Sad to hear about Kyoto animation

[mariusthered]

I was very sad to hear today about the deaths of animators at Kyoto animation studios in Japan. I don't know the full details of the story but sadly some guy set fire to the building and so far 30 people are dead. It is so sad that we live in such violent times that harmless animators who gave us shows like K-on are killed this way.

I know we don't normal post threads like this but I thought as this is about fellow artists it would be right to give respect.

[insomniascrawl]

It really is tragic that something like this can happen to people who worked hard to bring others joy... My heart truly goes out to everyone affected by the tragedy, and I'm glad they found the man who did it.

[GesuGesu]

I've been keeping up with the news since around 1am last night, where no one was confirmed dead yet, and then checked again this morning to find out that 33 were confirmed dead.

Many people have commented on this piece of news already, so I'll just do a quick summary.

• This is a huge loss for the anime industry as well as a cultural attack, as KyoAni is a studio that has made many significant shows that many people would recognize as classics such as CLANNAD, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, K-ON!!, Lucky Star, Nichijou, Free!!, Hibike Euphonium, A Silent Voice, and more.

• KyoAni is a beacon among the anime industry as a studio that actually keeps salaried employees (instead of the usual pay-per-frame), employs mostly women, and has an in-house training program to encourage new hires.

• Adding to the "mostly female employees", many of them are mothers, and KyoAni actually has a nursery for their employees to bring young children to work on the second floor of their studio.
• The second floor of the KyoAni Studio 1 building was also the floor most affected by the arson, as 10 were found in cardiac arrest upon firefighters entering the building.
• Artistic losses include the archive for KyoAni shows from 2005-2017 that were in the data storage on the second floor

The number one thing I'm worried about is the fact that there is a nursery and children were possibly killed in that fire along with the employees.

[Trevor]

I heard the director for maid dragon died in there

[Rodimus13]

Prayers for the families and the loved ones involved.

[azzy-m]

I popped into twitter earlier only to have heard of KyoAni's fire. I really hope that those that got injured have a healthy recovery. I haven't been a fan of anime in several years and I've only seen one anime by them (A Silent Voice) but I still find this situation really sad.

That being said, I've seen a reply on a tweet about the situation that was happy about the fire because KyoAnime produced shitty anime, and I'm like, "those were actual people in that building what the fuck??"

[joannekwan]

If you can navigate a bit of Japanese and want to support the studio you can buy high res digital images of their shows directly from them

https://kyoani.shop-pro.jp/

[LouisMiz]

Sentai Filmworks also has a GoFundMe set up for the situation.

Click here to support Help KyoAni Heal organized by Sentai Filmworks

I'm primarily a fan of them for their animation quality and business practices, and still can't imagine what someone hoped to achieve targeting an animation studio.

[GesuGesu]

https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/cerv4w/before_you_donate_to_the_kyoani_gofundme_set_up/

[AceRagz]

I have never really heard of this studio before but then I usually don't look into every anime studio out there. It however is really sad to hear about news like this. Also makes you wonder about the horrible state of the times we live in when someone knowingly and willingly sets fire to a building full of people.

[Cavechan]

If you can navigate a bit of Japanese and want to support the studio you can buy high res digital images of their shows directly from them

https://kyoani.shop-pro.jp/

Here is a guide about how to buy: https://twitter.com/mimiko_kupo/status/1151839926620577793

In regards to the GoFundMe, the president of Sentai has said that their legal counsel has been involved with it so the funds from it should be used appropriately. EDIT to clarify a bit more. The GoFundMe, as stated in the description, is not for donations directly to KyoAni to rebuild. It's to help the victims families.

Your pledges and the funds we raise are intended to provide the most direct, meaningful assistance possible to the victims of this heartbreaking tragedy. We are coordinating with others in the Japanese anime industry within Japan to ensure that funds collected reach those in need.

This has truly been devastating. It's just terrible. KyoAni has been such an amazing studio producing incredibly quality anime. I had just seen the Sound Euphonium movie a week ago and it was incredible, to say the least. It's a tragedy so many people lost their lives because of one crazy upset fan.

[CarolRiverArt]

It's terrible I was just thinking that animation companies doesn't have to do with terrorism, I was about to talk to my students about the animation companies the difficulties and beauty of them and then this happen. And this animation company wasn't a problematic one.

[Rosso]

This is the studio that made beloved gems like Violet Evergarden, A Silent Voice, Lucky Star, Free!, Beyond the Boundary... and so many more.

The attacker was thankfully apprehended as he shouted something to the effect of "I WAS RIPPED OFF!".

The president(?) revealed that they've been receiving serious death threats for years that may or may not have anything to do with this, but the police were made aware of it nonetheless.

Nothing is worth losing a life over. Especially materialistic stuff...
I don't know how the studio will recover from this, if ever.
may the ones that lost their life rest in peace

[elyss]

I want to mention that KyoAni can't accept donations, (so there's no promise that they'll see the money) but that it is a great idea to buy things from their site directly.

[Mari]

I was just about to say that people should go buy things from their online store, instead of donating.

The amount of people who died is truly horrifying, and all because of one idiot.

[nostalgicroxas]

It's even more unnerving when you think about the amount of staff that goes into an animated series or film. It's usually not a lot of core artists, and the rest are clean-up, tech wizards or color placers. It's a real shame and I look forward to the plans to rebuild. I hope that competing anime companies will be willing to not let this one fail due to this kind of tragedy.

[Menbung]

This really breaks my heart, I couldn't believe it when I read the news last night. I've enjoyed various Kyoani animes in the past few years and was really hyped when I heard they were going to make a 2nd season of Kobayashi-san...

As it was mentioned before not only they produce high quality anime but the way they treat their workers is one of the best in the industry.

Such a great loss, all my respect and prayers for them.

[Cavechan]

I edited my other post but I just wanted to point out that people seem to be misunderstanding about the GoFundMe. It isn't donations directly to KyoAni. The funds are going to the families of the victims.

[fifthpaw]

Apparently the studio may have stolen the guy's stuff maybe.

Arson attack at Japan anime studio kills 33

[mariusthered]

even if that were so, it's pitiful excuse to burn the workers alive.