The Breaking Point

Jujutsu Kaisen has undoubtedly been one of Studio Mappa’s biggest successes, which isn’t hard to see why given the quality of the animation. This, however, has finally led to a breaking point for the animators at Studio Mappa, who have long complained about production issues. The issues can even be traced back to Jujutsu Kaisen 0, which was supposedly rushed in a span of four months. More presently, employees have had enough as reports of low pay and impossible deadlines have emerged. Employees begging for delays and facing opposition from higher ups have begun to destroy morale, as evident by a recent outburst by employees on X. Once again, considering how many anime Studio Mappa tends to handle in a single year, these ludicrous deadlines are unsurprising. This is to say nothing of the NDAs most employees are forced to sign so no matter how bad things may seem from the outside looking in, things are certainly worse than what has been heard so far.

It’s difficult to say what will happen in the long run, not only with Studio Mappa but also anime in general. This culture of overwork is pervasive not only in Studio Mappa or anime as a whole, but also all of Japan, with many companies adopting this culture. The anime industry, however, has taken it to new heights due to its rapid growth in the western market. This has led to even more overwork and unrealistic deadlines for animators. Sooner or later this may lead to a drastic downgrade in quality from popular anime or even a shortage of manpower with many workers finally growing sick and tired of the abusive environment.

New episodes of Jujutsu Kaisen are currently airing Thursdays on CrunchyRoll.