I was very late to the “anime lifestyle,” but one of the first I ever watched (not counting shows that aired on TV before I even knew what anime was, like Yu-Gi-Oh! and Beyblade) was Haruhi Suzumiya.

What can I say? The anime was fantastic. The characters were loveable, the stories were funny, tense and sweet in equal measure and the animators even went out of their way to capture some of the books’ quirks, like Kyon’s narration and tendency to talk to people in his head. To top this all off, they made The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya into what is still my favourite movie of all time and even animated the spin-off and parodies! The art style changed for the latter two, of course, but the attention to detail was still evident in all the Haruhi works, with the production company even adding hints to future stories in each of the original Season’s episodes (which aired in non-chronological order, to further make the series unique) and adding further details in releases of the episodes to boot! Needless to say, their devotion to the series was incredible.

Fast forward to 2017 where I learned about this wonderful company called Kyoto Animation and a film they’d made called A Silent Voice. I read the manga in preparation for the western release and when I went to see it I was floored by the sheer quality of the animation, the music, all the intricate details in the fore and backgrounds, all the close-ups on characters faces and symbolism. I know some people hate that the film changed the manga’s ending but I loved the movie nonetheless.

The funny thing is, I had already read the Violet Evergarden books at this point but only after watching the film did I realise that Kyoto Animation was made the film and published those books. How amazing is that? I love the Violet Evergarden books so to think Kyoto had “done me two good deeds” in a single year? How wonderful!

Fast forward to 2018 and the Violet Evergarden anime and…it was a masterpiece. KyoAni adapted the story to a visual medium and told a narrative of their own design while also respecting the original’s characters and messages. And yet again; the intricacies, the symbolism, the emotions in everyone’s faces and the beautiful environments, the worldbuilding – that after each episode the studio would tweet out background information on whatever locations featured in it – everything spoke to the deep love and commitment everyone working on Violet Evergarden had for it.

Needless to say, hearing they were publishing yet more books, a Gaiden and a full length film was incredible news.

But then July 18th happened. Such a horrendous, pointless act of horror that stole and destroyed so many lives; destroyed so many years of work…Kyoto Animation’s dedication to their craft makes this such a terrible, terrible thing to have happen to them.

I’ll be honest: even I’m still processing this so I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like for the affected themselves. Everyone involved in the anime industry – other studios, actors, fans – mourn for them and for good reason. Kyoto Animation is an incredible studio with incredible works throughout its many years of service: it’s only after this happened that I realised they were responsible for the Haruhi anime too!

I hope they can recover from this. It’ll take time, maybe even years, to recover the loss of their work and even longer to overcome the human cost. Both the lives lost and the lives ruined will linger for too long in all our minds. But, if you’re reading this Kyoto Animation, know that we’re all thinking of you. We all love you for all you’ve done for us and we all want you to heal from this. However long it takes, we’ll be with you every step of the way.

It’s the least we can do.