I oppose the death penalty in very nearly every circumstance. I think that prisons should be more about rehabilitation that just brutish punishment (but the punishment exists at least in part to avoid extra-judicial attacks by the victims who feel the perpatrator was not justly punished). Some people, of course, cannot be rehabilitated and, in that case, I would lean toward life in prison.
I've been living in Japan the better part of a decade and don't have strong opinions on anime or the like (I couldn't tell you what KyoAni has made)