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[March Climber]

Here’s the ongoing story:



This is honestly sad news for some out there(myself included) because these guys along with a few select other animation studios have been evolving cinematography in anime lately, so much so that other studios have been slowly following suit.

Part of the problem is that the leadership behind Mappa has simply accepted way too many projects on a very strict schedule, spreading everyone as paper thin as possible and they’re being worked to death. While this isn’t the first time this has happened, it still sucks to see the same old story of greed and burnout for such a great animation studio. I’m not sure how things will pan out for after JJK Season 2 ends.

For the few anime fans on here I just wanted to give this heads up.

 

[Dice]

Mappa becoming the job at the start of Zom 100

 

[Krieger]

An episode director posting a drawing of a girl about to commit suicide should tell you more than enough about how fucked up the situation is.

 

[Mistake]

I could tell by the recent JJK animation that something wasn't right. Sad to hear

 

[March Climber]

I could tell by the recent JJK animation that something wasn't right. Sad to hear

Exactly, and it sucks to see especially after we had such an incredible, incredible episode a few weeks ago with Yuji vs Choso.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Exactly, and it sucks to see especially after we had such an incredible, incredible episode a few weeks ago with Yuji vs Choso.

The latest episode was by far the best one.

For once MAPPA have delivered with what Zoomers proclaim is the "GOATED" studio when they've never been that good but now? They've finally proven themselves. Their business practices on employees have always been bad, the AoT production was awful too with staff not being able to go home and sleep under desks. After Masao Murayama left MAPPA became a content machine.

 

[Valonquar]

Fuuuuuck no. I need more Vinland Saga.

 

[Fbh]

It sucks that so many Japanese animation studios are seemingly unable to treat their workers right.
I can only imagine the industry is sustained by idealistic talented people who accept horrible working conditions for the sake of having their "dream job". Otherwise I can't imagine anyone wanting to get into this industry.

 

[Hugare]

MAPPA had too much on their plate for quite a while now: Attack on Titan, JJK, Chainsaw Man, Vinland Saga etc.

Vinland Saga, AOT and JJK all in the same year is jut insane

Either grow their teams like hell or calm down a bit

 

[EviLore]

JJK season 2 is amazing. The animators need to be rewarded for work that good, not treated like slaves.

 

[Mistake]

JJK season 2 is amazing. The animators need to be rewarded for work that good, not treated like slaves.

About 3-4 episodes the fights felt really unpolished. Not something I saw from mappa before, but maybe it's just me. The most recent episode was better

 

[LordCBH]

Mappa’s horrific work practices have been quite well known for a long ass time now. I am glad it’s blowing up in the leaderships face.

 

[Paltheos]

Coincides with what I've heard so far. The gossip I've heard is that the studio owner wanted to expand quickly and kept biting off more than the staff wanted. A crash might be for the best, for the staff's sake.

 

[March Climber]

For once MAPPA have delivered with what Zoomers proclaim is the "GOATED" studio when they've never been that good but now? They've finally proven themselves.

I think they caught on to what Mappa was attempting and saw the potential in the studio before most other anime fans had started to take notice. It became about more than just the animation itself.

For me I noticed it when the Chainsaw Man anime released. They had figured something out that a lot of episodic anime studios(and even some OAV/movie studios) haven’t even touched upon yet. It’s hard to describe but it felt like an actual movie director stepped in and had camera rigs set up for most scenes.

Things felt way more dynamic, there were more “tracking shots” and “one takes” etc. Even the way some static shots were framed felt more impactful and purposeful than other shows. This on top of their color grading choices for certain shows just made it feel like they had finally found a really good groove for cinematography and they stood out head and shoulders above most of the other studios that do episodic content.

For me it’s similar to, during the PS2 generation, the difference in watching a usual cutscene in a video game and then you watch a cutscene in Metal Gear Solid 3. I would look at the cutscenes of that game and really be taken back by how they truly stood at a different level than most other games of that generation, regardless of the graphical quality compared to it’s peers(I think at this point games like Half-Life 2 were out). And Mappa’s earlier works remind me of playing MGS 1 and MGS 2 where I’m thinking “wait a minute… this studio is onto something, this is different.”

