One of the film's key animators was Makiko Futaki; she went on to become a lead animator for Studio Ghibli films such as "Kiki's Delivery Service", "Princess Mononoke" (1997) and "Howl’s Moving Castle" (2004), before passing away in 2016. Another key animator who worked on "Akira" was former animator Yoshiji Kigami; he animated several entire scenes in "Akira", such as the action scene in the sewers. He later joined Kyoto Animation, and died in the 2019 Kyoto Animation arson attack at the age of 61.