The panic against otaku had existed in Japan since the arrest of Tsutomu Miyazaki in Tokyo in 1989, and was heightened by the arrest of Kaoru Kobayashi in Osaka a year earlier. Similar to Torres, both Miyazaki and Kobayashi had raped and murdered young girls around Kinoshita's age and were well-publicized as otaku, although there was little evidence of them being otaku.
The fear of otaku had existed in Japan since Tsutomu Miyazaki's arrest in Tokyo in 1989, and was intensified by Kaoru Kobayashi's arrest in Osaka a year earlier. Similar to Torres, both Miyazaki and Kobayashi had sexually assaulted and murdered young girls around Kinoshita's age and were widely known as otaku, though there was little evidence linking them to the otaku stereotype.