To me, the things this studio(and some others who have been putting work into cinematography) managed to pull off is seen as a good thing for anime overall, because the conversation has shifted to being about more than just the animation itself. However, something really has to change with their working conditions because I’d only want that level of cinematic quality from other studios if they aren’t being worked to death.

 

[InterMusketeer]

I've never seen anything by this studio. Looking at their output it's all stuff I have no interest in.

Hope they can improve working conditions though.

 

[Draugoth]

I hope it does. Japanese Animators deserve better for the ammount of work they put out.

 

[Krieger]

According to Reddit, one of the animators working on the newest episode modeled a building after MAPPA's, made sure it gets destroyed and his colleagues liked this.

 

[mortal]

I've been hearing horror stories about Japan's animation industry for years and years.
Given that anime is celebrated and cosumed the world over, you'd think there would be a lot more consideration and respect for the well-being of the people who make it all possible.

Traditional frame-by-frame animation is one of the most challenging art forms around, and I say that as someone with very amateur-level experience.
I cannot imagine the sheer amount of effort and discipline it takes to do it at the highest levels while working in a fiercely competitive industry to boot.
Many of these animators are some of the most talented artists working in relative obscurity, so at the very least one would expect them to be fairly compensated and not driven to the point of burnout.

 

[MayauMiao]

Aww man just when I start to get into Chainsaw Man.

 

[March Climber]

Aww man just when I start to get into Chainsaw Man.

Watch season 1 and enjoy it anyway, to witness how great of a job their animators have done with the material.

CM might join One Punch Man on the list of potentially great anime on infinite hiatus.

I've been hearing horror stories about Japan's animation industry for years and years.
Given that anime is celebrated and cosumed the world over, you'd think there would be a lot more consideration and respect for the well-being of the people who make it all possible.

Traditional frame-by-frame animation is one of the most challenging art forms around, and I say that as someone with very amateur-level experience.
I cannot imagine the sheer amount of effort and discipline it takes to do it at the highest levels while working in a fiercely competitive industry to boot.
Many of these animators are some of the most talented artists working in relative obscurity, so at the very least one would expect them to be fairly compensated and not driven to the point of burnout.

Something will eventually give, and strangely enough a power play has allegedly been made with Dragonball Daima. There is a big rumor that for Daima, the animation studio made a secondary deal with a streaming service and they are skipping Shueisha and TOHO TV-style release for that series, because Super is already locked down behind both companies and it can only come back on a very strict TV schedule(which would mean more animators working overtime to get things out every 7 days for months on end).

Daima might end up looking 2x better than DB Super, which will probably piss off super fans, because a ton of them will never know the 'why' behind it all.

 

[Ballthyrm]

Working conditions will not improve until people start valuing Animation for what it is.

If we treat anime as disposable mindless fun , to be consumed without thought or care about how it is made that's how the people are going to be treated.

It you compare it to junk food and how it is made, by people on minimum wage who couldn't care less on what they are making and are thought of as replaceable cogs by management that's what's the animation industry in Japan right now.

Basically McDonald's but for anime.

I won't see that changing until people are prepared to pay for a good anime like they do for a good restaurant.

 

[Dane]

I've been hearing horror stories about Japan's animation industry for years and years.
Given that anime is celebrated and cosumed the world over, you'd think there would be a lot more consideration and respect for the well-being of the people who make it all possible.

Traditional frame-by-frame animation is one of the most challenging art forms around, and I say that as someone with very amateur-level experience.
I cannot imagine the sheer amount of effort and discipline it takes to do it at the highest levels while working in a fiercely competitive industry to boot.
Many of these animators are some of the most talented artists working in relative obscurity, so at the very least one would expect them to be fairly compensated and not driven to the point of burnout.

