Kyoto Animation's works, particularly K-ON! have had an immense impact on my entire life, and it's no stretch to say that they are at least part of the reason I am still here today. I suffered many years of abuse and neglect throughout my childhood, and this left me with some serious and rather deep-seated issues which culminated in me attempting to take my own life several times. After this I spent a few years simply existing, living in my own personal purgatory, and attempts at treatment had no effect on me. One day in 2009, however, I heard about a show that recently began to air called K-ON! There was something about K-ON that I could not put my finger on; the characters were deliberately cute, the interactions were sugary and the plot was largely absent, but I didn't care. It was, and still is, fantastic. I fell in love with it immediately; I met online communities full of wonderful people, I started collecting figurines and merchandise of the characters, and I learned to play an instrument. More importantly, however, I also began to heal. This single animated show had such a fundamental impact on me and my entire psyche that it may well have saved my life where traditional therapies had failed entirely.

Today, my life is in a very good place; I have a home, a job and a wonderful fiancée to whom I am getting married in just over two months. Kyoto Animation still continues to have a profound impact on my life through their shows that I continue to watch and enjoy and through the wonderful communities connected to them that I take part in - and it is because of the love and dedication that goes into everything they make that I am actually here today to enjoy what I have now. For that, I will always be grateful to them.