aStudio MAPPA is known to have received criticism for its toxic work environment and poor treatment of animators. One of the most prominent issues is Jujutsu Kaisen season 2’s production and it has been well publicized on social media. Several animators are complaining about the poor compensation and tight deadlines they have to deal with.
MAPPA has been producing some really massive titles like Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, and Attack on Titan. But this doesn’t imply that the studio won’t be a target of workers’ dissatisfaction with the toxic culture. Several animators have been expressing their dejection and frustration on X (Formerly Twitter) due to an unreasonably tight schedule.
Animators at MAPPA open up about toxic work environment
The recent meltdown of animators at MAPPA is because they’re overwhelmed by the short production schedule and alleging that they need to receive proper support for the intense workload.
バッドニュースが舞い込んできて急激に萎えぽよ。考えるうる限り一番つまらない結末。あーあ、祭り終了だね。はい解散解散。
— バリキオス (@Barikios) November 14, 2023
The tweet above states, “Bad news has arrived, and I’m suddenly overwhelmed. The most boring ending I can think of. Ah, the festival is over. Yes, disbanded. Disbanded.”
Barikios is another animator who tweeted about some sort of “bad news” with respect to Jujutsu Kaisen season 2’s schedule and called for the team to disband. Another animator by username Amphibi commented, “Owarida,” which is the Japanese word for “It’s over.”
Owarida 💀
— Amphibi (@Amphibi12059933) November 14, 2023
The problems regarding Jujutsu Kaisen and Studio MAPPA seem to be way more than that. We have seen the staff at MAPPA constantly expressing their sadness with the work environment. One prominent animator, Itsuki Tsuchigami, has repeatedly expressed disappointment with MAPPA.
前やった作品はそこまで思わなかったけど今のやつでよかったとこを会社の名前あげて褒められてるのは心底不快だ。褒められるべきは外部の業務委託者と人を集めるのに動き回った監督、踏ん張ってる制作撮影等社内の各部署
— も (@vflmsppe) October 21, 2023
“I didn’t think so much about the previous work, but it makes me really uncomfortable to hear people praise the company’s name for the good things about the current work.” He said in the tweet and further explained how the people who should be praised are “the director who moved around to gather outside contractors and people, and each department within the company, including production and filming, who persevered.”
Production of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 could be impacted massively
The recent meltdown of the staff at MAPPA has been massive. This raises the question of how would this affect the animators and the remaining Season 2. We know that Episode 17 of Season 2 is already in production. It looks like these most recent frustrations from the animators will likely only impact episode 18 onward.
Studio MAPPA has been a target of criticism for a long time. With everything that has been happening in Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2. It appears like the reputation will stick around for the studio for some time.
