After nearly four years, the Kyoto Animation arson case will end in January 2024 after the arsonist’s verdict is delivered.
As per Crunchyroll, the Kyoto District Court announced they will give a verdict to Shinji Aoba, the 41-year-old who walked into the Kyoto Animation studios in 2019 and set it aflame, killing 36 people, on Jan. 25, 2024. Aoba will also face the court for the first time on Sept. 5 after undergoing two psych evaluations, one from the prosecution and one from the defense, to determine his mental capacity to stand trial. The pre-trial proceedings began on May 8, where the court, prosecution and defense confirmed the schedule and duration for the main trial. A previous report stated the trial may end in late December 2023.
The Arsonist Believed He Was Plagiarized
Aoba entered the Studio 1 building on July 18, 2019, at 10:30 a.m., with 40 liters of gasoline on a trolley, causing an explosion when he set the studio on fire. After pouring gasoline over a few people, he set them, and in the process, himself, on fire. The fire spread, trapping several staff members inside the studio. The fire killed 36 staff members, where the majority had died due to their burns, and injured 34 people, including Aoba. Allegedly, Aoba started the fire as revenge, believing Kyoto Animation had used a scene in his novels in one of the episodes of Tsurune. The studio has denied the accusations, stating while Aoba had submitted a draft, he ultimately did not pass the first stage assessment.
After attempting to flee, police caught Aoba around 300 feet from the scene with heavy burns on his face, chest and legs. At a hospital in Osaka, Aoba received skin graft surgery for his burns and subsequently moved from hospital to hospital until May 2020, when he recovered from his burns. The police then formally arrested him for murder and other offenses. In December 2020, the courts indicted him.
How Kyoto Animation Honored the Victims
The fire destroyed a large portion of computers and materials, resulting in production delays. While Kyoto Animation decided to continue with its premiere of the Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll film in August 2019, honoring the victims in the end credits, the next film Violet Evergarden: The Movie, ended up launching in September 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the date from its initial rescheduled premiere in April 2020. David Productions’ Fire Force underwent modifications to its episodes following the attack.
Kyoto Animation decided to demolish the Studio 1 Building in April 2020. While plans had been to replace it with a memorial, the idea was ultimately rejected to respect the neighborhood’s wishes of maintaining a peaceful lifestyle for its residences.
Source: Crunchyroll