A keychain featuring K-ON! characters Azusa Nakano and Mio Akiyama placed with the flowers at a makeshift memorial near the Kyoto Animation building engulfed in fire on July 18, 2019. (Photo by Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)

Exactly a week ago, fire and smoke had engulfed the first studio of Kyoto Animation, which took the lives of 34 talented people and seriously injuring 34 more. The fire turned out to be intentional.

As news broke of the deadly arson attack on Thursday, messages of sorrow and support to the beloved anime studio has flooded on social media, particularly from Japanese anime companies, personalities and even fans around the world.

In the hours following the incident, #PrayforKyoAni and other related terms topped Twitter’s trending topics charts worldwide, as well as in the Philippines.

 

North American anime distributor Sentai Filmworks was one of the first animation companies that reacted to the incident, and launched a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign which managed to raise more than USD1 million in 24 hours.

Sentai Filmworks has distributed several Kyoto Animation titles in North America, including Clannad, Beyond the Boundary and K-ON! among others.

As of press time, donations for the crowdfunding campaign has now passed over USD2 million.

 

Several anime companies around the world, including Funimation and Eleven Arts had also shown their supports to KyoAni.

Sunrise, the animation studio that produced the Gundam and Love Live! School idol project franchises, had released a statement hours after the incident:

“For all of those who died in the fire at Kyoto Animation, we wish that you go in peace and we want to issue are sincere condolences to those who are grieving. Also, we are sincerely praying for the quick recovery of everyone who was injured. We will support all of your efforts as a fellow animation production company”

 

 

Entertainment industry colleagues, including outside the anime scene, had also shown their support to the popular anime studio.

 

 

WarnerMedia’s Toonami block, which can be seen on Cartoon Network in the United States, has also shown a bumper before the start of its programming block on Saturday local time, asking its viewers to donate to Sentai Filmwork’s crowdfunding campaign. (Video uploaded by CabooseJr on YouTube)

 

 

Personalities, world leaders and their representatives had also expressed for their support for the animation studio, including Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook.

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres, through his deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq, expressed his deep sadness on the loss of life in the arson attack:

“The Secretary-General is deeply saddened by the loss of life caused by the arson attack and fire in Kyoto, Japan. He extends his condolences to the families of the victims and to the people and the Government of Japan. He wishes those injured a swift recovery.

In this tragic moment, the United Nations stands in full solidarity with the Government and people of Japan.”

 

Among the over 64,000 contributors in Sentai Filmwork’s crowdfunding campaign is the software technology giant Adobe Inc., which anonymously donate USD50,000 (about PHP2.6 million).

A spokesperson of the software giant told ITMedia News, “Kyoto Animation is one of the centers of not only Japan but also the world’s creative community.”

CNet Japan also reports that Adobe Chairman and CEO Santanu Narayen and Head of Japan and Asia-Pacific operations James McCready offered their condolences to the company during their “Adobe Symposium 2019” event in Tokyo last Wednesday.

 

Junichi Sato, leader of the Japanese pop band fhána, has said that the reason why he formed the band was because he was impressed by the Haruhi Suzumiya series, as well as the anime adaptation of Clannad. He adds, “The reason why fhána exist is because of Kyoto Animation.”

The band sung the popular opening theme song of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, “Blue Sky Rhapsody”.

TATSUKI, director of Kemono Friends and Kemurikusa, asks about the amount of effort brought by the studio’s staffs to all of their work, as well as the enriching the lives many people and bringing everyone happiness, and asking “Why did these people had to have such a painful and heart-breaking end?”

 

Aki Toyosaki, the voice of lead character “Yui Hirasawa” in the popular slice-of-life anime K-ON!, was hosting her radio show when the fire broke out.

“[K-ON!] is an anime that is stuffed full of love and warmth,” an emotional Toyosaki said. “I think it’s because of the passion and effort of the heartwarming staff who created it!”

She also said that she’s thankful for giving her a chance to voice the lead character, as it opened the door to her career, and hopes for compassion and symphathy in light of the tragedy.

 

Aya Hirano, Minori Chihara and Yuko Goto, three of the lead voice cast of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, had wrote emotional messages about the incident on their respective blogs.

Hirano, who voiced “Haruhi Suzumiya”, wrote “Kyoto Animation produced The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Lucky Star, two very formative works to me. I would not be who I am if they never existed. Kyoto Animation’s works overflowed with love.”

“What’s most important right now is to think of those who have been affected by the tragedy. There isn’t much that we can do right now, but I want to keep my composure and approach things in a clear-headed way. All I can do is pray for the affected with all my heart,” Hirano added.

Chihara, who voiced “Yuki Nagato”, wrote “I’ve been involved in many works that Kyoto Animation has poured love into, from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya to Violet Evergarden. Every single one of those works has made me grow as a voice actor and singer.”

“I pray that such awful, illogical things that hurt people and takes lives will one day be gone from this world,” Chihara adds.

Goto, who voiced “Mikuru Asahina”, wrote “The people at Kyoto Animation have talked with me and supported me a lot. I know their names and faces. Even now, I’m scared to watch the news, because what if one of those names I know ends up being announced?”

“Just thinking about the families of the victims and those left alive makes me angry about the incident. What good will a frivolous comment do to those in the middle of it all? This post is just my selfish desire to sort out my feelings,” Goto added.

 

 

Kyoto Animation’s first studio building, located in Uji City in Kyoto Prefecture, was engulfed in flames on Thursday, July 18, at 10:30am local time (09:30am PHT) which taken the lives of 34 people and severely injured 34 more. Local police said that there are about 74 people inside the building when the fire started.

A 41-year-old man has been apprehended by the police and identified by witnesses as the suspect, who threw gasoline inside the building and shouted “Die!” before setting the building on fire.

The authorities say that the suspect claims his worked is being “plagarized” by the animation studio, but they did not find a connection between the supect and the company.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported that, according to investigative sources, the suspect was previously arrested in 2012 for armed robbery at a convenience store and he was sentenced to three years and six months in jail.

The suspect was not formally arrested as of press time because he was being treated in a hospital for serious burn injuries, but the authorities are saying that he had admitted to the crime.

 

Additional Information from Anime News Network

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