The Seimori Grand Temple is located in Kinmyou, two locations featured in Chuhou Joutai 2: Paraided!. But did you know the temple was attacked on October 24, 1998, as mentioned by the bhikku in the sixth stage prebattle cutscene? Well, I’ll dive into the background of what happened in that attack.
The Assailant
Meet Shosuke Arata – a Crimsonite who was 26 years old at the time of the attack; born on March 4, 1972 in Kinmyou to a family associated with the Yakuza. He dropped out of high school to become a trucker. His obsession with SPASDOT began at a young age at just seven years old during the Soviet-Kozan conflict.
Arata registered his account on LifeConnect in January of 1998. He described his account by saying that youkai-borns were the children of Flandre – SPASDOT’s deity. He was active in posting offensive remarks about the Ochiai Clan and even criticized King Soujirou for being surrounded and controlled by youkai-borns. Some of his favorite weapons included the DM-15 semi-automatic blaster and DM-09 handblaster.
The Attack
Kinmyou’s Risuoka ward is home to a thriving youkai-born community. On October 24, 1998, the Seimori Grand Temple fell victim to a murderous assault by SPASDOT Crimsonite Shosuke Arata. He claimed the lives of eleven, being the deadliest attack on youkai-borns since the Kozan-Soviet conflict. King Soujirou, following the attack, said in a statement that “it’s difficult enough for youkai-borns in the Kozanese Royal Defense Force to die in battle, but to see them die outside the battlefield, it is heartbreaking.” Neighbors dropped by the temple to leave flowers and words of condolence behind to show proof that a hate crime had touched them and even set up a vigil at the University of Kinmyou.
The bullet hell began just before 10:00 AM during Saturday morning services. Three different congregations were praying in separate rooms. Arata armed himself with his DM-15 and three handblasters. He began unleashing danmaku in the lobby and then went downstairs where one of the congregations was praying. He then went back upstairs and into the main sanctuary and continued attacking. Kozanese Royal Defense Force soldiers arrived and engaged Arata in a big duel, chanting “I just want to kill fushinja!” Fushinja is the Japanese word for non-believers, often used by SPASDOT toward youkai-borns.
He stayed in the temple and continued attacking. This included hitting two soldiers and then barricading himself in a third-floor classroom. The whole battle lasted an hour – right when soldiers broke inside the classroom, Arata hurled more danmaku at them, hitting two more soldiers. Ten minutes later, Arata was hit by one soldier’s danmaku, causing him to collapse and being forced to surrender. He was arrested shortly thereafter, charged with using a firearm to commit murder, providing material support for terrorism, and obstruction of religious exercise resulting in death. Even when in custody, he continued spewing anti-youkai rhetoric.
Aftermath
SPASDOT praised Arata’s actions, with Frederic Sam Fawkes saying “Shosuke Arata is a hero. This blessed battle against the youkai-borns in Kinmyou was vengeance against our group during the Kozan-Soviet war.” His LifeConnect account was immediately suspended following the attack, for which he incited violence just twenty minutes prior to the attack by saying “King Soujirou and his youkai friends are trying to slay my friends at SPASDOT. I can’t sit back and watch them get slaughtered. Screw the law, I’m going in.” Arata was found guilty on those charges and was ultimately sentenced to death.
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