My favourite Anime of All time, Full Metal Panic were produced by Kyoto Animation. If you are are into Robot / Tech Anime it is well worth a watch, I simply felt in love with Chidori Kaname, female protagonist of the series, partly because the male protagonist is a ( Real ) nerd, and it is what some of the nerds first girl friend would act in real world. Its Companion Series Full Metal Panic Fumoffu is also hilarious.
Kyoto is one of the best Animation Studio not only in Japan but in the world, I remember they have a "Making of" section in the DVDs and show how much details they put into each drawing, taking thousands of Photos in Hong Kong and redraw them in the Story. So those places aren't made up and for anyone living in Hong Kong it would have been instantly recognisable, even accurate to the sign of a poster and banner of shops. And it isn't just the quality of those drawing, there are Studio which could do decent Animation but completely lack the skill in Story telling, Character Build up and Tempo etc. Kyoto not only has it all, but they have also been doing it consistently for the past 20 years if not more.
Those 20+ must have been some of the best in the industry.
I pray and hope there will be no more casualties from this incident. And those that passed away, RIP.
I read the Japanese Animation are still very much labour intensive, and not a lot of computer graphics involved, I am not sure if that is still true. ( And if it is, why are there little to no innovation to improve its efficiency ) And Animation, Manga industry tends to have long working hours even by Japanese Standards.
It's still true. Japanese animators are paid by the pennies and work ridiculous hours. Since they're often paid on a per-frame basis rather than hourly pay, sometimes it adds up to less than minimum hourly wage. KyoAni was actually one of the few who were known to pay reasonably well, and they also had sort of dormitories slash training facilities for their animators. As for computers, generally speaking the frames are still drawn on paper and scanned, and then colored digitally.
The first season of Fullmetal Panic was produced by Gonzo. While not bad, the (animation) quality noticeably increased after Kyoto Animation took over. Definitely a great show.
KyoAni drastically changed around 2010, after the success of K-On. They also weren't involved in the last season of Full Metal Panic (2017). What they are now famous for are slice-of-life shows with lots of implied homosexuality, both girl-girl and boy-boy.
Apparently the motivation for the attack was that "KyoAni has stolen something from the attacker", unconfirmed reports that the something in question was a Light Novel the attacker wrote but got rejected by KyoAni, which apparently then got turned into an original work by the studio (possibly stealing here and there from the LN or anyhow drawing inspiration from it) without crediting the attacker or compensating him.
I can see this happening in all honesty, I am sure that editors get to read a lot of stuff from applicants which can then be polished to produce something in-house, kind of like when bigger companies fish for start-ups tech to reimplement it in-house.
Anyhow, the article doesn't mention it but I just though I would write this down in case anyone was curious about the potential motivation.
Japanese sources are reporting a eyewitness account of the suspect saying "パクりやがって", which could be translated as "they plagiarized" (and definitely not "I'm sorry" as Google Translate claims). See https://www.edrdg.org/jmdictdb/cgi-bin/entr.py?svc=jmdict&si...
And this is why most companies doing anything having to do with media will not ever even read/watch works that were sent to them unsolicited. There are so many ideas being in different states of development at any given time that there is a failry high risk of inadvertenly opening yourself up to being accused of plagiarism.
Intellectual property issues once again. People think they own ideas and glorify themselves as originators. In reality once an idea is communicated it is free. All people can really do is add value to an idea by promoting it, framing it, demonstrating it, aiding in its application, and so on. Yet here intellectual property has scaled beyond mere value into critical relevance and even a person's identity itself. An individual went way out of bounds here, but some unworkable ideas about intellectual property helped to define the path. Modern cultures really need to come to terms with the nature of intellectual property in the Internet era. It's not just about protecting a mouse anymore.
This is really sad. KyoAni (Kyoto Animation) is, as said in other thread, one of the current best animation studios in the world. I grow up watching their animes and thinking how they're amazing compared to the majority of japanese studios.
Some animes bought by them:
- Full Metal Panic (many laughs, amazing characters and great animation)
- Air (this is the first time that I did cry in a series of any kind)
- Kanon (really good adaptation of this great Visual Novel)
- Clannad (a really emotional series for me, even if the Visual Novel is better the anime still does a great service for this series)
- Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (this is the anime that made me fan of them, a unique approach of slice of life and overpowered beings that was great in its time)
- Lucky Star (funny otakus done right)
- K-On! (a good anime showing cute girls doing cute things)
- Hyouka ("Sherlock Holmes goes to a japanese high school")
- Nichijou (funny nonsense done right)
- Sound Euphonium (I still remember that amazing scene at episode 11)
- Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid (a great surprise, this seems like a goof series on its premise however it is so heartwarming)
- Violet Evergarden (this is available in Netflix and I recommend simply because the animation is amazing and the story is really emotional)
I don't really care about the reasons of the suspect, there are better ways to claim copyright infringement, and even if it didn't, there is no reason to take human lives.
