Kyoto Animation

京都アニメーション

Kyoto Animation (Kyoto Animation Co., Ltd.), frequently shortened to KyoAni, is a Japanese animation studio located in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture. Youko Hatta (born Youko Sugiyama), who had previously trained under Osamu Tezuka as an artist at Mushi Production, established the company alongside her husband, Hideaki Hatta, in 1981. During its initial years, Kyoto Animation focused on finishing work for productions by other companies, but it launched its own drawing department in 1986, the year after it was incorporated as a limited company.
By the mid-1990s, the studio had built a solid reputation within the industry and formed connections with studios such as Gonzo, Shin-Ei Animation, and Sunrise. Kyoto Animation debuted its first fully in-house production—the first Munto OVA—in March 2003, followed by its first television anime, Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, in the summer of that same year.
The studio attracted global attention on July 18, 2019, when an arson attack razed its original facility (known as Studio 1) in Fushimi, resulting in the deaths of 36 people.