Edward Snowden has become the world¡¯s hot-button item since divulging that the U.S. National Security Agency has engaged in a massive spying effort targeting Americans and individuals overseas, touching off one of the country¡¯s most explosive intelligence scandals of recent years.
But in 2002 he was apparently just a teen who loved manga, anime and video game culture and worked for a now-defunct animation company based in the U.S., according to Snowden¡¯s profile page at the firm that could still be viewed on an Internet archive as of Saturday.
¡°I like Japanese, I like food, I like martial arts, I like ponies, I like guns, I like food, I like girls, I like my girlish figure that attracts girls, and I like my lamer friends,¡± Snowden wrote on his Ryuhana Press profile page, which bore a 2002 date. ¡°That¡¯s the best biography you¡¯ll get out of me, coppers!¡±
Snowden appeared to be a big fan of Japanese video games, including ¡°Tekken,¡± a popular martial arts role-playing game (RPG) originally developed by Namco Ltd. ¡°I always wanted to write RPG campaigns with my spare time,¡± Snowden wrote.
Reuters first reported on Snowden¡¯s profile page Wednesday. The page was reportedly deleted after the news agency made an inquiry, but it could still be viewed.?A line at the bottom of the page reads: ¡°All contents ? Ryuhana Press, 2000-2002.¡±
Snowden was still a teenager in 2002, but the profile put his age at 37.
The page carried an anime-like illustrated portrait of Snowden, who is seen wearing thin rectangular glasses ¡ª just as he appeared in recent media interviews that shook the world¡¯s intelligence community to its core.
Snowden¡¯s job title is listed on the page as ¡°Editor/ Coffee Boy.¡±
Ryuhana Press ¡°was created for the purpose of showcasing new talent in the rapidly expanding world of anime-style art¡± but was shut down in February 2004, one of the firm¡¯s websites states.
¡°However, this is not the end,¡± the website says. ¡°The entire point of this website was to help educate new manga artists about the inside workings of the industry, and to give our artists a hands-on lesson about the tough world of publishing.¡±
According to Reuters, the defunct company listed an address next door to the NSA in Fort Meade, Maryland.
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