Notable/Celebrity Deaths | Nobuyo Ōyama (90)

[Dragon Lord]

The nice thing about the Queen's death is that it's not really a sad death. She lived a very long, full life, so it's one of those situations where you can look back and admire what was, rather than ask, "What could have been?" Just think about all of the things she got to see and do in 96 whole years.

The thing about the situation that's truly sad is the people out there celebrating that she died. If the only joy in your life comes from someone else dying... you have to rethink some stuff.

[Frank]

The nice thing about the Queen's death is that it's not really a sad death. She lived a very long, full life, so it's one of those situations where you can look back and admire what was, rather than ask, "What could have been?" Just think about all of the things she got to see and do in 96 whole years.

The thing about the situation that's truly sad is the people out there celebrating that she died. If the only joy in your life comes from someone else dying... you have to rethink some stuff.

I agree with you on the first half for sure! I actually heard the news from another friend of mine in Europe. He obviously wasn't happy, but he wasn't really all that sad either. She was very old, ran the kingdom for such a long time. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it almost seemed Bittersweet. If I remember correctly, her health wasn't the best in later years. She's at peace now :-)

[Maniakkid25]

Honestly, if I had to guess, people are celebrating for one of two reasons:

1. She is the figurehead of a backwards ideology, despite the fact that she basically exercised no public will over the domestic direction of the UK (she famously kept her political opinions tight-lipped).

2. Her death probably means the monarchy will soon be abolished.

I wouldn't say the monarchy is a rickety bridge, but there wasn't much political will to abolish the monarchy specifically because the Queen was in power. She rather famously kept high approval ratings through most of her rule, probably because of the lack of exercising her political power outside of closed doors. With King Charles in power, I doubt it will be abolished before the next generation, but I do think the clock is now ticking on the British Monarchy.

[Moonface]

In regards to the celebratory comments being made around the internet over the Queen's death, I have to say that at first I was actually really shocked by the amount of it because I'd never heard about a lot of the negative things the monarchy has done during its existence, and felt rather put-off seeing people happy someone died. I can't say I still really agree with attacking a deceased person while their body is still warm despite the history, but having had a harsh wake-up call to what the monarchy as an institution has done I can understand the potent disdain for it.

Like @Maniakkid25 said, I doubt anything will change while Charles holds the reins, but I won't be surprised to see William make sweeping changes to it given he is considerably younger and has likely seen a lot of bullshit due to being Diana's kid, just as Harry has except he just washed his hands of the whole shit show, which is certainly a fine approach but I feel like at least one of them will have to be the one to take over if they want to change it, since if both walked away I'm sure some other muppet would just take the opportunity to grab the power and not rock the boat so they keep that power and wealth.

I will say that regardless of the Queen's character and heritage, I think the people who were lining up for three miles overnight in London to see her casket or whatever to pay respects is pretty ridiculous. I don't feel like anyone on the planet is worth waiting in that, no matter how good of a person they are.

[Mr EliteL]

And people are still in that queue or joined it like this morning/yesterday and still there. Screw doing that. Also shows how many people there are, the amount of people wanting to pay respects making such a huge queue, the people who've already done so, the people who couldn't careless, the people who are hating her/enjoying she's gone, and others who can't make it. You'd think after a number of days mostly everyone who has gone up there have been done and there's a few left, but nope. Bet there'll be some cut short because they need to start getting the coffin ready for Monday.

[ShiraNoMai]

I... I don't know. I'm trying to think of what I'd have done if I had been in South Korea during the time Jonghyun had passed away. It was a 3-day public funeral (I imagine in the style of a wake). I'd have loved to have gone to pay respects, despite not personally knowing him, but for the impact he's made on my life. I just... I can't see what the Queen here has quite possibly done on the lives of these people. I get the respect part but like... the dedication to doing just for that reason seems inane. Everyone grieves differently, of course, so I suppose what they're doing here isn't invalid. Just strange to me.

[Moonface]

@Mr EliteL: I heard the line got up to being a 14 hour wait at one point and that people started going to London just to see the queue (no intention of joining it, just wanting to see it), which to me is even more insane than being in the line for such long wait times in the first place.
I do wonder how it was managed as it drew closer to the time where the coffin couldn't be viewed anymore because of having to move on to the funeral itself. Makes me wonder if anyone was stationed along the line like you see with autograph lines, or if some poor bugger up front got the door shut in their face and then had to pass the message backwards through the line. XD

@ShiraNoMai: I know some people went to see the coffin to pay actual respects, such as a native leader from Canada I believe making the trip there to pay respects, where he said that despite disagreeing with things the monarchy has done which have at times negatively affected his tribe, he viewed it as respecting the leadership even if they didn't agree with everything done with it. Basically like respecting the leader of another tribe even though they're not going to do things the way you do. Then there was David Beckham who I learned today chose to join the public line instead of the one reserved for celebrities and leaders because his grandparents were royalists and would've joined the line, so apparently he went out of respect for them and is why he went in the public line too.
Of course, those cases are unique and also probably very rare compared to the number of regular people in the line who probably didn't have any connection to her beyond the fact they reside in the country where she was Queen.

I don't think the line itself was so crazy to me as just the length of time people were willing to wait in it. Also makes me wonder how different this whole thing would've gone had the Queen passed away in 2020 or early 2021 when Covid was still putting a lot of things in lockdown and such.

[ShiraNoMai]

I don't think the line itself was so crazy to me as just the length of time people were willing to wait in it. Also makes me wonder how different this whole thing would've gone had the Queen passed away in 2020 or early 2021 when Covid was still putting a lot of things in lockdown and such.

Yo wow, I hadn't actually thought about that. That would've been wild, honestly, and I imagine it'd cause SO much controversy.

[Mr EliteL]

Ugh, really, people went to LOOK at the line and only that? One of the biggest wasting of time I've ever heard.

Ahh yes when funerals were restricted to a certain number, although I think the limit was relaxed somewhat later compared to other events, but still, as big as the Queen's funeral it probably would need more than what Philip's was.

[ShiraNoMai]

Oh, right, was Phillip's one restricted?

[Mr EliteL]

Yeah, the funeral was limited to 30 guests, they had to wear masks and not sing, plus the main thing I remember is the Queen sat alone during the service. The rest attended doing outside stuff like walking behind the coffin or whatever. I didn't watch myself, so don't know all the details.

[Moonface]

I somewhat doubt a line would've formed for Philip had he passed outside of Covid lockdowns since I don't know any time that has happened for a royal family member, except maybe for Diana.

Question for the Americans; has a notable line ever formed for the viewing of a coffin of a former president who has passed away? Or has it always just been the expected crowd gatherings when the funeral procession passes through the streets?

[ShiraNoMai]

Nah. I don't think they've ever made those public, now that I think about it? They're usually private affairs. Also, no one cares that much about a president to do that to. Even Kennedy, a well-beloved president, didn't have a big to-do either. He did have temporary public grave, though, for people to visit and pay respects at for a few years, before being moved to a permanent grave (he was in ashes, fwiw).

[Moonface]

Yu-Gi-Oh creator Kazuki Takahashi has passed away at age 60 from what seem to be a diving accident.

I was a fan of the original anime and the card game it sad to see that this happened. He apparently was still involved with supervising the series.

It seems the cause of his death has officially been determined to be drowning. Shark bites were found on his body also, but they occurred after his death and thus did not contribute in any form to his cause of passing: Okinawa Times

Another update on this passing, an investigation has found that Kazuki Takahashi drowned due to saving someone else from a riptide current:

[ShiraNoMai]

What a Chad. All the respect for the man.