Go read this Hollywood Reporter story about the arson attack at Kyoto Animation
0Reported today on The Verge
For the full article visit: https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/30/21043263/kyoto-animation-arson-attack-hollywood-reporter
Reported today in The Verge.
Go read this Hollywood Reporter story about the arson attack at Kyoto Animation
In July, a man walked into a Kyoto Animation's Studio One and set fire to a bucket of gasoline. The resulting explosion killed 36 people, injured dozens more, and destroyed much of the Studio One building. The Hollywood Reporter today published a feature story about the attack and its aftermath that's really worth reading. It's not an easy read, but I walked away from it with a feeling of hope.
THR's story is packed with detail, thanks in part to interviews with Kyoto Animation founder Hideki Hatta and an attorney who has been helping Hatta since the attack. For example, the story describes how Hatta spent hours at Studio One after the attack consoling victims, and then had to drive aimlessly to avoid journalists and TV news trucks that had parked outside another studio and at his home. The story also describes the erratic and scary actions of the attacker in the days before the attack, based on an interview with the attacker's neighbor.
But I also found inspiration and even some joy in the story. It describes how Hatta and his wife built Kyoto Animation as a place hospitable to employees, with reasonable working hours and a supportive culture rare inside Japan's competitive animation industry. That goodwill, in addition to the high-quality work that came from the studio, has made Kyoto Animation one of Japan's most beloved and celebrated anime producers, and that's reflected in how people have helped the studio since the attack.
The attorney helping the Hattas, for example, took the bullet train to the studio the day after the attack to offer his help - for free. Just weeks after the attack, Japan's national legislature passed a measure making all donations t