X/@Raindropsmedia1
The anime neighborhood is mourning the sudden demise of Ashley, a superb cosplayer who was referred to as Squid Child 1111 within the digital world. Squid Child 1111 is believed to have ended her life after enduring unceasing racial harassment. The information of Squid Child 1111’s loss of life has been verified by her household, they usually have said that their daughter was at all times subjected to hate whatever the reputation of her charming, inventive renditions within the ‘One Piece’ and ‘My Hero Academia’ collection. The unlucky incident has introduced up the difficulty that main platforms like Crunchyroll should not flip a blind eye to on-line hatred and must also take measures to guard the artists.
Commercial
Rain Drops Media characterised the unhappy occasion in a video tribute that mixed the artwork of Ashley with the darkish facet of the web that she was at all times going through. The video was composed of her trendy and delightful interpretations of the turning-point characters—Nami from ‘One Piece,’ and Ochaco from ‘My Hero Academia,’ and Energy from ‘Chainsaw Man’—taking the bottom that her work was ‘superb’ and needing to be celebrated not calumniated. The artist had even asserted that ‘followers ought to be capable of cosplay any character that they like’ with out worry, but on the identical time he was admitting that there was a poisonous undercurrent within the fandom. The main anime platform, ‘Crunchyroll,’ was not directly engaged within the concern by making an announcement and utilizing its affect to ‘convey consciousness to the scenario in order that one thing like this by no means occurs once more.’
The general public response was complicated within the sense that it contained a mix of unhappiness, anger, and unluckily, extra insensitivity. Many individuals posted their compassionate responses and confirmed their assist. One consumer expressed, ‘I hate that that is the primary I’m listening to of her. She appears actually cool,’ which is a comment revealing the very unhealthy luck of the artist that she will get acknowledged solely after loss of life, that others may additionally be the identical case. One other remark was like a melancholic reflexion: ‘Cyberbullying isn’t any joke… you actually by no means know who’s delicate… and when that particular person takes their very own life… their blood is in your palms.’ This quote illustrates the long-lasting results of the net abuse.
Nonetheless, the matter was extremely controversial. The feedback had been pretty divided, and a superb a part of the feedback confirmed their lack of empathy and even backed Ashley’s conduct. One consumer unemotionally replied: ‘In the event you can’t deal with imply phrases keep off the web. Easy.’ One other remark was as brutal because it was: ‘took her life as a result of she POSTED ONLINE FOR EVERYBODY TO SEE AND COMMENT. WEAK SAD POS LOSER.’ These reactions are fairly revealing as they show the pervasive indifference that has aggravated the issue.
Anime cosplayer allegedly took her personal life after going through racially motivated harassment on-line. 💔🙏🏽🕊️
pic.twitter.com/Z12oRGvS66— Rain Drops Media (@Raindropsmedia1) November 21, 2025
There have been additionally those that tried to make sense of the tragedy by calling into query Ashley’s energy. ‘Pay attention, I really feel unhealthy for her however killing your self over white opinions is so weak,’ one consumer wrote, fully disregarding the truth that such racial hatred can produce an enormous psychological influence, cumulatively. Others instructed overly simplistic options, like ‘She may’ve restricted the feedback or stop individuals from commenting,’ ignoring the fact that no artist needs to be barrier-guarded simply to securely exhibit their work.
In the course of all this noise, one consumer posted a nuanced strategy, who as a substitute of the harassers, condemned the sufferer: ‘Unpopular opinion however that’s some weak ass shit..who provides a f what a troglodyte thinks?? Like a racist is likely one of the weakest, lowest types of human beings ever created. Their opinions needs to be as annoying as seeing dust underneath your fingernails.’ This argument could be very a lot to the purpose—hate is the issue, and grievances are within the perpetrators of hate, not the victims.
Dialogue even went darker with the introduction of overtly racist feedback, one among which referred to Black people as ‘subhuman animals,’ which demonstrated that the acute bias Ashley suffered from continues to be very a lot current and lively on-line. It’s a painful reminder of the setting she was consistently struggling towards.
The individuals’s attitudes had been additionally very numerous. One particular person was uncertain concerning the authenticity of the information and inquired, ‘I heard this cosplayer was faking her loss of life from a number of sources.’ This means that misinformation can typically add to the tragedy by making it much more difficult.
Commercial
The passing of Ashley, a woman wanting to precise her love for anime by way of cosplay, opened up an uncomfortable but unavoidable dialogue. It challenges the anime neighborhood and the businesses that revenue from it to simply accept the tragic overlap between racism and fandom. Whereas Ashley’s household and supporters are asking for reforms that may stop such incidents sooner or later, the combination and sometimes extreme reactions that adopted her loss of life have emphasised the urgency of a cultural change that’s nonetheless nice and wanted. What’s left of her inventive legacy, other than being a expertise appreciated by lots of people, can be