Very depressing to see news like this from a place like Japan that's generally well regarded for its safety and peacefulness, especially against a target like an animation studio, that has only ever provided joy to people.
They did not even produce anything controversial as far as I can tell.
The glaring issue here seems to be the death threats they received prior to this attack. That should have been taken more seriously by the authorities, anywhere.
The number of casualties is horrific and hard to understand.
I'm not a huge fan of anime but I understand that this is a major studio with a long history. So I'm sure that this will have a major impact on the entire industry.
Yes. For those not familiar, KyoAni is not a "huge" studio, in that it usually only produces one show per season, and often none at all. They are highly respected due to the shows that they do make are very high quality (the animation is nearly always great, and stories are usually hand selected now as part of a competition). If you want to watch one of their recent series that received lots of acclaim, the show Violet Evergarden is on Netflix. Very hard to understand why anyone would want to attack them.
An attack with over 20 dead with more injured could mean over half of their employees are dead/hurt.
Some producers and designers are under the people reported missing, notably the producers of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid , Free! and Violet Evergarden (afaict from people translating in a discord chat)
It's a tragedy one way or another, but somehow that makes me feel even worse. Kobayashi-san chi no meidoragon is one of the most heartwarming series I have ever had the pleasure of watching.
KyoAni is responsible for my favorite anime; K-On, as well as Hibike! Euphonium, another anime that moved me. I hope for the best for the families of the dead people, and I hope that the wounded people recover as soon as possible. An attack on KyoAni is an attack on passionate artists following their dreams.
A Pony bottle could fit under any worktable or coin and would provide pure air for five minutes or so, probably enough to avoid the toxic fumes in the stairs trap, or to alleviate the poisoning at least, and maybe to save two or three lifes if shared. Most people can stop breathing for another minute if avoid the need to cough (the dive mask regulator atached to the bottle will help)
Price around $170, oxygen portable cans are smaller and cheaper, around $50.
With people so disciplined and educated as japanese, a shared standard scuba dive bottle could had saved most of this people until reaching a safe vented place. The dismayed people could had been dragged outside also by the other.
The problem is that a scuba bottle could explode after catching fire unatended, but in a vicious fire the building will be damaged in any case and people goes first.
> A plastic container and a knife were found left at the scene. The 41-year-old suspect told prefectural police that he set fire to the building. Police are treating the case as arson.
A man shouted “Die!” as he sprayed a flammable liquid all over an animation studio in Japan on Thursday and set the building on fire, killing up to 26 people, authorities said.
“We have received protests against our company, not a few of them if not on a daily basis. There were murder emails including those which said ‘die,’” he told broadcaster NHK.
Technically, yes. Very likely at worst "just" a flash fire. Not likely any substantial overpressure, as you could get with with methane, propane, etc. Getting a large-scale gasoline-air explosion is nontrivial, I gather.
Three people in here immediately blamed this on mental illness/mental health. That feels like such a strange reaction and oversimplification to this.
If what I read is true: The work of the person who did this did get his work stolen and maybe as a consequence missed out on a lot of money. Then doing something like this might be quite an overreaction, but is at least in the realm of understandable, no? Revenge is in human nature.
>might be quite an overreaction, but is at least in the realm of understandable, no?
You think it is "understandable" to burn down a building because someone stole your work? If someone did that I would call them "crazy". I definitely see "mental stability" or "mental health" being a root cause here. Rational, healthy people do not respond in that way. Call it "temporary insanity" if you want.
It's not actually; whatever financial damage the perpetrator suffered is trivial compared to the loss of human life.
I mean he could've sued them instead. Or publically call them out on it. Instead he went for the nuclear option and went on a killing spree. This is morally abject and I can't believe you're even suggesting it might be a fair action.
It is a bit difficult to comprehend this kind of behavior without believing they are also mentally unstable. I expect most people regardless of how much they have been wronged wouldn't turn to killing dozens of innocent people.
The attacker possibly believed they weren't innocent which to me makes it seem like he was mentally unstable. There is some disconnect between what he believes and reality.
The article says "At least 36 people were injured, 10 of them seriously." but doesn't mention deaths anywhere. I really hope the title is wrong and this is just some kind of horrible mistake. That's so many good people to have died for one selfish asshole. Can anyone confirm/deny ?
