President Hideaki Hatta of anime studio Kyoto Animation, which was targeted in an arson attack spoke at a conference in Kyoto on July 19th, the day after the attack. He stated, "I am devastated. It's just unbearable. I didn't ever think in my wildest dreams that it would come to this."

Company president Hatto was at the scene early this morning. At that time he was surrounded by reporters near the headquarters. When the fire first started, he thought "I guess it's just a small fire", but when he hurried to the scene he found heavy smoke rising up from the building. Thinking back on the incident, he said, "We couldn't even bring the car close enough, and the fire was so big we couldn't even get in side. We had to ask the fireman why we couldn't get in from the third floor. It was awful."

The victims were people anime elites from around the country dedicated to their craft. President Hatta stated with a heavy heart, "I can't help but think how awful it is that their lives and futures had to end like this. This is a serious blow to our company and the industry itself. Every member was an incredibly talented, loved member of the team."

It is alleged that the company had been receiving hate mail for years, such as "Your director sucks", and "This anime is awfully portrayed", among an unspecified number of anonymous emails. At this time, the studio filed reports with the Kyoto police in Uji. The company has also publicly stated that "It was all aimed at out works, rather than the company or particular staff". Regarding mail claiming that they were "ripped off" by the studio, President Hatto claims that "there was no such mail received of that nature". However, there were many times they filed reports with the police. There were measures taken to install security cameras in the headquarters, shops, and studios, but the company claims that "there was no prior information on the suspect".

The company took a big personnel loss, but past materials have all been "completely ruined" by the fire. Company president Hatta also also stated that "All the computers are also completely destroyed", and "The monetary damages? Massive. I couldn't even tell you". Details on whether there will be a joint funeral service has yet to be determined.