A six-year-old girl in Osaka plunged to her death from her family penthouse in a 43-floor condominium on Sunday after watching an anime DVD that told the story of children who could fly.
The girl was watching the film with her family on Sunday afternoon, when her father noticed she had gone missing.
The family found the girl standing on top of a one metre-high fence on her balcony, having climbed through a window in her bedroom. She then appears to have slipped, and was later confirmed dead from the force of the trauma at the hospital.
According to police, the girl probably used a chair to climb onto the balcony fence before she fell to her death. “We do not suspect any foul play at this time,” said a police official in Abeno, the Osaka ward where the girl lived.
“We received a call on Sunday afternoon from a man who witnessed the girl’s fall,” the official said.
“It may seem strange that it was not the family who called, but somebody on the ground witnessed the tragedy, and as soon as he saw it, he immediately called authorities.”
Police requested the girl remain unnamed to protect the family and also declined to reveal the title of the anime she was watching, citing worries of copycat incidents.
“We don’t want to name the anime she was watching because it could lead to people saying ‘this is what happens when you watch this movie,’ and cause further problems,” the official said.
The girl had started primary school on the Friday before her death. Her parents told police their daughter was looking forward to her new life at the school. She is survived by a younger brother and a younger sister.