Maybe it's denial stage but something doesn't add up about 25/"33" dead[1]. Is it possible that there's something being lost in translation? EFL People often mistake casualty to mean a death/mortality when it's also used as (deaths+injuries). I could see that easily being mistranslated by an ESL person as deaths.
At all the places I've worked at, a stranger would not have made it far past the front entrance without being stopped by security, or even been able to enter the building at all (access cards, etc.) Maybe it's a cultural difference, or does the tech industry just have a much higher concern for securing offices?
I’d say in Japan this type of thing “doesn’t happen” so people leave their iPhones on tables to hold seats at busy coffee, and do other things that give the benefit of doubt to strangers.
I’m curious where you live? I live in Minneapolis and basically all the places I’ve worked, as well as visiting friends working a stranger could walk directly into the building. Especially multi-business centers. At one of the places they might have been asked if they needed help, but they wouldn’t be stopped, the receptionist would have just assumed they knew where they were going.
I mean certainly major business like BestBuy Corporate and Target Corporate have security, but most small to medium don’t.
At both places I work at right now, this scenario could easily happen. The lobbies are open and only the elevators and stairs have access cards. Actually, most places I've worked at were like this.
However, I can't imagine setting fire to the lobby would kill 20+ people in any of these places, since they all have many emergency exits. To me the craziest part of this story is the amount of destruction this person caused with just a can of gasoline.
At all the places I've worked at (Germany), a stranger could basically just walk in, take the stairs / the elevator and enter the office. No locked doors, no security, nothing. Often left my keys, smartphone or wallet on the table when going to lunch. Never had any problems whatsoever.
It's not a cultural difference, but a question of company size.
how can 33 people out of 70 for in 3fl building? why not jump out of window, even top floor must be survivable. hard to understand unless they were attacked directly with knife or he made some kind of flamethrower
For those who are able to and want to help, there's a GoFundMe campaign right now to help the studio recover [0]. There isn't much of an explanation of what the money will go towards, but it's better than doing nothing IMO.
I'm not a huge consumer of anime/manga, but some of my favorites (namely, Nichijou and Full Metal Panic) have come from this studio. I'm also aware that the industry as a whole is considered to be in a bad state right now, with this event certainly not helping things.
My condolences to those effected by this. I do hope, though, that this serves as a springboard for better things to come for the industry.
[+] [-] ksec|6 years ago|reply
Kyoto is one of the best Animation Studio not only in Japan but in the world, I remember they have a "Making of" section in the DVDs and show how much details they put into each drawing, taking thousands of Photos in Hong Kong and redraw them in the Story. So those places aren't made up and for anyone living in Hong Kong it would have been instantly recognisable, even accurate to the sign of a poster and banner of shops. And it isn't just the quality of those drawing, there are Studio which could do decent Animation but completely lack the skill in Story telling, Character Build up and Tempo etc. Kyoto not only has it all, but they have also been doing it consistently for the past 20 years if not more.
Those 20+ must have been some of the best in the industry.
I pray and hope there will be no more casualties from this incident. And those that passed away, RIP.
I read the Japanese Animation are still very much labour intensive, and not a lot of computer graphics involved, I am not sure if that is still true. ( And if it is, why are there little to no innovation to improve its efficiency ) And Animation, Manga industry tends to have long working hours even by Japanese Standards.
[+] [-] mrpara|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kara_jade|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Kaiyou|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] devilmoon|6 years ago|reply
Anyhow, the article doesn't mention it but I just though I would write this down in case anyone was curious about the potential motivation.
[+] [-] mrob|6 years ago|reply
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20190718-00000075-asahi-s...
[+] [-] skgoa|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] m0llusk|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mabbo|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] m45t3r|6 years ago|reply
Some animes bought by them:
- Full Metal Panic (many laughs, amazing characters and great animation)
- Air (this is the first time that I did cry in a series of any kind)
- Kanon (really good adaptation of this great Visual Novel)
- Clannad (a really emotional series for me, even if the Visual Novel is better the anime still does a great service for this series)
- Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (this is the anime that made me fan of them, a unique approach of slice of life and overpowered beings that was great in its time)
- Lucky Star (funny otakus done right)
- K-On! (a good anime showing cute girls doing cute things)
- Hyouka ("Sherlock Holmes goes to a japanese high school")
- Nichijou (funny nonsense done right)
- Sound Euphonium (I still remember that amazing scene at episode 11)
- Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid (a great surprise, this seems like a goof series on its premise however it is so heartwarming)
- Violet Evergarden (this is available in Netflix and I recommend simply because the animation is amazing and the story is really emotional)
I don't really care about the reasons of the suspect, there are better ways to claim copyright infringement, and even if it didn't, there is no reason to take human lives.
