Anime Director Sheds New Light on the Industry’s Wild Schedules

The work conditions of the anime industry have been reported on time and time again throughout the years, with the details often revolving around harsh schedules and demanding requirements in producing upcoming series. Recently, the animation director for the upcoming Tokyo Twenty Fourth Ward took to Twitter and didn’t mince words when it came to the tough conditions that both himself and his team is facing in getting the series ready for its January premiere as a part of CloverWorks lineup for 2022. 

Beginning in October, director Kiminori Ito wasn’t shy about his pessimistic outlook on the production of Tokyo Twenty Fourth Ward, which is set to arrive on January 5th from Cloverworks:

“CloverWorks has three shows lined up for January. The fact that Tokyo Twenty Fourth Ward was announced last is because its schedule is the most behind, I’m guessing.”  

The following month, Ito shared the fact that the animation director’s role can often be limited when it comes to a crunched schedule for an upcoming project:

“You’ll see this happen all the time in recent anime: The layouts will be submitted, and the episode director will be progressing with the layout checks, but there is no animation director.”

While attempting to interject some humor into the proceedings, the director of Tokyo Twenty Fourth Ward shared some morbid comments regarding the outsourcing of potential work on the series:

“In a state of enlightenment* Don’t worry, we can always outsource to overseas-the key animation, the in-between animation, the painting, and the compositing! A chief animation director leads a leisurely life, with a wine glass in one hand as he makes slight and easy adjustments to just the faces. There was a time when I thought that way.”

In recent days, Ito has shown pictures of himself camping in the office as the premiere date approaches for the upcoming anime series. While CloverWorks hasn’t commented on the work schedule of their upcoming series, the animation director is obviously not thrilled about the harsh schedule being placed on himself and his fellow animators, and it’s yet to be seen if Tokyo Twenty Fourth Ward will suffer as a result. 

What do you think of these comments from animation director Kiminori Ito? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime. 

Via Kimonori Ito’s Twitter