Photo/Illutration A high school brass band plays the theme song of “Sound! Euphonium,” one of Kyoto Animation Co.’s popular works, at a culture center in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, on Dec. 15. (Rikako Takai)

UJI, Kyoto Prefecture--A high school brass band that inspired a popular animated TV series by Kyoto Animation Co. led a tribute concert for the 36 employees of the company who died in the July arson attack.

A cultural center in Uji that served as the venue for the Dec. 15 concert also appears in “Sound! Euphonium,” a manga story that was turned into a TV series and a feature length film.

Bands from Kyoto Subaru High School in Kyoto’s Fushimi Ward, which cooperated in producing the TV series, and other schools played the theme song and other tunes to provide encouragement for Kyoto Animation, also known as Kyoani.

Uji city and Keihan Electric Railway Co., which both have deep connections with “Sound! Euphonium,” organized the tribute concert. Part of the concert revenue will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross Society on the request of Kyoani.

About 1,200 people attended the show.

Mana Kadomatsu, 16, a second-year student who plays the tuba, said she longed to be a member of Kyoto Subaru High School’s brass band after watching the TV series during her junior high school days.

“I learned from the animation that we can overcome difficulties,” the student said. “Today, I played to encourage Kyoani.”

“Sound! Euphonium” describes the struggles and conflicts of brass band club members at the fictitious Kita-Uji High School as they aim to perform at a national competition.

Scenes modeled after Uji city, as well as train stations and shrines along Keihan Electric’s train lines appear in the animation.

In August 2015, to prepare for the second season of the TV series, Kyoani collected information from Kyoto Subaru High School’s brass band that performed in a competition of the Kansai region.

About five Kyoani staff members observed the band’s morning practices, their behavior on the stage wings immediately before a performance, and the awards ceremony.

After taking pictures and videos of band members, the Kyoani production staff reflected them in the animated series.

The series showed members waiting anxiously for their turn to perform as well as their acts of encouraging each other on the stage wings.

Kyoto Subaru High School was listed in the credits of the series.

Even after the TV series ended, the school and Kyoani continued their relationship.

The studio, for example, has sent DVDs and tickets to the school for each new work released.

After the arson attack at Kyoani’s No. 1 studio in Kyoto’s Fushimi Ward, brass band members of the high school folded origami paper cranes and solicited donations for the company.

(This article was written by Rikako Takai and Takuya Yamazaki.)