Japanese police on Wednesday arrested a suspect in the deadly arson at a Kyoto anime studio last year after he recovered enough from his own severe burns to respond to the police investigation.
Kyoto police said they arrested Shinji Aoba, 42, on murder and arson allegations, 10 months after obtaining the warrant because they had to wait for Aoba to recover. Police also reportedly waited to arrest him until Japan’s coronavirus emergency was fully lifted this week.
Aoba is accused of storming into Kyoto Animation's No. 1 studio on July 18 last year, setting it on fire and killing 36 people. The attack shocked Japan and drew an outpouring of grief from anime fans worldwide.
FILE - In this July 18, 2019, file photo, firefighters respond to a building fire of Kyoto Animation's No. 1 studio, in Kyoto, western Japan. Japanese police arrested on Wednesday, May 27, 2020, 42-year-old Shinji Aoba, the suspect in a deadly arson at the animation studio after the alleged attacker regained enough strength from his own injury to respond to police investigation. Aoba is accused of storming into the studio, setting it on fire and killing 36 people. (Kyodo News via AP)
Police, quoting witnesses to the attack, have alleged Aoba arrived carrying two containers of flammable liquid, entered the studio’s unlocked front door, dumped the liquid and set it afire with a lighter.
About 70 people were working inside the studio in southern Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital, at the time of the attack.
One of the survivors, an animator, told Japanese media he jumped from a window of the three-story building gasping for air amid scorching heat after seeing a “a black mushroom cloud” rising from downstairs.
Shinji Aoba on a stretcher is carried to Fushimi police station after being arrested in Kyoto, western Japan, Wednesday, May 27, 2020. Japanese police arrested the suspect in a deadly arson at Kyoto Animation's No. 1 studio on July 18, 2019 after the alleged attacker regained enough strength from his own injury to respond to police investigation. Aoba is accused of storming into the studio, setting it on fire and killing 36 people. Wednesday's arrest comes 10 months after the police obtained permission from a local court as they had to wait for Aoba, who had suffered severe burns and was in a critical condition. (Ryosuke OzawaKyodo News via AP)
Many others tried but failed to escape to the roof, fire officials said. Many died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Aoba sustained severe burns on his face, torso and limbs, and was unconscious for weeks. He reportedly still cannot walk or feed himself without assistance.
Japanese television footage Wednesday showed Aoba, his face scarred and eyebrows lost apparently from the fire, strapped to a stretcher as he was carried into a police station.
FILE - In this July 19, 2019, file photo, a woman prays at a makeshift memorial to honor the victims of a fire at the building of Kyoto Animation's No. 1 studio, background, in Kyoto, western Japan. Japanese police on Wednesday, May 27, 2020, arrested 42-year-old Shinji Aoba, the suspect in a deadly arson at the animation studio after the alleged attacker regained enough strength from his own injury to respond to police investigation. Aoba is accused of storming into the studio, setting it on fire and killing 36 people. (AP PhotoJae C. Hong, File)
Police have said Aoba told them he set the fire because he thought ”(Kyoto Animation) stole novels.”
Prosecutors are expected to seek formal criminal charges against him in a few weeks.
The fire was Japan’s deadliest since 2001, when a blaze in Tokyo’s Kabukicho entertainment district killed 44 people in the country’s worst known case of arson in modern times.
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After more than 13 years at the helm of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy is stepping down from the “Star Wars” factory founded by George Lucas.
The Walt Disney Co. announced Thursday that it will now turn to Dave Filoni to steer “Star Wars,” as president and chief creative officer, into its sixth decade and beyond. Filoni, who served as the chief commercial officer of Lucasfilm, will inherit the mantle of one of the movies marquee franchises, alongside Lynwen Brennan, president and general manager of Lucasfilm’s businesses, who will serve as co-president.
“When George Lucas asked me to take over Lucasfilm upon his retirement, I couldn’t have imagined what lay ahead,” said Kennedy. “It has been a true privilege to spend more than a decade working alongside the extraordinary talent at Lucasfilm."
Kennedy, Lucas’ handpicked successor, had presided over the ever-expanding science-fiction world of “Star Wars” since Disney acquired it in 2012. In announcing Thursday's news, Bob Iger, chief executive officer of the Walt Disney Co. called her “a visionary filmmaker.”
