Hand-drawn animation takes a lot of work and effort to put in, but are the efforts bearing a fruitful result? Recently, X (formerly Twitter) has been talking about one thing, the crumbling lives of the MAPPA animators. Lets decode the Mappa working conditions alligations and controversies surrounding the studio.
MAPPA is a well-known name in recent years for anyone who watches anime. I mean, Attack on Titan season 4 and some other major anime in the past two to three years are from MAPPA.
Read More: Attack On Titan Ended! Here are a few more simialar animes which you might enjoy.
So, what made the animators who are working on some major projects come out and blame the studios?
How many projects is MAPPA working on
Mappa has announed that they are currently working on six differnt animes. Six might not be a big number when you look at it, but considering an average of 18 episodes of anime with good animation quality. And including the production requiring staff of 360 carrying bags under their eyes to keep up with the animation quality and the deadlines, suddenly 6 is no small number.
MAPPA has gained some attention with its remake of the old classic Dororo and Attack on Titan season 4, and that resulted in them accepting the anime adaptation projects. When Attackattack on Titan season 4 part 2 aired, we saw the animators who looked so tired with no sleep, and that’s what’s happening right now.
The latest buzz also says that MAPPA mainly hires young and ambitious animators and exploits them for profit. So it’s greedy at the end of the day. Animators ask SAG-AFTRA, which is known for the strike against the monopoly of big production companies exploiting small artists and workers in the industry, to speak for them on the world platform.
Twitter’s take on Mappa Working Conditions
Ah yes, Twitter, is the ground for controversies and debates. Recently, with Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 18 airing, news started to get out that the episode was completed mere hours before the release.
Usually what happens is that they try to stay a week ahead of the release date schedule, but it looks like that’s not the case here. Several leaks started to come out saying that the working conditions are terrible and that many are planning to leave the studios.
Is this the end? Well, most probably not since this is not the first time MAPPA has faced a situation like this, but this is not a simple issue that can be ignored.
Jujutsu Kaisen’s Director speaks up on X
みんなは俺みたいなクズじゃないから、みんなの言う同情や励みが本心からのものだろうとは分かるが、納得のいかないものを世に出してしまった直後にそういうのは逆に効くので、今はただ…そっとしといて欲しい。
今後の仕事で巻き返す。それまでは大作を汚した最低アニメーターとして生きる。— 貞元北斗 Hokuto. S (@azureoekaki) October 26, 2023
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
This translates to :
Everyone is not trash like me, so I know that everyone’s sympathy and encouragement must be from the bottom of my heart, but right after releasing something that I’m not satisfied with, that kind of thing will have the opposite effect, so for now, I’m just …I want you to leave me alone. I’ll make up for it in my future work. Until then, I will live my life as the worst animator who has ruined a masterpiece.
Ookubo Shunsuke, the director for episode 12 of Jujutsu Kaisen season 2, took to Twitter to post a disturbing photo of one of the protagonists of Shirobako( an anime about the anime industry) hanging herself, unable to face the work conditions.
Not only these but the studios are getting called out by many others on the platform.
When Jujutsu Kaisen Zero was announced, march 2021 fans were overjoyed by the news. Recent leaks say that the whole movie was forced to fit into a schedule of just four months. JJK animators expressed their agitation since then but until recently it stayed in the shadows.
MAPPA might change its ways
MAPPA has gained a quite reputable name for itself, landing itself in a bunch of projects. All the previous anime, great animation, and other things about the studios are not there. Well the animation quality is still there but at the cost of the animator’s health.
Users on Twitter began to call out people who praised the studios on the current work, saying that the people deserving the praise are the directors and the departments working on the animation.
Is it just MAPPA?
Well, the short answer is no. The problems go beyond just Mappa working conditions, and concerns the future of the anime industry as a whole. Although Mobile Suit Gundam: Mercury Witch at Bandai Namco Filmworks was well-received by critics, the series had production issues. The fact that more than ninety performers were brought on board to finish the anime took fans by surprise.
“The most recent episode of Gundam Witch from Mercury featured a whopping 94 actors for a 20-minute segment,”
one shocked internet user said. Absolute anarchy. Furthermore, while thanking the crew for their work, Marie Tagashira, the character designer for The Mercury Witch, seemed to have deliberately left out several names.
We hear people ready to quit their jobs rather than work under such conditions. Maybe it’s high time that the anime studios focus on the staff just the way they focus on the profits. Of course not all animation studios are greedy and ignore the working conditions, but the fact that such companies are something people want to avoid.
Well, the fault is not completely on the studio’s side. Rather than praising the animation studio, we need to start giving credit to the staff and the directors working on a project. When the name goes completely to the studios, things like this will happen.
Nevertheless, we stand with the animators, and like many fans, we wait for them to get the treatment they deserve. Stay up to anime news with Orianime.
-Written by Rishwik Talluri
