Harassment is something that is not very new in the anime community. Whether it’s a writer being harassed for his creation or something else, we all have seen our fair share of such events. But what recently happened might affect the image of Anime itself and might not be a good sign in the eyes of people who witness it. Harassment has reached a new level as people now use Anime as a symbol to threaten others, which has become quite problematic, even on a country level.
Ukrainian authorities have recently filed a report for Redan PMC, an anti-Ukraine gang of minors, that are troubling people and use Anime as a reference for their portrayal.
Before we dive any deep into the issue, let’s first learn about the main problem at hand:
Who is Redan PMC?
Redan PMC is a group of Russian nationals who started as a little group of bikers from Moscow who fought fan groups of different football clubs. The name of this group emerged from the “Phantom Troupe” (Gen’ei Ryodan) of the anime series Hunter x Hunter. The wardrobe of this group is also linked to the same anime series, as they all wear hoodies with a spider that spells “4“.
People who have watched Hunter x Hunter know that the Phantom Troup members have spider tattoos on their bodies with different numbers, and the number “4” symbol is the number Hisoka wore, an evil character who joined the Phantom Troupe to fight the leader of the group.
Redan PMC was in an expansion phase as their founders, a 15-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, had Telegram channels from where they invited people to join them and do such raci*t acts. According to the leader of Redan PMC, they have almost 2500 members at the moment.
The Acts of Redan PMC
The first time this group was reported officially was when the State News of Russia reported that 350 members of Redan PMC were taken into custody in Moscow. The shocking thing is that 319 of these 350 people were minors, and weapons (knives and cartridges) were found on all of them. It is pretty sad to know that the Russian officials admitted to this group being a real thing.
Dmitry Peskov, a Russian Journalist, stated a few days ago regarding this group of racists:
It is important to stop the illegal actions of this group. And, of course, it is rather, let’s say, a pseudo-subculture that goes with a minus sign and which does nothing good for our youth
Dmitry Peskov on Redan PMC
So, to any average person, it would be shocking how the state is admitting to the existence of such a stupid group of minors and then saying that they need to be stopped!
Their Mayhem in Ukraine
What made Redan PMC prominent to the whole world was when they started to invade Kharkiv, a city in Ukraine and started to harass the city’s people on the streets. According to the Ukraine Police, 245 members of this group, alongside their leader, were present in this act, and 215 people out of these were minors.
The Police Chief of this city, Volodymyr Tymoshko, reported this to the Russian Security Services-FSB. He quoted:
We gathered all these people through manipulation and deception, and they should have started a fight so the Russian TV could use it. Gas canisters, knives, and brass knuckles were found in possession of many (participants)
Volodymyr Tymoshko to the FSB on the invasion of Redan PMC in Kharkiv
Fortunately, the police had also taken into custody the young leader of this group. When he was interviewed, he said that he only created this group to make money by gaining popularity, which it has already. He also added that he came from Russia and only wanted to cause mayhem, so the police should stop looking for the other members of this group.
Vasyl Bohdan, the head person of the Juvenile Prevention Department of Ukraine, tried his best in this regard, too, as he summoned almost 700 possible suspects to his office for investigation and also told his forces to tell parents to keep an eye on their children, as we don’t know who they are becoming friends with.
Where does Anime stand in all this?
The biggest shock in our eyes in all this racial conflict is that the image of Anime is not being represented correctly. Hunter x Hunter has nothing to do with this or any other anime. Many manga authors have shown their support for Ukraine through illustrations. But, the image of otaku culture that Redan PMC is showing to the world, just for fame and money, is wrong.
The leader of Redan PMC and some of his group members are under arrest and being interrogated. We here at Anime Senpai hope that this mischief will end here, once and for all, and hope that the image of Anime might not get mistaken by the people of the world who are witnessing Redan PMC.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think people should be allowed to use Anime to represent violence? Let us know in the comments down below. We here at Anime Senpai would love to know what you think.
Source: CNN News
