Hidekazu Tanaka, the 35-year-old composer famous for his works related to anime and games, was arrested and charged with attempted forcible indecency on Oct. 24.
The NHK and Anime News Network reported that police arrested Tanaka on Monday. The authorities charged him with attempted forcible indecency — a Japanese legal term that includes sexual assault. According to the NHK, Tanaka allegedly pulled on a teenage girl’s hand while uttering obscenities at her at a bicycle parking area near a train station in Tokyo’s Meguro ward back in August. The girl reported the incident to the nearby police box, and the Metropolitan Police Department opened an investigation. During the investigation, police found footage from the station’s security camera showing Tanaka following the girl.
Tanaka has had an illustrious career as a composer, most of it spent at MONACA. During his tenure with the music production company, he served as a composer for anime, including Aikatsu!, The Idolmaster Movie: Kagayaki no Mukōgawa e!, The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria, Mr. Tonegawa and Idoly Pride. Tanaka left MONACA in the summer of 2021 after his contract expired. MONACA announced that the composer was parting ways with their production company and thanked him for his contribution as a member of its music collective before wishing him well on his new journey.
Despite his long career, Tanaka is best known for composing the opening song “Star!!” for The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls. He also contributed to the anime’s soundtrack and arranged many songs that are part of the larger Idolmaster Cinderella Girls franchise. His most recent professional credit is serving as a composer for the second and fourth versions of Pokémon Journeys: The Series anime’s opening songs. He also composed the opening song for Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out!’s Season 2, in addition to the ending theme “Calendar Girl” for Aikatsu!’s anime.
Appalled Fans Are Flocking to Twitter to Deride Tanaka
Tanaka’s last post on social media was on Oct. 22, in which he posted four photos from the Yokohama Bay Hall club accompanied by three praying hand emojis. Recent replies to his Tweet include one that reminds him to add liking teenage girls under his profile and another that snarkily captions the pictures “Last Supper.” One Twitter user called him out directly, replying, “Why you wanna have s*x with underaged girls man.”
At this time, the Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the details of the situation.
Source: NHK, via Anime News Network
