Japan's booming animation industry is in crisis -- with low pay, long hours and a huge shortage of artists -- just as its global popularity has never been higher.

Three of the 10 feature films in the running for top prize at the world's most important animation festival in Annecy in France -- which ended Saturday -- are from Japan.

The country is the only real challenger to Hollywood's dominance of the labor-intensive genre.

But just as Japanese anime seemed to be threatening to loosen Pixar and Disney's grip on the popular imagination with the likes of the teen mega hit "your name." and a Nintendo Super Mario movie in the pipeline, long-running structural problems are in danger of sapping its rise.

With talk of a talent shortage, its greatest star, the legendary Studio Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki, has come out of retirement at 78 to make "How Do You Live?" -- which may be released next year -- with speculation that he could take on another feature if his health holds.

Miyazaki blazed an arthouse trail with such animated classics as the Oscar-winning "Spirited Away", "Howl's Moving Castle" and the fabulous "My Neighbor Totoro".

But Yoshiaki Nishimura, a former Miyazaki stalwart who produced the Oscar-nominated "The Tale of The Princess Kaguya", told AFP that the industry was struggling to "face up to a lack of animators, bad working conditions and perhaps a lack of creativity".

His peers also complain of low pay, a paucity of emerging young talent and burn-out in overworked animation teams who often put in 12- to 18-hour days.

Rising star Keiichi Hara, who showed his new film "The Wonderland" at Annecy after winning the jury prize there four years ago with "Miss Hokusai", feared for the future.

"Perhaps the biggest problem in the Japanese animation industry is that there are no more young animators," he warned.

Ayumu Watanabe -- whose beautiful "The Children of the Sea" was shown out of competition at the festival -- worried about visual "standardization" and lack of originality, not helped by the fact that "fewer and fewer animators can draw well by hand."

Even industry heavyweights like Mamoru Hosoda, the genius behind "Wolf Children", "The Boy and the Beast" and "The Girl who Leapt Through Time", have to put in punishingly long hours with relatively tiny teams.

He told AFP last year that his latest hit "Mirai" was inspired by his wife complaining that she was a widow to his work, calling him to account for leaving her "to bring up my son on her own".

Watanabe said that the industry has split into two extremes: "Big productions who can call on an incredible number of animators and at the other end of the scale, and more artistic projects that have a lot less money."

All eyes later this year will be on the release of "Weathering with You", Makoto Shinkai's fantasy follow-up to the record-breaking "your name.", now the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time.

Its production team unveiled a sneak preview of the supernatural story at Annecy, with a high-school runaway meeting a girl who can change the weather.

With a live-action version of "your name." in the works and U.S. television about to remake the cult Japanese series "Train Man" about an anime-obsessed youth, the genre has never been closer to the international mainstream.

Nishimura said that he has tried to keep the "Ghibli style and spirit going... with a mix of hand-drawn and computer animation" at Studio Ponoc, which he set up after Miyazaki -- a heavy smoker who was having health problems -- first hung up his pencil in 2013.

It scored its first hit in 2017 with "Mary and the Witch's Flower" and Nishimura premiered a series of new shorts at Annecy.

For him, the industry's woes are "the result of an accumulation of problems over the last five to 10 years", but he insisted his studio was trying to "create a new environment".

And as the wowed audiences at Annecy for Masaaki Yuasa's touching "Ride Your Wave" proved, despite its problems Japanese anime can still get things very right.

The story of love, surfing and grief struck a huge cord with critics at the French festival.

Amel Lacombe, whose company Eurozoom is a key French animation distributor, said the industry's travails are due to its rapid growth, and now "we are in a period of adjustment".

She believes that the Japanese authorities are waking up to anime's importance and global reach "as a export force". </s> An alleged arson attack on a respected Japanese animation studio left a shocked nation in mourning, as investigators looked to identify victims and determine a possible motive in one of the deadliest acts of violence in Japan’s modern history.

At least 33 people — many of them young — were killed a day earlier when a man appeared to douse flammable liquid through the Kyoto Animation Co. studio and set it alight, triggering an inferno, officials said. Some 36 others were injured, about 10 critically.

The blaze at the production house struck at a pillar of Japan’s anime industry, an obsession in the country. Kyoto Animation, known as KyoAni, had produced hits such as “Lucky Star,” “K-On!” and “Haruhi Suzumiya,” winning worldwide acclaim for its skilled drawings.

Outside the charred shell of the company’s workspace in Kyoto’s outskirts on Friday, crowds of well-wishers left flowers and messages of support for the victims. Many bowed, or knelt down and prayed as they offered their respects.

