiba crowd because of his nickname which he got after he was once seen reading a volume of Rozen Maiden at an airport book store. He professes to be a dedicated manga fan and his favourite works include Golgo 13, Nodame Cantible and Kochikame. He gave a speech at Akihabara during the 2006 elections campaign and drew a large crowd (YouTube video). In his speech, he addressed the otaku population directly and spoke on manga-related topics and the soft power of Japanese pop culture.
LDP will be carrying out internal voting on the 19th. If Rozen Aso does take over, he does not need to call for a general election until 2009. However, it is likely that he will be forced by the opposition to call for one within the next few months, and it will be hard to say if LDP’s current reputation can carry the embattled ruling party through.
Still, the first step towards possible otaku world domination?
[ Sources: Wikipedia | IHT | 日テレNEWS24 ]
EDIT: According to this new-akiba article linked by don777, anime and game related stocks rose sharply today, in particularly Broccoli‘s share value has reached “ridiculous levels”.
Well, seeing that he has been in lots of trouble lately, I can’t say I didn’t see this coming.
Fortunately for him as a foreign minister, his last name is actually read Asou, not Masou :-)
Yes my fault. It has been fixed. I keep thinking of 麻’s Chinese reading. XD
I can’t predict the next PM.
But Otaku chips(Mandarake, Bandai Visual…) suddenly surged in today’s Japanese stock market（^^ï¼›.
http://www.new-akiba.com/archives/2007/09/post_11195.html
It would be interesting if he commented on how Peach-Pit recently abandoned the Rozen Maiden series…
and the otakus shall inherit the earth
Shinzo Abe resigned over for the US refueling but not for losing the elections back in july…
History will not judge him kindly.
And hail the domination of Anime and Manga.
So, what this means to me, as an overseas otaku? Proliferations of weapons of mass otakudom (WMO)? Try to hit on North Korea? I don’t know. I was never interested in Japanese politics.
It could mean more cute anime mascots for government agencies! LOL. And probably policies and initiatives to help Japan project its influence globally via pop culture. He did establish the International Manga prize for non-Japanese Mangaka in 2007.
Oh good, finally someone that is more orientated in the otaku’s way WOOT!
What? Yet another Eleven to become PM?
ALL HAIL BRITANIA. LET’S CRUSH EM.
Uh, Rozen Aso as PM. I guess the foreign ministry (Rozen Aso old ministry) will furthering the use of manga & anime as a diplomatic tool then…
Rozen Aso FTW!!!
when i saw the news of him possibly being PM, i laughed. fufufufu..imagine, free export of anime merchandises to any part of the world!!! =D
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So an Asoh is going to take over.
Wait, so if Broccoli is finally out of the red… does that mean that I’ll get to see Galaxy Angel II games finally out on the PC?? It’s frustrating that the first 3 GA games came out on PC first but not the later games because Broccoli was facing financial difficulties.
Lolz ! one small step for him and one big step for animekind.
Hmm… I think we have to reserve our opinions of Aso in the meantime.
My Singaporean friend living in Japan now says that Aso hates China and he views pple living in South East Asia as Uneducated Barbarians. He even said that subcultures like Anime should be used to “colonize” SEA countries. Of course all these can’t be published on newspaper.
If my friend is not pulling my leg, then I think my opinion of Aso is greatly lowered.
Aso sounds like my type of man. :3
“My Singaporean friend living in Japan now says that Aso hates China and he views pple living in South East Asia as Uneducated Barbarians.”
Since he treat the Taiwanese like they are a free people rather than criminals to be enslaved, I personally don’t see that a problem. One man’s devil is another man’s saviour.
I generally avoid talking politics, but this is the first person I know who actually stands up for Taiwan’s rights. I have my priorities, and the fact that he is an anime fan is just a bonus.
Dude, the key word is SEA. Most of us here fall under that category. How would you feel if some guy perceives you as an uneducated barbarian. And who gives a fig about China and Taiwan?
Hmm… very interesting. I don’t know what to make of him. He makes racist statements yet he’s currently Japan’s foreign minister. How ironic that he doesn’t practice diplomacy very well.
Dunno. I’m having mixed reactions to him being the next PM. He seems to be, like his fellow party mate, Abe, a conservative. Although I’m quite amused at the reaction the world will make IF HE DID.
Awesome, finally this is the rise of otaku :)
I feel like the foresee of the guy in Comic Party is becoming true
In next 10 years, Japan will conquer the world through culture. =)) the big Manga Anime Conquest =))
Waiting to see that :)
Update: Apparently MSM reports that Rozen Aso doesnt stands a high chance of winning the post of PM.
Taro Aso the next Prime Minister of Japan (1)
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=3Amd7M1LJ0U
Taro Aso the next Prime Minister of Japan (2)
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=lDYzS6LVeSQ
Taro Aso lost the LDP votes.
But eh, did you really think that him being a borderline otaku would really help the otaku world domination movement?
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