It is no news that MAPPA has brought to entertainment fans some of the most significant and exceptionally immaculate manga-based anime adaptations of all time, including Jujutsu Kaisen. However, despite their massive success in the marketplace, the animation studios are still seemingly facing a brutal crisis, with their future in dire straits.
This comes after the Jujutsu Kaisen staff and animators, who have noticeably been one of the greatest victims of the issues raging inside the animation studio, bring to light just how much of a shaky fate their careers might be leading to because of the practices that MAPPA follows — something that might as well put an end to the anime industry soon.
MAPPA’s Future Seemingly in Dire State, Reveal Jujutsu Kaisen Animators
Previously, MAPPA Studios had been under much controversy among fans because of all the poor working conditions that the staff and animators had to work in to create the masterpiece anime series and movie from the Jujutsu Kaisen manga. Now, that issue has further progressed, with the workers revealing just how much of a critically grim future lies in front of the animation studios.
Recently, Animator Dormitory Channel, a channel on YouTube that highlights just these grievances of the workers, got in touch with multiple MAPPA animators to figure out just what has been going on in the industry lately. During this, the workers revealed just how much pressure they have been under because of the practices the animation studios follow.
This includes the fact that anime studios are trying to take the shortcut to get their work done: Instead of investing in training new animators to include them in the crew and replace the current wearing-out ones, they choose to poach the skilled animators from other studios by increasing the retainer fees while the normal wages for them still stay the same, i.e. quite low.
Moreover, the animators’ other grievances include feeling like they are being overworked by the studios while the income they are getting in return hardly matches the level of work they are doing.
At the same time, this issue hasn’t been highlighted for the first time by someone. Previously, the chief animation director of Jujutsu Kaisen 0, Terumi Nishii, noted this very problem in the anime industry. She pointed out that as soon as the current generation leaves the anime industry, it will put up a void that animation studios won’t be able to cope with easily, and will end up facing their doom.
Taking to her X handle @NishiiTerumi (now private), she wrote:
“Seriously, it’s over. Once Kagawa’s generation leaves, everything will end at once. We need to do something about the training scheme by then.”
Because of all these reasons, it won’t come as a surprise if MAPPA Studios soon end up facing their collapse as well because of these very controversial practices that they follow.
This Crisis can be Handled by Crowdfunding and Increasing Budgets, says ADC
While discussing this crisis that could soon put an end to not only MAPPA but probably collapse the entire anime industry as well, the Animator Dormitory Channel on YouTube offered a solution for this problem as well.
Besides developing training schemes for the younger generation of animators, ADC also shared that first increasing the pre-set low budgets for the anime projects through ‘crowdfunding’ could help with the pay issue of the staff and animators.
This could be done by starting a crowdfunding campaign to collect funds for the production of the required anime project. Then, after success in this first step, it could eventually be transformed into a subscription model, thus, eliminating capped production costs and preventing “power from being concentrated in the hands of a single investor (or company).”
All of this would further ensure ample funding for the anime project along with guaranteeing enough production time, thus, removing the dire overworking condition of the hardworking animators and staff.
While these are indeed sustainable enough options, only time can tell what MAPPA eventually decides to do to save itself from its impending doom.
