KyoAni facing challenges on road to reconstruction

October 18, 2019

Kyoto--Three months after suffering a deadly arson attack at one of its studios, Kyoto Animation Co. in Kyoto, western Japan, or KyoAni, still faces many challenges on the road to its reconstruction, despite having attracted nearly 3 billion yen in donations from ardent fans of its anime works and others.

As of Tuesday, donations received through six bank accounts of entities including the Japanese Red Cross Society's Kyoto branch totaled 329.56 million yen, according to the Kyoto prefectural government.

Combined with the amount transferred to an account of the prefecture from donations received by KyoAni itself, the donations have added up to 2,915.46 million yen.

The donated funds will be distributed to the bereaved families of fatal victims and those injured in the July 18 attack that left 36 people dead.

Donations will be accepted until the end of this month.

Damages suffered by the arson victims are estimated to total 4 billion yen or more, excluding sums covered by workers' compensation benefits, an attorney for KyoAni said, adding, "We're still quite short of donations."

Activities to support KyoAni have been spreading. MOVIX Kyoto, a movie theater in Kyoto, for example, has started special screenings of 18 anime works by KyoAni, one in each week from late August through late December.

In September, however, KyoAni announced the postponement of the release of a movie version of the television anime series Violet Evergarden, originally planned for January 2020. As the delay apparently stemmed from the loss of the art director for the movie and other key staff members, there are concerns that other KyoAni works may also be affected in the aftermath of the incident, which was the worst in terms of the number of deaths in all cases confirmed as arson in Japan since the country's previous Heisei era started in January 1989.

In the meantime, some theaters decided to extend the screening period for an anime movie by KyoAni that was completed before the arson attack. A music-themed event for KyoAni fans is due to be held in November.

According to related officials, KyoAni has embarked on the production of a new anime title.

"We want to reward our fans," a KyoAni employee said.

The suspect, Shinji Aoba, allegedly poured gasoline on the first floor of the No. 1 studio in Kyoto of the anime production company and set it alight. He allegedly told police at the time of his capture that he set the studio on fire because KyoAni stole his novel. Jiji Press