Police investigators, meanwhile, scoured the three-story building. Their probe covers suspected arson, murder and attempted murder, the Kyodo news agency reported.

A 41-year-old male suspect remained in police custody in the hospital after suffering burns all over his body, said Hiroyuki Sakai, deputy police chief in Fushimi, Kyoto. He said police would investigate the man’s circumstances once he had recovered sufficiently.

A woman who saw police detain the man a day earlier told reporters that he “seemed to be discontented, he seemed to get angry, shouting something about how he had been plagiarized,” according to Reuters.

The suspect had no connection with Kyoto Animation and was thought to have been living near Tokyo, public broadcaster NHK said.

[Suspected arson attack on Japanese animation studio leaves more than 30 dead]

Hideaki Hatta, a co-founder and president of Kyoto Animation, said Thursday that the studio had been receiving threats, including emails threatening murder. He said the attack had “broken our hearts.”

Witnesses said they heard a man yell, “Die!” at startled employees just before the building erupted in flames.

The tragedy was the worst mass killing in Japan since 2001, when 44 people died in a suspected arson attack on a gambling parlor in Tokyo.

“We are at a loss to imagine what drove him to commit such an act of extreme violence, if he was the arsonist,” the Asahi Shimbun newspaper said in a commentary on Friday.

Violent crime is unusual in Japan. On social media, many people offered condolences and expressed shock at the loss of life. Some posted creative tributes under the hashtag #PrayForKyoani.

Messages of sympathy and supported flowed from around the world following the disaster.

A GoFundMe page set up by Sentai Filmworks, a Texas-based animation company, had raised $1.3 million for victims and their families by Friday afternoon in Japan.

Pixomondo, another visual-effects company, offered its support. The attack on Kyoto Animation was “an assault on art itself,” CEO Jonny Slow said in a statement.

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news </s> Thirty-three people have died and dozens have been left injured after a suspected arson attack in an animation studio in Kyoto, Japan.

A man reportedly shouted “You die!” before setting fire to Kyoto Animation studio on Thursday, local media reports.

The fire started in the three-story building after the suspect sprayed an unidentified liquid accelerant, Kyoto prefectural police and fire department officials said, according to the Associated Press.

With 33 dead, the fire is the worst mass killing in Japan since a man stabbed and killed 19 people at an assisted living facility in western Tokyo in 2016. In 2001, 44 people died in a fire in Tokyo’s busy entertainment district, but that it ruled accidental according to the New York .

Thirty six others were injured.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the fire was “too appalling for words” in a post on Twitter, adding: “I would like to express my sympathies to the injured people and pray for a quick recovery.”

Japan has a famously low crime rate. The number of crimes fell to about 915,000 in 2017, the lowest level in the post-war era.

Here’s what to know about the suspected arson attack on Kyoto Animation Co.

Who is suspected of starting the fire?

A 41-year-old man was reportedly seen pouring flammable liquid and setting it alight. A Kyoto prefectural police spokesperson told CNN he had a backpack containing several knives.

Broadcaster NHK said the suspect had been detained in connection with the fire and was later taken to hospital for treatment. A witness told NHK that the suspect was burned on his armed and legs and complained that something had been “stolen” from him, according to the AP.

He has not been identified by authorities.

What is Kyoto Animation Co.?

Kyoto Animation, better known as KyoAni, is unlike many other animation studios. Founded in 1981 by producer Yoko Hatta, is known for its focus on quality rather than quantity, preferring to hire full time illustrators rather than freelance ones.

The studio has produced TV series and feature films, as well as publishing illustrated novels and manga.

What shows and movies have they produced?

Its hits include anime such as , and . Its anime adaptation of the manga is one of its best-known works. The TV series, a comedy about five high school girls who play in a band, was very successful when it aired in Japan in 2009, according to the Japan . It was also broadcast overseas.

, a feature film that arrived on Netflix in the U.S. last month, was hailed by critics and fans when it was released in 2016. The drama based on manga by Yoshitoki Oima deals with fracturing friendships and childhood suicide. The gave it a four-star review, calling it “a beguiling film: subtle, sensuous and delicate.”

How are the fans reacting?

Thousands of fans and anime industry professionals have taken to Twitter to pay tribute to the studio. Many praised Kyoto Animation for treating its employees well in an industry known for harsh working conditions and low pay. A labour shortage combined with a growing demand for content around the world has put pressure on studios in recent years.

Mike Toole, editor-at-large at Anime News Network, wrote: “Kyoto Animation are a rarity in the anime business: they treat their people well, they strive to own part of their works, and their creations are consistently excellent, at the very least on a technical level.”

