The defense team for the man accused of carrying out a 2019 arson attack that killed 36 people at a famous Japanese anime studio in Kyoto called for his acquittal at the trial's first hearing Tuesday, arguing he was not mentally competent at the time.Shinji Aoba, 45, admitted at the Kyoto District Court to the attack, deemed as one of Japan's worst-ever mass murders. He faces five charges including murder over the blaze at the Kyoto Animation Co. studio's premises, according to the indictment."I felt I had no other option but to do what I did," said Aoba, from Saitama Prefecture, north of T…READ FULL ARTICLE
