There is no denying the debacle MAPPA Studios found itself in last year with Jujutsu Kaisen. When the show returned to air with season two, the anime was absolutely gorgeous, but things weren’t so pretty behind the scenes. By the time cour one ended, animators on Jujutsu Kaisen began critiquing the studio’s work conditions, and those complaints only multiplied from there. Now, a new video by Animator Dormitory is breaking down the issue after speaking with several MAPPA animators.
The video, which can be found here, went live after Animator Dormitory spoke with a handful of anonymous animators with experience at MAPPA Studios. It was there the channel learned three major issues cropped up on Jujutsu Kaisen that caused such stress.
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The first issue came down to deadlines as MAPPA Production did not spearhead Jujutsu Kaisen alone. The anime operates under the production committee system, so multiple companies back the anime financially. For Jujutsu Kaisen, MAPPA was given a predetermined release date by the team, and it was forced to start production on season two even when it was not ready.
As for the second issue, it comes down to retainer fees. In the anime industry, studios like MAPPA have set retainer fees for animators based on experience. MAPPA does have “higher than usual” fees in place for its workers, but given how low wages are in the anime industry, that isn’t saying much. Animator Dormitory says the artists interviewed admitted the pay was not high enough for the kind of crunch and overtime they faced.
And why was this crunch an issue? Well, that is the third reason listed by the animators. One of the studio’s projects faced a surprise delay behind the scenes, and this roadblock sparked a cascade effect with workers.
These three issues combined behind the scenes at MAPPA to create a toxic work environment. There is no way around how terrible conditions were for animators, but it is important to keep one truth in mind; MAPPA is not the only company tackling these issues. The anime industry from the ground up has an issue. Structurally, the anime industry is built to maximize profit and content while remaining risk adverse. As such, budgets and deadlines are paramount even beyond employees. As you can imagine, this kind of system is bound to blow up given how unsustainable it is for workers. And last year, the animators at MAPPA learned this harsh truth firsthand.
What do you make of these Team MAPPA confessions? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!
