Cannibalism in Rural Japan, Brought to You by Disney!


Last month, I went to the winter 2022 Virtual Market on VRChat. Virtual Market (VKet for short) is a series of events created by the Japanese company Hikky where groups of companies can advertise their products in VR. (I produced a few videos about a previous VKet event on my MindEyeMedia channel on YouTube, which you can see here, here and here.) VKet has frequently attracted Japanese companies that specialize in VR content such as avatars, environments and accessories; however, it appears to be attracting companies from around the world that specialize in non-VR products.

During this event, I saw a booth that advertised a TV show from Japan titled Gannibal. It doesn’t take much imagination to connect this title to the word “cannibal”, and the dark, horrific design of the booth encouraged such a connection. According to Hollywood Reporter, here’s the plot outline of this seven-episode series:

“Set in Kuge, a fictional Japanese village, Gannibal follows newly hired local police officer Daigo Agawa. … While things start off promisingly for the new arrival, a series of alarming events begin to unfold that will lead Daigo to the horrifying realization that something is deeply wrong with the village and those who live there. Thrown into a hostile environment with suspense around every corner, will the latest police officer to roam the streets of Kuge village be able to bring those responsible to justice before it’s too late?”
 
The Gannibal booth itself was an impressive VR experience. Participants climb into a bus that goes to a virtual recreation of Kuge, and this is followed by a series of virtual recreations of scenes from the TV series that had limited interactivity. What struck me the oddest was when I watched the trailer (see below) and the Disney+ logo popped up prominently at the end. It’s impossible to ignore. 


It turns out that Gannibal is being distributed by Disney+ International. Disney, as in Walt Disney. As in Mickey Mouse. As in family-friendly entertainment. Sure, Disney did not create or produce Gannibal, but it is distributing it and based on what I saw in the trailer, Disney clearly wants to you know that Disney+ is involved in this show. 

I realize that Disney has grown into a mega-media conglomerate over the last few decades and has inevitably diversified its content inventory to match its enormous size and expanded profit margins, but the feeling of disconnect between what it has been known for in the past versus what it is now is hard to avoid. For example, will we be seeing more domestic and international horror offerings from Disney? Will Disney be making horror content itself? Also, if Mickey Mouse eats Donald Duck and Goofy, would it count as cannibalism?

Who's hungry?


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