 Left: Detail of class photo of the girl believed to be responsible for the killing of Satomi Mitarai. Right: One of the many fan made caricatures of her. Nevada-Tan is an Internet meme character that began appearing in the wake of a Japanese news story.
An 11-year-old schoolgirl was charged with murdering her classmate Satomi Mitarai by slitting her throat with a box cutter, evidently over an insult about the girl's weight posted on an online forum. Since she is a minor, her name has not been released to the public, but in several class photos taken before the murder, she is believed to be a girl wearing a pullover hooded sweatshirt with the word "NEVADA" emblazoned across the chest. As of the present day, this is the only identification the public at large has for her.
For unclear reasons at this time, the 2ch web community fixated on this story and "adopted" the girl, turning her into a cute "chibified" character dubbed "Nevada-Tan" (after the sweatshirt the real girl was wearing). Inevitably, this spilled over into 4chan and introduced Nevada to the United States.
The Nevada-Tan character is often depicted with short brown hair, the trademark pullover, and a crazed, murderous smile. She is almost never seen without a box cutter or other sharp implement nearby. A common representation of Nevada-Tan is as ASCII art, similar to Giko, Mona, and other such characters. She can often be seen "slashing" idiot posters on the 2ch and 4chan boards, or at least ASCII representations thereof.
At this time, it does not appear as though the existence of Nevada-Tan is intended to condone or lend support to the real girl's actions; it is simply another meme, albeit one with a basis in real life.
The Japanese court has ruled to institutionalize Nevada-tan, putting aside her young age due to the severity of the crime.
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