Six months have passed since the fatal Kyoto Animation Co. arson attack (see below). Yoshiji Kigami, then 61, a board director of the company widely known as KyoAni, who contributed to laying the foundations for the anime production firm that has fans both at home and abroad, was among the 36 victims.
When Kigami was young, he produced a picture book. Though he was known as a genius within anime production circles, he was reserved and preferred life away from the spotlight.
Ex-colleagues of Kigami have begun converting his picture book into an anime, saying that they want to share his talents with today's children.
Kigami was from Osaka Prefecture. When he was a vocational school student, he applied for a job at Tokyo-based Shin-ei Animation Co., which is popular releases including the Doraemon series.
Toshiyuki Honda, 69, who was a senior colleague of Kigami, still remembers the impact he felt when the then president of the company showed him pictures Kigami had drawn.
Kigami was capable of drawing a wide variety of images, from those for little children to those for adults that looked like American comics.
Honda advised the president, "You should employ him immediately."
In 1979, Kigami quit school and joined Shin-ei Animation. From the beginning he showed an outstanding skill set.
Within two years, he was promoted to the post of animation director and tasked with supervising drawing, a post that usually takes eight years to reach.
In 1982, Honda, Kigami and some other colleagues left Shin-ei Animation to establish their own production company, which was called Animal-ya. The company was the predecessor to today's EkuraAnimal.
It was in 1987, in the wake of the unexpected death of the company president, when Kigami produced his picture book.
Due to the goodwill of the president's family, insurance money was given to the company. Employees came up with the idea of making a picture book without worrying about the number of readers and aiming to touch the hearts of children.
Kigami took charge of drawing the pictures and writing the story.
The picture book is titled "Chiisana Jamu to Goburin no Oppu," which can be translated as "Little boy Jamu and Oppu the goblin."
The story is a tale about a boy who considers what bravery is as he grows up.
Characters in the picture book are so vividly depicted that they look like those in anime movies.
Kigami made rough drafts for another seven books. During the initial stages, the company had considered turning the picture book into an anime series.
But eventually, Kigami left the company and the plan was not realized.
At Kyoto Animation, Kigami mainly supported other staff, and his name rarely appeared in anime credits.
But Honda said, "KyoAni continues because Kigami fostered younger colleagues."
After the arson attack, Honda read the picture book again and began thinking, "It's our role to make the product he left behind for children."
One thousand copies of the picture book were issued and sold on a small scale at events and other occasions. Honda is soliciting former colleagues to produce an anime version of the picture book.
"Kigami left his desire to share his imagination with children in the picture book. I believe he would be glad," Honda said.
-- Fatal arson attack on Kyoto Animation
On the morning of July 18, 2019, Shinji Aoba, 41, allegedly splashed gasoline around at Kyoto Animation's No. 1 studio in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto, before setting the building aflame. In the arson attack, 36 were killed and 33 injured, some seriously. An arrest warrant was issued for Aoba on suspicion of murder and other crimes.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
