First up, in 2006, was a Kyoto Animation-produced TV series based on Key’s Kanon visual novel, which was followed by a TV series and theatrical feature for Key’s Air and a TV series and feature film adapted from Key’s Clannad.
Much of that is thanks to Key’s collaborations with Kyoto Animation, which has adapted three of Key’s games into anime form, toning down sexual content while doubling down on lovingly drawn artwork and gentle emotional exploration.
Key specializes in erotic visual novels, a niche category within a niche category of video games, and yet, it’s earned fans around the world, many of whom have never seen the company’s pantheon of cute female characters in undressed form.
It’s not just consumers of Kyoto Animation’s anime output who are grieving, though, but the company’s creative partners as well, including Osaka-based software developer Key. The July 18 arson attack on Kyoto Animation, which claimed the lives of 35 employees, has deeply saddened the international anime fan community. Clannad creators hope Kyoto Animation will continue to “give courage to people in Japan and throughout the world.”