On 18 July 2019, around 10:30am JST, Kyoto Animation was the victim of a devistating arson attack at their 1st Studio building. At the moment, 33 people have been confirmed to have died in the fire with another 35 injured. In addition to the grievous loss of life and physical and psychological damage this is sure to cause for the survivors and families of the of the deceased and injured, Kyoto Animation President Hideaki Hatta stated that all production materials housed at 1st Studio have been destroyed.
This is all just absolutely heartbreaking for me. While this may not include the death of a signature creative mind like when Satoshi Kon died, this might be hurting me just as much, if not more. KyoAni created the anime adaptations for the Suzumiya Haruhi series and that is a large part of why it's been my favorite series of all time (across all mediums) for over a decade. Getting into Haruhi could even be seen as a second renaissance for me as an anime fan as I began to get much deeper into the medium and its related source materials after being exposed to it. They also went on to create other top favorites of mine such as A Silent Voice, Clannad, K-ON!, and Dragon Maid. The thought that many of the legacy production materials for these works may be gone forever, as well as some of the people who had their hands in creating them, is just soul crushing. I never thought that hearing "Hare Hare Yukai" come up on my randomized mp3 playlist would ever cause me to cry.
If anyone happens to come across this and hasn't already heard about it, Sentai Filmworks is running a fundraiser to help with the aftermath of the fire:
Also, Crunchyroll is accepting messages on behalf of KyoAni:
I wish the best for KyoAni, the staff, and the families affected by this tragedy, the best that can be expected at least. I hope they're able to stay strong get through this. We love you, KyoAni.
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