Sentai Filmworks, a licensing company specializing in Japanese animation and film based in Houston, Texas, has launched a crowdfunding campaign called Help KyoAni Heal. The campaign has raised over $300,000 our of its $500,000 goal. </s> An arson attack on an anime studio in Japan has left at least 33 people dead and dozens injured in Japan’s worst mass murder in nearly two decades.

The perpetrator, who was also injured and has been taken into police custody, walked into the 1st Studio building of Kyoto Animation in Fushimi ward, Kyoto, at about 10.30am. He poured what is suspected to be petrol in multiple areas of the building before igniting it.

The prime minister, Shinzo Abe, called the attack “too appalling for words” and offered condolences.

There were more than 70 people in the building, which is Kyoto Animation’s main studio.

About 30 fire engines and ambulances went to the three-storey building after an explosion. Victims were taken to various hospitals in Kyoto.

The suspect, identified only as a 41-year-old male, was reportedly taken to hospital before being arrested by police, who said he had admitted starting the fire.

No motive for the arson attack has been reported, but Japan’s public broadcaster said he had shouted “drop dead” as he set the petrol alight.

Preliminary investigations by the police have uncovered no links between the subject, who has yet to be named, and the animation studio.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Firefighters at the Kyoto Animation building. Photograph: Kyodo/Reuters

“A man threw liquid and set fire to it,” said a Kyoto prefectural police spokesman.

Emergency calls to the city fire department reported there had been an explosion on the ground floor, while later calls included people shouting: “Help us, the fire is climbing.”

Images shot from a helicopter for NHK showed smoke billowing from the top floor and fire crews still battling the blaze of the badly damaged building hours after it had started. Fire crews said there might be more people left in the building.

The fire department said the three floors of the building covered a total of 700 sq metres and that every storey had been damaged by the fire.

Professor Yuji Hasemi, an expert in fire safety and materials at Tokyo’s Waseda University, told NHK that a combination of poor ventilation, an abundance of paper used by artists and the large amount of petrol likely caused the fire to spread too quickly for people to escape. No fire escape stairs were visible in images of the building.

Violent crime is rare in Japan, though it is not unknown. In July 2016, a mass stabbing at a care home by a former employee killed 16 and injured more. In September 2001, a fire at a building in the Kabukicho entertainment district of central Tokyo killed 44. Arson was suspected, but nobody was ever charged, meaning the Kyoto Animation attack is the worst confirmed mass murder in Japan’s post-war history.

Akidearest (@akidearest) I’m heartbroken seeing what happened to Kyoto Animation. I don’t know what that sick person must have had against that studio to set it on fire, but my condolences to all the hard working employees. I wish you all a safe recovery...

Kyoto Animation

Kyoto Animation, known as KyoAni, was founded in 1981 by Yoko Hatta, an anime producer. Her husband, Hideaki, serves as the company’s president. KyoAni has produced popular anime TV series and feature films, as well as publishing illustrated novels and manga. It is well known among anime aficionados around the world for its dedication to high-quality production techniques, with a catalogue that includes A Silent Voice: The Movie, K-On!, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Lucky Star. Its company headquarters are in Uji city.

Kyoto Animation has a reputation for treating its employees well in an industry infamous for harsh working conditions, long hours and, for junior animators, very low pay. The growth of the genre’s popularity worldwide and increased demand for content from streaming platforms such as Netflix has put even more pressure on the studios at a time when Japan is experiencing a severe labour shortage. Most studios are booked out with projects up to two years ahead.

Many anime artists are paid on a per-frame basis and tight deadlines make the work gruelling and long hours inevitable. Kyoto Animation bucks the trend by making its animators full-time employees. This allows them to spend more time on each image and create high-quality anime.

One of its best-known franchises is K-On!, a comedy about a band formed by high-school girls. It started life as a manga comic book, before Kyoto Animation created two TV anime series that aired between 2009 and 2010. It was also broadcast overseas and released on DVD in the UK. Kyoto also produced a film directed by Naoko Yamada – which followed the girls’ graduation trip to London – that was released at the end of 2011 and grossed ¥1.64bn (£12.2m) in Japan. The film featured a cafe based on the Troubadour in Earl’s Court, south-west London, which has become a popular destination for fans.

A Silent Voice, also by Yamada, which dealt with childhood suicide, was hailed by critics and fans when it was released in 2016. Although overshadowed at the time by Your Name, whose director Makoto Shinkai lavished praise on it, it still took £29.4m ($33m) globally.

