A man sentenced to death over the 2019 arson attack on an animation studio in Kyoto, western Japan, has appealed the ruling.

The Kyoto District Court has disclosed that Aoba Shinji filed the appeal on Wednesday.

He was sentenced to death in January for the attack that killed 36 employees and wounded 32 at the studio of Kyoto Animation.

Aoba's lawyers had argued the man suffered from a severe mental disorder at the time of the attack and could not be held criminally responsible.

The defense team has already appealed the death sentence, one day after it was handed down.

Under the law, both the defendant and defense lawyers can file an appeal.

A relative of one victim visited Aoba at the detention center after the defense filed the appeal. Aoba reportedly said he had something to say about the psychiatric assessment that judged everything he said was a delusion.