The Cannibal That Walked Free

Posted in: Psychology, Society

Rate This Documentary:

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 8.7/10 (24 votes cast)

You must be a registered member to use this feature. If you dont have an account you can quickly sign up for one here.

Processing your request, Please wait....

This documentary examines the remarkable case of Issei Sagawa –the self-confessed ‘godfather of cannibals’ who walked free from prison and became a minor celebrity, despite having killed and eaten a young woman in the early 1980s.

Related Documentaries

52 Responses to This Documentary, Leave Your's?

    • MATMAR said on

      SERIOUSLY, FEED HIM TO A BUNCH OF STARVING HOGS…ALIVE THOUGH. WHATS REALLY UPSETTING IS HOW HE MADE A CAREER OUT OF IT AND HOW HE OPENLY SAYS HE’S NOT CURED!

      Reply
    • wet willy said on

      @disgust totally agree with you! japan is a fluckep country filled with even more flucked up people.. they are probably the sickest society in the world!.

      Reply
      • fuckgreece said on

        America is so much better right. This is nothing compared to the sick shit that goes on in AmeriCUNT. whos the country with the highest number of child molesters, and sick fucking twisted motherfuckers. Who that guy in PA who went around took young boys and hacked them to pieces in the early 1900s they made a move about it. And you talk about japan

        Reply
    • A bit miffed. said on

      @96105d063c334b296598b21cb23d8504:disqus  @342438f333acb21438f101547d4388c1:disqus These comments are incredibly closed minded and ignorant of you both. You can’t judge a country on one person, especially a person as psychologically disturbed as this man. Japan is an impressive and traditional country. Don’t demean countries you obviously know nothing about and work on improving the country you live in yourself.

      Reply
    • itsonlylogical said on

      Your disgust is understandable. Japan is, in fact, the only country to have ever produced a deranged killer. Cannibalism is an act exclusive to Japanese nationals. Japan is also the only country where a person guilty of a horrible crime has been released because of legal loopholes and/or problems with international justice systems.

      Japan is also very sorry you decline to visit. You look delicious.

      Reply
      • guest said on

        of course he’s kidding. no need to get all panties in a bunch over it 

        Reply
        • Jackmeoff said on

          You and J-Pizzel need to understand that humor is best saved for things that are not so hurtful to others, such as rape, murder, and….cannibalism. How about having your “panties in a bunch” stuffed in your mouths as someone like him devours your flesh after he post mortemly violates your A-HOLES!! You fuc*ing children with no sense of empathy that you both should reconsider your mere existence within the rest of humanity.

          Reply
          • Jackmeoff said on

            Edit…..”You and J-Pizzel need to understand that humor is best saved for things
            that are not so hurtful to others.” Ridiculing atrocities such as rape, murder,
            and….cannibalism is simply wrong and ignorant. How about……………(the rest is above).

    • fuckgreece said on

      I hope youre not serious because if you are you really have some fucked up issues there mate!

      Reply
  1. Tad Nathaniel said on

    Watching this video had an impact on me far greater than when I first heard the news. Years ago, I was working in Japan as an English teacher, and it was there that I first heard of this psychopath and the crime that he had just committed. It was all over the news.

    I didn’t pay much attention to it back then, but now that I know what really happened, it fills me with rage. If anyone deserves to be put to death (preferably in a slow and painful manner), it has to be this guy, even though I am not an outright supporter of the death penalty.

    Having said that, I am torn by some of the responses posted here that Japan is a sick country and that the people are perverted. Don’t get me wrong. I am no less disgusted than anyone who watched this documentary, but to indict a whole nation of people by the action of one freak is a slippery slope and a dangerous one to go down.

    During the 3 years I worked in Osaka (the second largest city in Japan), I naturally had to interact with the local people, and even got close to many of my students. In all fairness, I have to say that they were, for the most part, honest, hard-working, decent people who only wanted to make the most of life for themselves and their children.

    Just as we cannot judge Christians by the acts of Timothy McVeigh, what Hitler did to the Jews cannot define who the German people are.

    When civilizations hold a grudge for thousands of years in the name of Allah or in the name of Jesus, it was only half a century ago that my country dropped 2 A-bombs, deservedly or not, on the citizens of Japan. But not once did anyone there make me feel unwelcome or uncomfortable for being an American.

    On the contrary, they embraced me right from the start, and showed me every bit of respect and kindness that any human being deserves and appreciates. All too often they were willing to go out of their way to help me, a foreigner lost in a foreign land.

    And so I refuse to let this cannibal interfere with the fond memories I have of Japan. Looking back, I still remember the friendly faces that I shared a part of my life with. I still treasure those years.

    Believe me, those people are not guilty.

