Police Release Names of 10 Victims in Kyoto Animation Fire

Kyoto Prefectural Police announced on Friday the names of ten victims in last month's apparent arson attack on the No. 1 Studio building of animation production company Kyoto Animation. The incident has killed 35 people in one of Japan's deadliest mass murders since World War II. Police have identified all of the victims using DNA analysis and are seeking approval from family members to release the remaining names.

Yuka Kasama (22)
A recent graduate of Osaka Seikei University, Kasama joined the staff of Kyoto Animation in order to pursue her dream of entering the animation industry. In interviews with public broadcaster NHK, family members said Kasama has loved drawing since little and began pursuing art since high school.

Yuuki Oomura (23)
A native of Kikugawa in Shizuoka Prefecture, Oomura graduated from the Tokoha University Faculty of Design and Fine Arts in March. He has competed in and received awards from local and national art competitions. In 2016, he received an honorable mention in the design category at the 101st Nikaten, an art exhibition held by the Nikakai society of progressive artists.

Ami Kuriki (30)
Kuriki, a native of Kitanagoya in Aichi Prefecture, has been an active key animator at Kyoto Animation since 2015. She was first credited in the fourth episode of Hibike! Euphonium and has since drawn key animation frames for Koe no Katachi and Liz to Aoi Tori. In celebration of the Year of the Rooster in 2017, her drawing of characters from the Hibike! Euphonium series was featured in Megami Magazine.

Junichi Uda (34)
A decade-long veteran animator at Kyoto Animation, Uda has actively participated in the company's anime productions since K-On! in 2009. He decided to become an animator while in high school and entered university and a technical to pursue his career. His drawings are primarily used as in-between animation frames, though he has also drawn key animation frames for Hyouka and Nichijou. Public broadcaster NHK reports that Uda is survived by his wife and young daughter.

Keisuke Yokota (34)
Since joining Kyoto Animation in the days when the studio produced Clannad, Yokota has risen in the ranks of a production manager. He has been involved in every one of the studio's major productions since 2008. Yokota was most recently the chief production manager of the Hibike! Euphonium series, including the spin-off movie Liz to Aoi Tori.

Mikiko Watanabe (35)
Having worked as a background artist at Kyoto Animation since K-On!, Watanabe has been an up-and-coming art director since Kyoukai no Kanata. Watanabe received critical acclaim for her most recent work in Violet Evergarden, in which she was able to create vivid and rich artboards that stand in contrast to simpler, digital backgrounds. In a message written last month to candidates applying for the Kyoto Animation Professional Training School, she advised aspiring artists to continue drawing even while struggling because "nothing will be born if nothing is done." She is credited as the art director for the upcoming Violet Evergarden Movie, which is scheduled to open in theaters in Japan in 2020.

Futoshi Nishiya (37)
Nishiya began his career as an animator at Kyoto Animation more than 15 years ago. He has risen through the ranks from a key animator to becoming one of the studio's best-known character designers and chief animation directors. Having worked as a key animator in Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu, Nishiya received his first opportunity in character design in the spin-off title Suzumiya Haruhi-chan no Yuuutsu. He would go on to create character designs for the entire Free! series and also presumably worked on the franchise's upcoming movie in 2020. In the award-winning Koe no Katachi, Nishiya's first work with up-and-coming director Naoko Yamada, he sought to "maintain a balance between stylization and life that still leads to charming drawings."

Sachie Tsuda (41)
Prior to becoming a well-established studio, Kyoto Animation was a company which worked on productions subcontracted from other studios. One such production was InuYasha, one of many titles which Tsuda had worked on in her career at Kyoto Animation. As the studio began to lead its own productions, Tsuda became a consistent digital painter in the coloring department and most recently worked on Tsurune: Kazemai Koukou Kyuudoubu.

Yasuhiro Takemoto (47)
A native of Hyogo Prefecture, Takemoto was one of Kyoto Animation's leading veteran animators. He is best known as the director selected to lead the production of Lucky☆Star after the sacking of director Yutaka Yamamoto, but he has also been praised for his careful direction in drama-comedy productions such as Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu and Hyouka. Takemoto began his career at Kyoto Animation as a freelance animator while studying at Yoyogi Animation Academy. He later joined the company upon graduation and made his directorial debut in Nurse Witch Komugi-chan Magikarte.

Yoshiji Kigami (61)
Kigami was one of Kyoto Animation's most senior animators, having built his career working on landmark productions such as Akira. He was best known under the pseudonyms Fumio Tada and Ichirou Miyoshi while working on the studio's productions. He directed Kyoto Animation's first original anime production, Munto, and later supported younger directors as a storyboard artist and episode director in numerous productions. Kigami sat on the company's board of directors and was an instructor at the Kyoto Animation Professional Training School. Director Yasuhiro Takemoto once said that being lectured by Kigami is considered a rite of passage for new animators joining the company.

Source: Asahi Shimbun Digital