The suspect in the deadly 2019 arson attack at Kyoto Animation’s No. 1 studio in Japan, Shinji Aoba, admitted setting the fire that killed 36 of the 70 people in the building (and injured 32 more) during his first lay judge trial hearing on Tuesday, September 5. Despite these comments, the defense team for the 45-year-old man are requesting leniency, and intend to argue that Aoba was either mentally incompetent or experiencing diminished mental capacity when he carried out the attack.
“I have done [what I have been accused of],” Aoba told the judge. “That was the only way [I could get myself heard] at the time. I didn’t think so many people would die. Looking back, I’d gone too far.”
Aoba attended court pushed in a wheelchair and bearing facial scars. He had been severely burned in the KyoAni fire himself, and was not physically stable enough to be arrested for the crime until May 2020. This was followed by six months of psychiatric evaluation of his fitness to stand trial before his December 2020 indictment, due to his history of mental health issues and psychiatric hospitalizations.
As has been previously reported, Aoba allegedly set the fire because he believed that the studio had “stolen” material he submitted to the company in a writing contest. Prosecutors at the trial further revealed that Aoba has specifically fixated on one female director he had formerly admired, whom the suspect believed stole one of his works, and he envied her success. The prosecutors argued that this “unreasonable grudge” was the motive for the crime, and that “[Aoba] may have had delusions, but the criminal acts were not based on that” and he “was completely mentally competent” when he instigated the attack.
Prosecutors also averred that the suspect had previously planned a mass stabbing at Omiya Station in Saitama Prefecture about one month before the KyoAni attack, entering the the station with six knives, but decided not to go ahead with that plan at last.
Roughly 500 people, including many anime fans showing their support for the studio, waited in line at the Kyoto District Court for a chance to snag one of the 35 public seats in the courtroom. Tuesday’s opening session will be followed by 23 further hearings, which Japanese papers note is an exceptionally long span for a lay judge trial. A verdict is scheduled to be released on January 25, 2024.
Ahead of the trial, a documentary about Takahiro Ueda — the doctor tasked with treating Aoba for the second- and third-degree burns covering 90% of his body after the attack — aired on Kansai Television Broadcasting on September 1. In a promo clip from the special, the doctor shared how the mental anguish of the situation weighed on him, saying: “I was worried that if I let him die, I would disappoint the bereaved families and victims.”
Titled The Document: Beyond the Blaze ~ The Kyoto Animation Incident and the Woman Who Was Set on Fire 29 Years Ago (part of the KTB series The Document) also featured a segment on Masumi Okamoto, who was burned when a man attacked her in her workplace in 1994 and is now an advocate for victims of violent crime.
Founded in 1985, Kyoto Animation is the studio behind successful anime television and film franchises such as Clannad, K-On!, Free!, Sound! Euphonium, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, Tsurune and Violet Evergarden, as well as the critically acclaimed feature films The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, A Silent Voice and Liz and the Blue Bird. While the tragic attack traumatized the studio and community and caused production delays, the KyoAni team has made a remarkable comeback and has released several new shows and movies since — including Violet Evergarden: The Movie, Free! The Final Stroke and Tsurune: The Movie — The First Shot.
[Sources: The Japan Times, Comic Natalie]