[+] [-] Razengan|6 years ago|reply
They did not even produce anything controversial as far as I can tell.
The glaring issue here seems to be the death threats they received prior to this attack. That should have been taken more seriously by the authorities, anywhere.
[+] [-] pmlnr|6 years ago|reply
Here, dig deeper:
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201904170050.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/29/world/asia/japan-rape.htm...
https://web.archive.org/web/20190421032136/http://japaneseru...
[+] [-] Quequau|6 years ago|reply
I'm not a huge fan of anime but I understand that this is a major studio with a long history. So I'm sure that this will have a major impact on the entire industry.
[+] [-] throw20102010|6 years ago|reply
An attack with over 20 dead with more injured could mean over half of their employees are dead/hurt.
[+] [-] _wmd|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] agumonkey|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zaarn|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] _0ffh|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TheAsprngHacker|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pvaldes|6 years ago|reply
Price around $170, oxygen portable cans are smaller and cheaper, around $50.
With people so disciplined and educated as japanese, a shared standard scuba dive bottle could had saved most of this people until reaching a safe vented place. The dismayed people could had been dragged outside also by the other.
The problem is that a scuba bottle could explode after catching fire unatended, but in a vicious fire the building will be damaged in any case and people goes first.
[+] [-] unityByFreedom|6 years ago|reply
> A plastic container and a knife were found left at the scene. The 41-year-old suspect told prefectural police that he set fire to the building. Police are treating the case as arson.
[+] [-] kristofferR|6 years ago|reply
A man shouted “Die!” as he sprayed a flammable liquid all over an animation studio in Japan on Thursday and set the building on fire, killing up to 26 people, authorities said.
“We have received protests against our company, not a few of them if not on a daily basis. There were murder emails including those which said ‘die,’” he told broadcaster NHK.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/suspected-...
[+] [-] mirimir|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] s9w|6 years ago|reply
If what I read is true: The work of the person who did this did get his work stolen and maybe as a consequence missed out on a lot of money. Then doing something like this might be quite an overreaction, but is at least in the realm of understandable, no? Revenge is in human nature.
[+] [-] lunchables|6 years ago|reply
You think it is "understandable" to burn down a building because someone stole your work? If someone did that I would call them "crazy". I definitely see "mental stability" or "mental health" being a root cause here. Rational, healthy people do not respond in that way. Call it "temporary insanity" if you want.
[+] [-] Cthulhu_|6 years ago|reply
I mean he could've sued them instead. Or publically call them out on it. Instead he went for the nuclear option and went on a killing spree. This is morally abject and I can't believe you're even suggesting it might be a fair action.
[+] [-] izzydata|6 years ago|reply
The attacker possibly believed they weren't innocent which to me makes it seem like he was mentally unstable. There is some disconnect between what he believes and reality.
[+] [-] whenchamenia|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hello_tyler|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DINKDINK|6 years ago|reply
[1]Seems to be corroborated by: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/07/18/national/dozens...
GoFundMe page for charity: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-kyoani-heal
[+] [-] yoru-sulfur|6 years ago|reply
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20190718/k10011997921000.ht...
[+] [-] swebs|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|6 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] userbinator|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chrischen|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] donatj|6 years ago|reply
I mean certainly major business like BestBuy Corporate and Target Corporate have security, but most small to medium don’t.
[+] [-] donkeyd|6 years ago|reply
However, I can't imagine setting fire to the lobby would kill 20+ people in any of these places, since they all have many emergency exits. To me the craziest part of this story is the amount of destruction this person caused with just a can of gasoline.
[+] [-] lqet|6 years ago|reply
It's not a cultural difference, but a question of company size.
[+] [-] Markoff|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|6 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] fisherwithac|6 years ago|reply
I'm not a huge consumer of anime/manga, but some of my favorites (namely, Nichijou and Full Metal Panic) have come from this studio. I'm also aware that the industry as a whole is considered to be in a bad state right now, with this event certainly not helping things.
My condolences to those effected by this. I do hope, though, that this serves as a springboard for better things to come for the industry.
[0] - https://www.gofundme.com/help-kyoani-heal
[+] [-] dangThatSucks|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Razengan|6 years ago|reply
https://old.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/cerv4w/before_you_do...
[+] [-] eden_hazard|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aaron695|6 years ago|reply
Seems probably 30 dead.
[+] [-] IanDrake|6 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] tus88|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] CryptoPunk|6 years ago|reply