Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/07/18/arson-attack-on-kyoto-animatio.html
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I also read that there were a total of 38 people in the building. It’s such a shame. Animators are paid such a low wage, it’s almost criminal. And now this.
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For some reason reading this brought to mind The Temple of The Golden Pavillion
Was planning to re read it (first read on the flight to Tokyo years back) but not sure I am in the mood now 
I am not a big anime person (I was always the edgy Lost In Translation/Enter the Void Japan nerd, not an anime japan nerd), are there any films/shows whose creators passed that were particuarly good I should check out? I’ll I’ve seen animewise are Akira, the Catbus movie, and Animetrix.
Anyways sorry for the kind of rambling post… when terrible things happen I often feel like when I say that’s terrible or thoughts are with them and the like, that it just rings hollow - it’s hard to put into text how bad things like this or Notre Dam make me feel without sounding cliched. My thoughts are with Japan this afternoon… I visited during a very sad time in my life and I’ll be forever greatful for the brief lift out of my depression the folks there gave me. Wonderful company, wonderful people… I’m tearing up a bit typing this.
Doesn’t a lot of it get outsourced? I remember Family Guy had a bunch of very accurate Korean dialog and it turned out that’s because the firm that animated it was in Korea.
When you’re competing with poorer countries like Vietnam, Thailand etc that probably drives wages down.
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I am speechless here. An act which can only be described as evil.
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I read about it this morning, a friend posted about it on FB and then later saw it reported on Polygon. The news is horrible, i’m not familiar with the studio but 33 people dying in an arson attack over what? It’s so upsetting and my heart goes out to the families and friends of the people who were killed.
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Per the article, they actually paid better than most places.
Most AMERICAN animation gets outsourced. They might do some key framing here, but most of it is in Korea currently. There is a cool scene in Steven Universe when they visit Korea and end up in the animation studio.
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It depends, but they do a fair amount of primary production, but also a lot of in-between animation. That’s often seen as the first step before becoming a key animator. There are many reasons why the pay is so poor. The voice actors are paid about as much as the rest of the production and the other media companies are pushing down the budgets as well.
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/company.php?id=235
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But it’s still not a lot. I recommend watching Shirobako for a sense of how the industry works.
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This news made me so sad.
I read on CBS that there was only one exit to the building, which was 3 stories and 7500 sqft. If so, that made this tragedy so much worse than it might have been.
But I haven’t seen that repeated elsewhere.
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Damn.
This the second time that I’ve heard of a director (for any sinister reason, Japanese or not) being killed. The other director happened to be Japanese – Juzo Itami (directed the excellent foodie-comedy, Tampopo); supposedly his apparent suicide was faked by the Yakuza who murdered him
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“When will they stop killing our heroes”, my Son just texted that to me, I haven’t an answer…
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You can count on building and fire codes becoming a huge topic after what happened today over there.
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I love Tampopo. Highly recommend to those reading this thread.
Basically a modern twist on the spaghetti western. Instead of the itinerant cowboy (or samurai) you’ve got a truck driver who helps a lady turn her struggling ramen shop around. Comedic, with additional vignettes and subplots revolving around food.
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Second that – one of the most enjoyable movies ever. Now I’m hungry for a bowl or two of noodle soup
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My favorite line: (Truck Driver) “Why am I doing this?”
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Why couldn’t they get out of the building? Did they die in a sweatshop?
Lack of exits and use of accelerant mostly
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Juzo Itami was actually murdered by Yakuza?
Seriously?
I would love a link to something if you can I got my degree in part by watching and analyzing some of his films which I deeply loved
I can’t believe someone would do this this fire is an enormous tragedy. I LOVE Miss Kobayashis Dragon Maid. Anyone who kills people who breathe life to dreams with art is really a heartless evil bastard
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His family and friends did not believe that he took his own life, and suspected foul play from the start. Then… 2008…
This from wiki:
He died on December 20, 1997 in Tokyo, after falling from the roof of the building where his office was located, after the press published evidence that he was having an extramarital affair. The suicide letter he reportedly left behind denied any involvement in such an affair. One theory is that Itami’s suicide was forced by members of the Goto-gumi [yakuza] faction. A former member of the Goto-gumi faction told journalist [Jake Adelstein] in 2008, “We set it up to stage his murder as a suicide. We dragged him up to the rooftop and put a gun in his face. We gave him a choice: jump and you might live or stay and we’ll blow your face off. He jumped. He didn’t live.
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In regards to Takemoto Yasuhiro:
There hasn’t been an official notification of his death and he isn’t known to be safe, the tweet in the OP is completely rumor and shouldn’t be reported as fact.