It's because most studios actually get the scraps from profit sharing, the production committee made with various companies foots the bill in exchange for the bulk of the profit and voting power. Some studios like KyoAni who actually pay salaries and hire staff as permanent is because they do a lot of successful original anime, therefore owning them, and even with adaptations like Dragon Maid they pay for part of the costs to have a bigger profit share and power.

It's like game development, company A develops a videogame product, but company B is the one who financied it, therefore they have the power to make demands and get most of the money.

 

[March Climber]

Working conditions will not improve until people start valuing Animation for what it is.

If we treat anime as disposable mindless fun , to be consumed without thought or care about how it is made that's how the people are going to be treated.

It you compare it to junk food and how it is made, by people on minimum wage who couldn't care less on what they are making and are thought of as replaceable cogs by management that's what's the animation industry in Japan right now.

Basically McDonald's but for anime.

I won't see that changing until people are prepared to pay for a good anime like they do for a good restaurant.

What would be seen as a realistic solution for this problem?

 

[Doom85]

Watch season 1 and enjoy it anyway, to witness how great of a job their animators have done with the material.

CM might join One Punch Man on the list of potentially great anime on infinite hiatus.

Actually, with CSM, MAPPA choose not to deal with any committee and footed the entire production bill themselves which is rare and it did pay off (ignore the click-baiters who claim it flopped, they were listing only Blu-Ray sales from a specific website which most Japanese fans would not order from, as the CSM BRs on MAPPA’s own site came with a bunch of extra goodies, and most otaku in Japan who buy BRs are collectors due to the high prices and would want all the extra goodies. Not to mention Crunchyroll definitely paid them a lot to get the streaming rights). It’s been stated a lot of people who work at MAPPA are huge fans of the mangaka Tatsuki Fujimoto and want to adapt everything he’s written (the series Fire Punch, the one-off volumes Look Back and Goodbye Eri).

Honestly, after JJK (since it’s their highest selling series), Chainsaw Man is the most secure series for them to prioritize working on based on its popularity and the love the studio has for it specifically. If they start delaying projects due to overworking what staff they have, I would say Zombieland Saga, Hell’s Paradise, Vinland Saga, and/or Campfire Cooking in Another World are more likely to have announced or potential follow ups pushed back.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Working conditions will not improve until people start valuing Animation for what it is.

If we treat anime as disposable mindless fun , to be consumed without thought or care about how it is made that's how the people are going to be treated.

It you compare it to junk food and how it is made, by people on minimum wage who couldn't care less on what they are making and are thought of as replaceable cogs by management that's what's the animation industry in Japan right now.

Basically McDonald's but for anime.

I won't see that changing until people are prepared to pay for a good anime like they do for a good restaurant.

Are you a weeb? (I´m not). But i am under the impression than in japan is a common practice to buy the Blu-Ray of animes. Also,there is a shit ton of marketing and adversting; tie-in products for example. Also, how the anime and music industry are closely realated and benefir each other, alongside manga.

In the west, anime and manga are more popular than ever. (Thanks to streaming and the explotion of otaku culture).

I dont think is a "WE" issue, but more like Japanese Culture/industry Issue. The same shit can be said about the Idol culture for example. And I remember Hidetaka Miyazaki´s face when reciving the The GOTY Awards for Elden Ring; He was looking at the award confused and perplexed; like thinking: "Do people receive awards for making games?"

And in the reddit post, it said that a lot of pressure is comming from the TV scheduling and all the implications and costs of delaying it.

 

[bender]

JJK season 2 is amazing. The animators need to be rewarded for work that good, not treated like slaves.

JJK S1P1 is on sale on iTunes for $7.99. Worth a blind buy?

 

[EviLore]

JJK S1P1 is on sale on iTunes for $7.99. Worth a blind buy?

If you like shounen action series it’s a great one. Season 2 is where it gets a new director and goes into uncharted territory of crazy, but that’s a direct continuation of the story.

Crunchyroll sub is probably your best bet though!

 

[bender]

If you like shounen action series it’s a great one. Season 2 is where it gets a new director and goes into uncharted territory of crazy, but that’s a direct continuation of the story.

Crunchyroll sub is probably your best bet though!