Kennedy oversaw a highly lucrative but often contentious period in “Star Wars” history that yielded a blockbuster trilogy and acclaimed streaming spinoffs such as “The Mandalorian” and “Andor,” yet found increasing frustration from longtime fans.
Under Kennedy’s stewardship, Lucasfilm amassed more than $5.6 billion in box office and helped establish Disney+ as a streaming destination — achievements that easily validated the $4.05 billion Disney plunked down for the company. But Kennedy also struggled to deliver the big-screen magic that Lucas captured in the original trilogy from the late 1970s and early 1980s, and her relationship with “Star Wars” loyalists became a saga of its own.
Filoni has established himself almost entirely on the small screen, entering the franchise with the animated series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and creating the tepidly received Disney+ series “Ahsoka.” Filoni, who first collaborated with Lucas on “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” has also been an executive producer on “The Mandalorian,” “The Book of Boba Fett” and “Skeleton Crew.”
Both will report to Alan Bergman, Disney Entertainment co-chairman.
“From Rey to Grogu, Kathy has overseen the greatest expansion in Star Wars storytelling on-screen that we have ever seen,” said Filoni. “I am incredibly grateful to Kathy, George, Bob Iger, and Alan Bergman for their trust and the opportunity to lead Lucasfilm in this new role, doing a job I truly love. May the Force be with you.”
Before joining Lucasfilm, Kennedy was one of Hollywood’s most successful producers ever. In 1981, she co-founded Amblin Entertainment with Steven Spielberg and her eventual husband, Frank Marshall. She produced “E.T.,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” “Jurassic Park” and the “Back to the Future” trilogy.
At Lucasfilm, her biggest hit came at the start, with 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” The J.J. Abrams-directed film grossed more than $2 billion worldwide. But the subsequent installment, Rian Johnson’s “The Last Jedi” (2017), was bitterly divisive. The third film, Abrams’ “The Rise of Skywalker” (2019), was widely panned by critics and fans, alike.
After “The Rise of Skywalker,” “Star Wars” went dark on the big screen despite a litany of announced projects. The dry spell is set to be broken in May by Jon Favreau’s “The Mandalorian & Grogu.” The intervening years have been marked by streaming successes in “The Mandalorian” and “Andor,” but the future of “Star Wars” has felt increasingly uncertain.
Struggles over tone and vision have been frequent. The 2018 Han Solo spinoff “Solo: A Star Wars Story” saw its directors, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, fired during production and replaced by Ron Howard. Most found the mixed-and-matched result blandly disappointing.
More recently, Adam Driver, who played Kylo Ren/Ben Solo in the most recent “Star Wars” trilogy,” divulged to The Associated Press last year that he and Steven Soderbergh had developed a Ben Solo film with Kennedy and Lucasfilm’s support for two years before Disney chief Bob Iger nixed it. Fans were so irate that a plane was flown over Disney’s Burbank studios with a banner reading “Save ‘The Hunt for Ben Solo.’”
Instead, the only “Star Wars” movie of Kennedy’s stewardship to win widespread and prevailing approval from fans was arguably 2016’s “Rogue One.” Gareth Edwards’ spinoff was also a troubled production, leading to Tony Gilroy, eventual creator of “Andor,” overseeing reshoots. Yet despite that, “Rogue One” — taking place within “Star Wars” but outside of the main Jedi storyline — might be the only film of Kennedy’s “Star Wars” reign that managed to both stay true to the space odyssey’s tone and to break new ground.
Kennedy's fingerprints will be on many of coming “Star Wars” projects for years to come. That includes Shawn Levy's “Star Wars: Starfighter,” with Ryan Gosling, due out in May 2027, and a fleet of other projects in various stages of development.
FILE - Producer Kathleen Kennedy poses upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny' June 26, 2023, in London. (Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP, File)
Actor Keri Russell, left, and producer Kathleen Kennedy pose together at the AFI Awards at the Four Seasons in Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
FILE - Film producer Kathleen Kennedy, left, and director Dave Filoni are welcomed by R2-D2 and C-3PO, right, as they appear on stage during a fan convention called the Star Wars Celebration in Chiba, near Tokyo, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae, File)
FILE - Kathleen Kennedy, winner of the BAFTA Fellowship, poses with her award backstage at the BAFTA Film Awards in central London, Feb. 2, 2020. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP, File)
