Popular Anime, Animated TV Series Linked to North Korea by New Document Leak
Animation outsourcing is now a common practice in the industry globally.
A new report from North Korea of all places has been an unusual spotlight on the anime and animation industries. This week, discussion began buzzing online after news agencies were shared documents gleaned from North Korea by U.S. agencies. In those documents, storyboards and animation cells for a slew of projects were found ranging from Dahlia in Bloom to Invincible. So of course, the community wants answers.
The whole thing began after computer documents sourced from North Korean computers revealed behind-the-scenes content on U.S. and Japanese animated series. For anime fans, the main show that appeared in this document release was Dahlia in Bloom, an upcoming anime under Typhoon Graphics and Imagica Infos. As for the U.S. titles, storyboards surfaced containing characters from Invincible and Iyanu: Child of Wonder.
The documents, which were found by Nick Roy, were shared with the Stimson Center in Washington. It was there researchers found other documents like instructions in Chinese which were then translated to Korean. The notes are requesting tweaks to various storyboards. And with this in mind, the practice of outsourced animation has become a big deal.
After all, some netizens were quick to accuse U.S. and Japanese companies of defying sanctions against North Korea and hiring artists directly to work on projects. However, that is not the case. Not only have companies like Skybound Entertainment rejected that accusation, but given the file's inclusion of Chinese instructions, industry experts are shining a light on outsourced content.
In animation, outsourcing is an open secret whether you're in Japan or America. It takes a lot of time and manpower to animate TV episodes on a consistent basis, so of course, that translates to a hefty payroll. When budgets are being scrutinized behind the scenes, animation studios have long contracted work to foreign companies. Decades ago, we saw this with Disney as some of its animated slate was tackled by Japanese animators, and even anime series like Astro Boy brought in contractor studios. And in recent decades, studios have looked to Chinese studios for outsourcing.
Now, this documenting discovery has posed the question of whether North Korean animators are being subcontracted by larger studios in China after they get contracted on U.S. projects. The data is sparse given the secret nature of North Korea, but in 2022, the FBI did note animation as a field where North Koreans may solicit work. Discovered computer logs for North Korea shows a local server connecting with one in China, leaving cybersecurity experts to suggest the correspondence was about an animation gig. And thanks to this new data discovery, animation contractors are being eyed with close scrutiny.
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