Article
Hello MFC...
So it's September now, which means it's Halloween season, the best time of year. And today I'll tell you the story of the mythical haunted, life-sized, Sunohara Ayaka figure.
This figure is 1/1 and was sold for 1,990,000 yen, or approximately 13,408 USD. It was limited to one and sold via lottery.
Now, you may have heard that it's haunted, may have seen tweets about it on Twitter or posts about it on Reddit or elsewhere. But I've never seen anyone go into detail, so I decided to do some thorough research and see what the real story behind the pictures was.
So the rumor goes that it was haunted, with the company having a Shinto priest exorcise it. You may have seen this photo floating around before.
This rumor was mostly spread by Merryweather, and I do have to wonder where they heard it. There are no details of what it does to be haunted. Typically, there would be more accounts. Does it move? Blink? Do people hear noises coming from it?
Accordingly, the photo is indeed a misunderstanding. Instead of exorcising it, the Shinto priest was blessing it to pray for the success of the anime. The photos were taken when the voice actors of the anime held a blessing ceremony in Tokyo, and they hoped that all members, including the audience of the anime, would be happy.
In this video, Lost Pause and Merryweather visit the figure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laBj0e_jyN8
He talks about his tweet:
"They had it actually blessed by like, a Shinto priest... yeah, there's a picture of it online. That's why my tweet got a lot of retweets."
One of the other men with him asked what happened to make people think it was haunted, to which Merryweather stated:
"Okay, so apparently, allegedly people said they heard like, screaming from inside of it... yeah, like something, like some dead bodies are hidden inside."
Which is stupid. But they're clearly joking with it.
If you ask me, it sounds like he made the account of what it actually does up off the top of his head. Not sure if he started the whole rumor or not, but at least that part makes me think so.
I would guess it started as some kind of joke on Japanese message boards ( source ), but with the picture out of context, it could easily be mistaken for an exorcism.
Here's another photo of the anime staff members outside the building. You can see the same outfits being worn by the women.
They're holding an ofuda, a Japanese talisman used to bring good luck and offer blessings such as prosperity and success.
So, myth busted.
If you know of other haunted anime figures, let me know, lol.
I myself have never had any sort of paranormal experience, so I kind of want to try buying one that's haunted...
...lol.
And thanks for reading! :D