While the e-sports aspect of fighting games struggle to establish its standpoint in the eyes of Japanese society, another blow came today as one of the legendary players made himself news.
According to media reports, Kenji Kuroda (age 32, unemployed) was arrested for indecent assault on a female highschool student from Saitama prefecture after calling her into his apartment room in Adachi Tokyo in February.
Kuroda and the victim were acquainted through Twitter and met for the first time on the day of the assult. The incident was reported to police by the victim's mother.
Kuroda has admitted to charges and police are investigating further for possible previous offenses. While Kuroda lives with his mother, she was not around at the time of the incident.
In the fighting game circuit, Kuroda is known as a legendary Street Fighter: 3rd Strike player for his high-level Q. He has appeared numerous times on BeasTV hosted by top Street Fighter professionalist Daigo Umehara, who also lives in Adachi ward.
Outside of his arcade activities, Kuroda had a column on Playboy Magazine's website which ran until early 2016. The column covered his struggles with mental illness and having a mother with a gambling disorder.
Kuroda was also slated to star in an independent film "9road" which has a pilot trailer on Youtube and has been searching for sponsors. The team behind the project has apologized for confusions surrounding today's incident but has not yet announced whether filming will continue. The story is set in Japan and revolves around a surviving victim of a steel mill explosion which may have been caused by a mysterious man in a trench coat wearing an iron mask. The film's title "9" can be read as "Q" in Japanese.
Reflex Tester
