Attack on Titan: The Final Season - Part 2's animation studio MAPPA is facing criticism once again for allegedly overworking its employees.
According to Socials Frag, in a now deleted tweet that was originally posted on Feb. 7, episode director and animator Teruyuki Omine stated "I went home for the first time in three days...," implying that he had been at the office and working on the series for 72 hours straight. Omine received supportive replies from fans of the series telling him to get some rest and the animator has since deleted the tweet, but the simple statement has renewed discussions about the anime industry's work culture and in particular, the frequent criticisms that animators have leveled against animation studio MAPPA.
In 2021, veteran animator Ippei Ichii criticized MAPPA and its frequent collaborator, streaming giant Netflix, for underpaying animators who worked on the two company's productions. An anonymous animator previously alleged that the studio makes its animators work in "factory-like conditions," and forced them to work "until the sun came up," while yet another animator criticized the company's management for taking on too many projects at once. MAPPA publicly denied the allegations and stated that it offers its artists "fair rates." The studio has since tried to improve its image and attract new talent by opening a new office in Ogikubo with more employee amenities and offering artists who work on its upcoming Chainsaw Man adaptation pay rates and benefits that are higher than the industry average.
In addition to Attack on Titan and Chainsaw Man, MAPPA currently has numerous other animation projects in production, including the newly announced next season of Jujutsu Kaisen, the upcoming ballet drama Dance Dance Danseur, the Kakegurui Twin spinoff series for Netflix, and movies based on Yuri on Ice and Zombie Land Saga.
MAPPA isn't the only anime studio to face criticism for overworking its employees. Kiminori Ito, who is currently working as the animation director on studio CloverWorks' action series Tokyo 24th Ward, has publicly criticized the studio's management on his personal Twitter account. "The schedule is shit, which brings to mind the dark history of CloverWorks," they wrote. Ito also implied that they have had to pull extended hours on their project, and said "I'm aboard a sinking ship! We're about to go under!"
In February 2021, The New York Times published a report stating that full-time animators in Japan make as little as $200 USD a month. While the anime industry is currently booming, the report predicts a potential crash due to a continued exodus of experienced talent, who are leaving the anime business in favor of higher paying and less stressful careers in other fields. Legislation is currently being discussed in Japan that would place tighter regulations on how the anime and manga industry treats their employees.
Source: Socials Frag via Anime News Network
