Killer blaze strikes at pillar of anime industry

The campaign was started by Sentai Filmworks, which distributes Japanese cultural works in the United States. Most fans donated $50 or less.

Donor Darrian Harrison wrote: "This company produced so much anime that helped shape me ... most of them were absolute masterpieces."

L. C. Mendoza, another donor, said, "KyoAni's works have been a part of my childhood."

Fellow donor Mackenzie Haa said: "Kyoto Animation is a model for the anime industry and deserves so much better than this. I hope they come back stronger than ever after this tragedy".

Tributes to the victims poured in on social media. The hashtag#PrayforKyoAni has become popular.

Many netizens shared their favorite shows, and told how they had been shaped by them over the years. Most of the tributes voicing concern referred to staff members who may have lost their lives and their families.

But fans also lamented the potential artistic loss.

One Twitter user wrote, "Thousands of drawings, computers with important animation files ... whatever they currently have in the pipeline may have been very nearly or completely destroyed." Other users said the studio must have backups.

Xie Bing, 25, a Chinese student at Kyoto University, said she could not forgive the perpetrator.

"The young people at Kyoto Animation were beautiful and warm, and it is hard to accept they are gone," she said.