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Man Admits to Arson Attack That Killed 36: ‘I Went Too Far’

He reportedly started the fire at an animation studio after accusing them of stealing his work.

A Japanese man has pleaded guilty to starting a fire at an animation studio that killed 36 people, telling a court Tuesday: “I think I went too far.” The fire at the Kyoto Animation studio in 2019 became one of the deadliest murder cases in Japanese history, with most of the young animator victims killed when they became trapped on the studio’s upper floor. Another 32 people were injured in the blaze. Shinji Aoba, 45, was reportedly motivated to carry out the attack after wrongly accusing the studio of stealing his work. He also nearly died from burns, and now faces five charges including arson, attempted murder, and murder. “I felt I had no other option but to do what I did,” Aoba said at the Kyoto District Court on Tuesday. “I didn’t think so many people would die and now I think I went too far.”