Kyoto Animation arsonist’s defense will appeal death penalty sentence

The Japanese newspaper Kyoto Shimbun revealed that the defense of Shinji Aobathe arsonist who attacked the animation studio Kyoto Animation in July 2019, he submitted a request to appeal the sentence of Death penalty at the Osaka High Court. The Osaka High Court is the second highest level in Japan, followed by the Supreme Court.

The presiding judge Keisuke Masuda of the Kyoto District Court stated last Thursday: “The court concluded that the defendant was neither mentally incompetent nor emotionally compromised at the time of the crime” and Shinji Aoba ended up being sentenced to Death penalty.

Throughout the trial, defense lawyers Aoba argued for a reduced sentence based on mental health reasons, stating in September 2023 that “[Aoba] I was mentally incapable of distinguishing between what is good and what is bad.” Aoba has already undergone two mental health evaluations with doctors on both sides agreeing that he “understood that the acts committed were criminal.”

Shinji Aobanow 45 years old, broke into Studio 1 of Kyoto Animation on the morning of July 18, 2019, he spread gasoline, lit it and shouted “drop dead,” survivors said. 36 people died and 33 were injured.

He admitted that he purposely attacked the anime studio as an act of revenge for what he considered plagiarism of a novel he had sent to Kyoto Animation as part of an essay competition.

Among the people who died was Yasuhiro Takemoto (directed by The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya), Yoshiji Kigami (key animator for Grave of the Fireflies, Akira, A Silent Voice, Violet Evergarden), Futoshi Nishiya (animation direction for Free!), Shouko Ikeda (character designer for Sound! Euphonium), and many more…

Kyoto Animation arsonist sentenced to death penalty

Before the start of your trial, when Aoba learned for the first time during police interrogation that the total number of deaths in the attack had been 36he reacted with “Oh, really?”, and stated “I thought if I spread gasoline around the building while lighting the fire, I could kill more people, so that’s why I did this”.

In addition to stating that he chose his method of attack specifically because he felt it would allow him to kill more people, throughout the trial Aoba stated that he continues to feel that he was wronged by Kyoto Animation and demonstrated a complete lack of remorse upon learning how many people died because of him.

The demolition work on Studio 1 of Kyoto Animation it was completed in April 2020. The studio began recruiting again in July 2020.