Running for governor is no easy feat, especially for a city that never sleeps in Tokyo. However, if one must be a candidate, one must don the mask of a notorious anime vigilante in order to corral the people over to their side.
That’s certainly what Teruki Gotō did, in his run as a candidate for Tokyo’s most recent gubernational elections. Gotō, who also happens to be a musician, ran his campaign while dressed up as Lelouch vi Britannia/Zero from the iconic 2006 anime series Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.
The slogan on his campaign poster, which he showed off on his YouTube channel, reads: “I, Teriki Gotō, command that you vote for me.”
To provide you with a bit of context, Code Geass is an anime series featuring high school student Lelouch vi Britannia, an exiled prince from the tyrannical Holy Britannian Empire, who moonlights as the vigilante Zero, leader of the independent political group the Black Knights. He also possesses the unique power of Geas in his left eye, which he uses to control the minds of his targets. The phrase that Gotō used was adapted from the line the character in the show would use in his indoctrination process.
Unfortunately for Gotō, Sunrise, the studio that worked on Code Geass refuted his campaign in a statement on its website, stating that his work has “has no relationship” with the studio and its works whatsoever. Shortly after the statement, Gotō publicly apologised, saying: “I am sorry. I apologise for causing any trouble.”
This actually isn’t Gotō’s first political rodeo, having run independently nine times in total (and lost nine times in total) in the past. Prior to this stunt, he actually made another bold move in posing butt naked holding a katana for a poster in one of his earlier campaigns (via Sora News 24).
Despite the apology, we’re not sure if Gotō’s apology was even sincere, considering his track record for doing such risqué political activities. It won’t be all that surprising to see him campaigning once more in the future in some new ridiculous fashion.
Marion has a serious RPG addiction. Sometimes it bleeds into real life; he forgets to sleep because he thinks he has a Witcher’s body clock. Forgive him in advance if he suddenly blurts out terms such as “Mind Flayer” and “Magic Missile”, because never once does he stop thinking about his next Dungeons & Dragons game.
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