• This article was amended on 23 July 2019 to correct the location of the fire. It was at the company’s studio in Kyoto’s Fushimi ward, not at the headquarters in Uji as an earlier version said. A misspelling of Fushimi ward has also been corrected. </s> At least 33 people have died in a suspected arson attack

At least 33 people were killed in a fire at the acclaimed Kyoto Animation Co. in Kyoto, Japan on Thursday. Dozens more were injured, some of whom are in critical condition. The fire appears to have been the result of arson, and police are waiting to question the suspect, who is also injured.

Firefighters worked for hours to contain the blaze, located in a residential area of Kyoto’s Fushimi=ku district.

Kyoto Animation’s president, Hideaki Hatta, said that the company had received threatening emails before the attack.

The manga and anime series produced by Kyotro Animation include “K-On!”, “Haruhi Suzumiya,” and “Violet Evergarden.”

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, tweeted, “So many people have lost their life and been injured as a result of the arson and murder case that took place in Kyoto today. It’s so tragic that I am at a loss for words.”

We invite you to share condolences for the victims in our Guest Book. </s> At least 12 people were feared dead after a suspected arsonist barged into an animation production studio in Japan’s city of Kyoto and started a fire in the early hours of Thursday. Around 35 people were injured, AP reported. Some reports, however, claimed as many as 24 people had died.

The fire erupted in the three-storey building of Kyoto Animation after the suspect spread an unidentified liquid to fuel the fire, Kyoto prefectural police and the fire department said. Fire department officer Satoshi Fujiwara said that 12 people, found on the building’s first and second floors, were presumably dead.

The injured along with the suspect, a 41-year-old man, have been rushed to the hospital, Kyodo News quoted the police as saying. The police said that eyewitnesses saw a man screaming “die” as he started the fire, adding that knives were found at the crime scene.

Footage from the scene showed thick smoke emanating out of the building as firefighters worked on extinguishing the flames, CNN reported.

A Kyoto city fire department spokesperson said that the department had sent 35 fire engines and other firefighting vehicles to the site, The Guardian reported. Kyoto Animation is known for anime productions like Sound! Euphonium, A Silent Voice and Violet Evergarden. </s> Parents and teachers have been told to be on guard against the dangers of Doki Doki Literature Club, after a 15-year-old boy who played the game committed suicide.

Head teachers in schools across the northern English city of Sunderland have been told to warn parents about the evils of Doki Doki Literature Club, after the death of a teenage boy who played the suicide-themed game.

The Manchester coroner’s office, which had been tasked with investigating the boy’s death, informed local authorities across the country about the dangers of the visual novel. This has led the Sunderland Safeguarding Children Board to issue a warning to teachers, who have in some cases passed the information on to parents.

While conceding that the game clearly states from the beginning that it is not suitable for children or people who are easily disturbed, concerned citizens have nevertheless claimed that the cute female characters appeal to children, expressing fear that the game’s dark themes may lead to further bloodshed.

Upon learning about the visual novel, the Manchester coroner said:

I believe the information is so concerning that this warrants my writing at this stage to make the local authorities aware of the issue so appropriate information can be disseminated. This has arisen due to the fact I am conducting the inquest into the death of a 15-year-old-boy who died earlier this year. Evidence obtained suggested he had used an online game called Doki Doki.

The chairman of The Sunderland Safeguarding Children Board, Sir Paul Ennals, stated:

The Sunderland Safeguarding Children Board and its national and regional partners all work together to protect children and young people and promote their welfare. Part of this is sharing concerns about issues and community safety messages on how they might be addressed. On this occasion it was to share information with schools about the death of a young person outside of our area, which the coroner at the inquest felt it was relevant to share with colleagues across the country.

The warning has apparently been heeded by some head teachers, with the head of Hetton Primary School, which teaches children aged 4 to 11, issuing a warning to parents on the school’s Facebook page:

This is the latest in a long line of moral panics in Great Britain concerning anime and video games that feature cute girls, although it may be the first case in which a game has had any links whatsoever to a child being harmed.

No information has been given about any other factors that may have led to the boy’s suicide. </s> An online game may pose a danger to children, a coroner has warned.

Local authorities across the country have received a warning over the interactive game Doki Doki Literature Club from Manchester’s coroner office, after an investigation into the death of a 15-year-old boy found evidence he had been playing it.

The Sunderland Echo reports that the coroner’s warning said: ‘I believe the information is so concerning that this warrants my writing at this stage to make the local authorities aware of the issue so appropriate information can be disseminated.

‘This has arisen due to the fact I am conducting the inquest into the death of a 15-year-old-boy who died earlier this year. Evidence obtained suggested he had used an online game called Doki Doki.’

The game is available on Microsoft Windows, macOS and Linux and can be bought from the easily downloadable digital store Steam.