    Reply
    • Jackmeoff said on

      Yes….you have made some righteous claims, and I agree with you. However, do not forget that people are influenced by their culture. Americans, which I am, have the same problem with their despicable gun culture. I think that such responses posted here are irrationally made in hatred and without consideration of the whole, let’s call it human error. It is great of you to point out your personal experiences that defends the rest of Japan. That IS important. Callous remarks are simply that, and should not be tolerated.

      Reply
  2. Cam said on

    Wow, just when I though I was all tapped out, I managed to lose even more respect for the French government. Saying that letting a psychopath walk free is the difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is the most imbecilic statement I have ever heard! The difference between the two is that one allows the election of it’s leaders, and the other does not. His claim is absolutely irrelevant. Issei Sagawa is a danger to society, he has proven it twice. I feel truly sorry for the family of Renée Hartevelt.

    Reply
    • Jackmeoff said on

      You, my friend, ARE absolutely correct….and I feel the same about the French laws concerning such crimes after this.

      Reply
  3. Gabriellagorey said on

    Wow, I love how they try and rationalize what he has done. This makes me so angry and sickened. There is this cocky look on his face that I would love to slap off. This poor woman try to give this poor pathetic excuse of a man a chance of friendship and this is what she gets. Not to mention her poor family. If I were one of her relatives I honestly would have hunted him down. Ugh!

    Reply
  4. Gabriellagorey said on

    Wow, I love how they try and rationalize what he has done. This makes me so angry and sickened. There is this cocky look on his face that I would love to slap off. This poor woman try to give this poor pathetic excuse of a man a chance of friendship and this is what she gets. Not to mention her poor family. If I were one of her relatives I honestly would have hunted him down. Ugh!

    Reply
    • Jackmeoff said on

      Dude, compartmentalizing people into an ‘us vs them’ is stuff for monkeys in the jungle. What about Americans and their atrocities against each other, and against smaller countries (Vietnam for one) that have been made, and are continuing till this day? Not to mention the other countless nation states that are guilty of such heinous crimes against humanity. To think that a whole country is barbaric because of one man is…..well,…..barbaric.

      Reply
  5. In 1996 a french woman named Sophie toscan du plantier was murdered in Ireland to this day the french government are trying to get a suspect extradited to france to face trial, the same government that let this piece of shit walk free, it stinks to the high heavens fuck France and fuck this twisted sadist. he talks like he’s giving a lecture on it, the dutch should have after this guy.

    Reply
  6. Weed said on

    I ADMIRE HIM ! Now that I have your attention – I hate him, Japan and French… Japan should be bombed again. And once more…  

    Reply
  7. Weed said on

    I ADMIRE HIM ! Now that I have your attention – I hate him, Japan and French… Japan should be bombed again. And once more…  

    Reply
  8. DBIGGUS said on

    I think what’s missed is the over all acceptance by Japanese culture of the brutalization of a westerner. They applauded his actions. Don’t suppose that the killing of HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of CIVILIANS during WWII or the wrongful detention of thousands of Japanese Americans has anything to do with this huh? Hate breeds hate. Living in the West I can say that MOST westerners are ARROGANT. They built this GREAT COUNTRY on the blood of native Americans and Africans. We still live off the blood of the rest of the world without care. It’s no wonder that Japanese authorities were nonchalant about a western girl being brutalized. We didn’t care when we burned alive thousands. Lets not forget that the French let him go.

    Reply
  9. rozza2012 said on

    I have to go down stairs now to my local bar here in Tokyo to clear my head with my Japanese friends.

    Reply
  10. paquito said on

    omg what a fucker he is really fucked up big time and by the way dont like fucking japanese people..

    Reply
  11. srbvs said on

    He’s loony as all hell. But I find him so interesting. I don’t blame the japanese public for buying all his books, turning him into a pseudo-celebrity. I mean, we’re all here because we wanted to know more about him, and how his fucked up brain works.

    Reply
  12. Pissed said on

    What really makes me angry is not only the fact that he killed a poor sweet innocent lady Renée Hartevelt who showed him kindness, but to add fuel to fire what is really really sickening is that he got famous for his actions in Japan, and he was celebrated and was given talk shows and media exposure, and he became a porn star. And moreover, other women befriended him because of his actions.

    This makes me think that this is a sick world and humans are sick sick sick beings capable of taking pleasure in sick things like rape, murder, cannibalism etc. :(

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Re-claim Comments: As you can see, DocumentaryHeaven has had a complete redesign and now allows for user registration. If you frequently made comments don't worry you can easily re-claim these. Simply sign up for an account using your usual email address and then contact me via the contact page or private message me Danny (@danny) letting me know the e-mail address you used for your old comments. We will then assign all your previous comments to your new account :)
IMPORTANT: To use the @mention system, manually type out a members @username. Do not type out their display name. Members usernames can be found above the comment.
  • (will not be published)