Summary
Studio MAPPA’s reputation as a great anime studio is being tarnished by the controversy surrounding its toxic work environment for animators. Animators at Studio MAPPA are overworked and underpaid, and they often vent their frustrations on social media. Although Studio MAPPA attempted to resolve the problems by creating a better working environment, the problems persisted and were evident during the production of Jujutsu Kaisen season 2, causing the staff to member completely collapsed.
LEARNING MAP is one of the biggest animation studios of the past decade, but they’re also one of the most controversial. Since its inception, MAPPA has produced one hit anime after another, their most notable works include Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man and Attack on Titan season 4. With high quality animation and direction Overall, their anime always have incredible production values and are always popular. the talk of every anime season, but sadly not always for the right reasons.
Studio MAPPA has earned a reputation as a great anime studio, but that also makes it one of the most controversial. Although the anime that MAPPA produces is consistently high quality, controversy stems from what goes on behind the scenes, e.g. Studio MAPPA has been repeatedly criticized for creating a toxic work environment for animators in recent years.. Unfortunately, these are not problems unique to MAPPA and are very representative of the problems plaguing modern anime production in general, but MAPPA’s problems have received the most attention of the public and it’s hard to think of a studio responsible for that. many big hits.
How Studio MAPPA created a toxic work environment for its animators
Overwork and low pay make working for MAPPA a nightmare.
The first thing that needs to be addressed is how exactly Studio MAPPA creates a toxic work environment for its animators. According to freelance animator Mushiyo, MAPPA constantly overworked their staff, with animators having to work all night correcting drawings until sunrise and not digging Create animators properly before assigning work to them. Teruyuki Omine, episode director and animator for Attack on Titan season 4, infamously tweeted in 2022 that he couldn’t go home for three days, so it seems like this idea partly correct. Studio MAPPA is overworking its staff to the point of abuse.
Add to that the allegations that Studio MAPPA does not pay its animators fairly. Animator Ippei Ichii alleges that MAPPA allowed Netflix to pay only the minimum amount per cut when MAPPA was working on Yasuke, and claims of low wages have been substantiated by several animators many times. With all of that taken into account, it’s clear that MAPPA’s toxic work environment stems from a combination of overworking their animators and paying them too little for their quality. the amount of work they are expected to bring.
Studio MAPPA has made a seemingly sincere attempt to fix things
Things briefly seemed to get better at MAPPA, but it didn’t last.
In 2021, in the face of growing criticism of their work environment, Studio MAPPA has announced plans to build a “Studio Annex” building for their animators. Studio Annex is said to have features built around fostering a positive work environment such as warm wooden desks, open-plan living rooms and even a shop and cafe that will be open to the public. general public. Considering the timing of the announcement, it clearly feels like it was done for damage control, but it’s still good that MAPPA appears to be taking steps to become a better company than before.
How Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Disrupted Studio MAPPA
The high quality of Jujutsu Kaisen cost the animators.
Unfortunately, the production of Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 shows that Studio MAPPA hasn’t really fixed anything yet. In the middle of season 2, news suddenly appeared that Studio MAPPA had asked the animators to sign an NDA for the production of Jujutsu Kaisen, And Many animators participating in part 2 confirmed that MAPPA still forces them to do a ridiculous amount of work for an absurdly small salary.. This is clearly obvious to anyone who watches the credits of each episode; Later episodes of season 2 often featured dozens of key animators, a sign of serious production problems.
All of this comes to a head with Jujutsu Kaisen season 2, episode #14. Episode #14 is clearly a step down from the high quality of season 2, lacking excellent choreography and direction, and even featuring blatant static shots at certain points. Episode 14 was so heavily criticized that the director felt the need to apologize for not doing well. Considering Studio MAPPA’s history, the blame should only be placed on a toxic work environment that they did too little to fix, and the following developments have proven this to be true.
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2, episode #14 turns out to be just the crux of the matter. In the following weeks, many of the Jujutsu Kaisen animators had a collective meltdown on. The quality of the anime dropped significantly due to this issue, and episode #17 was even said to be only 30% complete when it aired. It’s clear that Studio MAPPA’s toxic work environment has long been unsustainable, and it’s hard to imagine things can continue like this.
Studio MAPPA’s problems are all too common in anime
MAPPA’s problems are sadly shared by many studios and production companies.
Unfortunately, the problems plaguing Studio MAPPA are very common in the anime industry. For example, One Piece animator Henry Thurlow has previously commented on the poor working conditions of the anime industry, and he was even hospitalized several times because his work was so tiring. Sword Art Online animator Shingo Adachi has also stated that because of how much anime is produced each year, studios rely heavily on “basically unpaid freelancers,” as so even if the movie someone works on is successful, the staff may not produce anything. almost profit from it.
However, if there is any anime that best illustrates the problems in modern anime production, it would be Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, which ironically is also a satire of Japan’s toxic chemicals. In addition to not even completing the opening animation until episode #9, the episodes were constantly delayed to the point Size 100 cannot finish airing by summer 2023 and will have to air the final three episodes around Christmas. Much of that stems from the fact that this is Bug Films’ first full-length production, so it’s a case of a studio expecting too much from an inexperienced staff, which, unfortunately, the Studio MAPPA isn’t the only studio guilty of doing so.
In recent years, the extreme levels of toxicity towards the creative industry have become increasingly publicized, and anime is no exception. Although there are many studios that treat their animators fairly, Studio MAPPA is not one of them, with the studio cultivating a toxic work environment centered around terrible schedules and salaries, and it’s even affecting the quality of their anime. What makes it worse is LEARNING MAP This type of practice in the anime industry is hardly an exception, and it’s clear that if change isn’t made soon, the industry will get worse and worse to the point of being unsustainable.
Source: Anime News Network (1), (2), (3), (4); Reddit (1), (2), (3); IGN India, Vox.
