It took Kyoto Animation Co. almost 40 years to establish itself as one of the leading animation production studios in the country.
Within a matter of minutes Thursday, dozens of the company's employees and much of the materials for its current projects were lost when its Kyoto studio was consumed by flames following an arson attack.
At around 10:35 a.m. on Thursday, a suspect who has been identified by police as Shinji Aoba allegedly stormed into the studio's main building and set it on fire.