Denki Groove member and actor Pierre Taki (real name Masanori Taki) was arrested in March for alleged illegal possession and use of cocaine. Since then, his roles in Judgment and Kingdom Hearts III, among other titles, have been recast. His image has even been removed from a manhole in Fujieda City in Shizuoka Prefecture, indicating the extent to which the actor and performer is being erased from the Japanese entertainment industry.
However, the police are perturbed by Taki's rapid change of attitude within three weeks. On April 25, fellow Denki Groove member Takkyu Ishino posted a photo of him and Taki smiling together on Twitter, captioning it: "My first time seeing Taki in a month-and-a-half. We smiled until we were sweaty!"
The tweet has since gathered around 75,000 retweets and 358,000 likes.
The police are irritated by the number of likes this post accumulating, claiming that it's an indication of the public's flippant attitude towards Taki's crimes.
"The Narcotics Control Department of Japan's Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is concerned that by creating the impression that Taki can be accepted as if his crimes never happened, these actions will enable young people to engage in drug-related crime," a Narcotics Control Department insider told Tokyo-Sport.
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https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/in...nt-reaction-to-pierre-taki-drug-crime/.146946