Fans of animated films rallied yesterday to attend the opening of the first film by Kyoto Animation across Japan since the fire that killed 35 of its employees at its chief studio in July.
The film, Violet Evergarden - Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll, was completed on July 17, a day before a man enters the company's three-storey building screaming "Death!" fire.
A number of renowned producers and veteran artists were among the victims of the accident, which also injured 34 others.
The Kyoto Animation put the names of all victims of the attack in the final sequence of the film, which will run for three weeks at 83 cinemas across the country.
The Japanese Animation Studio was deliberately set on fire on July 18, and Japanese authorities issued a warrant for the arrest of Shinji Oba Ho, the only suspect in the arson attack, but police retracted his arrest until he recovered from the burns he suffered in the incident.