I don't do subs often. I just take fliers when seasons hit $4.99 on iTunes ($7.99 in this case). I like Dr. Stone most recently. Chainsaw Man and Demon Slayer are not really my cup of tea not that I hate them or anything.

 

[Doom85]

I don't do subs often. I just take fliers when seasons hit $4.99 on iTunes ($7.99 in this case). I like Dr. Stone most recently. Chainsaw Man and Demon Slayer are not really my cup of tea not that I hate them or anything.

I want to check out Dr. Stone, but I’m waiting to see if they end up animating the whole manga, if they do I’ll go anime but otherwise I’ll go manga.

 

[bender]

I want to check out Dr. Stone, but I’m waiting to see if they end up animating the whole manga, if they do I’ll go anime but otherwise I’ll go manga.

The first season really hooked me and I still haven't been able to power through the Stone Wars arc in S2.

 

[EviLore]

I don't do subs often. I just take fliers when seasons hit $4.99 on iTunes ($7.99) in this case. I like Dr. Stone most recently. Chainsaw Man and Demon Slayer are not really my cup of tea not that I hate them or anything.

Thematically it's a bit like Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man, but overall it's closer to HxH. Season 2 is kind of like Yorkshin City in a way. Very loose comparisons though!

 

[Doom85]

Thematically it's a bit like Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man, but overall it's closer to HxH. Season 2 is kind of like Yorkshin City in a way. Very loose comparisons though!

I do want to give JJK another try, I was thrown off initially by how eerily similar the first two episodes of JJK were to the first two episodes of Blue Exorcist (a Shonen anime from the early 2010’s). Sure, Shonen often have similarities, but this was nuts how many similarities there were. And I know I’m not alone as I saw others make the comparison too.

But I have heard JJK does go on to definitely forge its own identity.

 

[EviLore]

I do want to give JJK another try, I was thrown off initially by how eerily similar the first two episodes of JJK were to the first two episodes of Blue Exorcist (a Shonen anime from the early 2010’s). Sure, Shonen often have similarities, but this was nuts how many similarities there were. And I know I’m not alone as I saw others make the comparison too.

But I have heard JJK does go on to definitely forge its own identity.

Definitely worth sticking with. Great characters and creative fights throughout.

 

[March Climber]

I don't do subs often.

As someone who views dubs regularly, the JJK dub is great. Every voice is fitting of the character and they do a great job performance-wise. The only issue is Crunchyroll's inconsistent dubbing schedule. Sometimes you're waiting 1 week, sometimes 3 weeks, sometimes you wait up to 2 months. It makes it difficult when everyone's discussing the latest stuff and instead you're patiently waiting.

 

[bender]

As someone who views dubs regularly, the JJK dub is great. Every voice is fitting of the character and they do a great job performance-wise. The only issue is Crunchyroll's inconsistent dubbing schedule. Sometimes you're waiting 1 week, sometimes 3 weeks, sometimes you wait up to 2 months. It makes it difficult when everyone's discussing the latest stuff and instead you're patiently waiting.

Sorry, I meant subscription services. And I usually pickup dubs for anime seasons mostly because I like to multitask.

 

[March Climber]

Sorry, I meant subscription services.

Ah okay, my bad.

And I usually pickup dubs for anime seasons mostly because I like to multitask.

Same here. It especially helps with shows that are more known for dialogue over animation.

 

[navii]

Gf loves this show. When we were in Japan recently it was not unusual to see fans of the show taking selfies with the characters on posters and display stands.

 

[Kenpachii]

Do they not have like workhour laws over there?

 

[Vlodril]

Do they not have like workhour laws over there?

I know the work like culture is kinda insane in most asian countries but there should be some minimum protections for workers. Shouldn't the government mandate specific working conditions?

 

[MayauMiao]

Anime industry looks absolute brutal:

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

Mappa is about to I.M.P.L.O.D.E.

 

[Krieger]

Well, looks like shit is getting even shittier at MAPPA. Animators are posting "I want to die quickly" on Twitter.