Dubbed a ‘visual novel’, it appears at first to be a lighthearted dating simulator involving students in a literature club but is in fact a psychological horror and features suicide as a plot device.

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The game’s horror aspects have led to it being dubbed the ‘most messed up horror game’ of 2017 by reviewers.

Doki Doki Literature Club does open with a disclaimer stating that it is not suitable for ‘children or the easily disturbed’ and on Steam carries the warning ‘content in this product may not be appropriate for all ages, or may not be appropriate for viewing at work’.

However it features anime style female characters which could appeal to youngsters as it gives the impression that the game is lighthearted and fun.

Hetton Primary School in Sunderland have issued a warning to parents on Facebook about Doki Doki Literature Club.

Headteacher Nicola Hill said: ‘I wanted to warn parents, especially those who might have older children, about this game.

‘The internet is a great thing, but it is also a minefield.’

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Doki Doki Literature Club consists of player reading the game’s story, making decisions after being prompted and also features a poetry writing mechanic.

First released in September 2017, the game was created by developer Dan Salvato and had been downloaded two million times by January of this year.

The Samaritans are at hand if you need help. You don’t have to be suicidal to call Samaritans. Whatever you’re going through, call them free any time from any phone on 116 123 (this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit www.samaritans.org to find details of your nearest branch. </s> Japanese entertainment giant Sony on Tuesday unveiled a $1.9-billion deal to buy industry titan EMI Music Publishing, which has the rights to songs by the likes of Queen and Pharrell Williams.

The deal adds a catalogue of more than two million songs — including some of the greatest hits from the 20th century — to Sony’s already huge repertoire.

The agreement is Sony’s first major deal under new CEO Kenichiro Yoshida, who noted the music business has enjoyed a “resurgence” in recent years due to streaming services provided by companies such as Spotify and Apple.

With this purchase, Sony “is becoming one of the biggest music publishing companies, both in name and reality”, Yoshida told reporters.

“We are thrilled to bring EMI Music Publishing into the Sony family and maintain our number one position in the music publishing industry,” Yoshida said in an earlier statement.

“I believe this acquisition will be a particularly significant milestone for our long-term growth,” added Yoshira, who took the Sony helm last month.

Sony said it had signed a deal with Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala to buy its 60 percent holding, giving the Japanese firm a stake of about 90 percent.

The agreement values EMI Music Publishing at $4.75 billion, the Sony statement said, adding that “the closing of the transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including regulatory approvals”.

Yoshida also Tuesday unveiled Sony’s latest strategic plan, which aims to bolster its content business — pursuing the direction his predecessor Kazuo Hirai had taken to revitalise one of Japan’s best-known firms.

“We are a technology firm, but the technology means not only electronics but also entertainment and content-creation” in today’s world, Yoshida said.

Sony will continue to build up its content services — as shown by Tuesday’s deal — and also invest heavily in cutting-edge technologies including image sensors, he said.

“This is part of Sony’s strategy under Yoshida to beef up its entertainment businesses,” noted Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute in Tokyo.

“In the music business, copyrights are crucial. So the deal is meaningful and its price appears practical and reasonable,” the analyst told AFP, adding that success would depend on the quality of the content Sony creates in the future.

The electronics and entertainment behemoth last month reported record annual profits of $4.5 billion, a roaring recovery supported by better sales across the board and helped by box office blockbusters like its Jumanji reboot.

Those figures were seen as a fitting send-off for Hirai, who recently stepped down as the firm’s chief executive after spending the past six years pulling the firm out of deep financial trouble.

Hirai led an aggressive restructuring drive at Sony, cutting thousands of jobs while selling business units and assets.

EMI is the second-largest music publishing company by revenue and either owns or administers some two million songs, including classics by the likes of Queen, Sam Smith and Pharrell Williams.

As for Sony, it already owns 2.3 million copyrights including the Beatles catalogue, as well as being a massive player in IT, communications, film and gaming.

EMI holds a “comprehensive and diverse collection of copyrights for music and lyrics” from a “wide variety of iconic and popular songwriters”, the statement said.

Judy Garland’s “Over the Rainbow” continues to be a top-10 money-spinner even today, more than 75 years after its initial release, it added.

Current songwriters under its banner include Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Drake, Pink, Fetty Wap and Hozier.

Investors, however, appeared dubious about the acquisition and the new strategic plan, with Sony stock closing down nearly two percent, underperforming the wider market which was down 0.42 percent.
Japanese anime developers report that the industry is in crisis, even as its popularity soars in its native country. Among the reasons are low pay, long hours, and a huge shortage of artists – just as its global popularity reaches record levels.