Back in April it was reported that one of Japan’s most beloved production houses – studio MadHouse – was in some hot water after news leaked that the studio’s working conditions was beyond horrendous. Now another animator has come forward to shed light on whether there have been any improvements regarding the work environment. Mizue Ogawa, a freelance animator, has said that working conditions in the studio have not changed. She went on to say in a tweet that “I received word from a production assistant from a certain ‘M’ studio that he still works at midnight. When I asked him, ‘Weren’t there supposed to be reforms about the labor conditions?’ he said that the case in question was simply the former production assistant’s claim, and added that the matter was still in the middle of negotiations. In other words… nothing’s changed at all.”
某M社からは今でも真夜中に制作君から連絡が来る。
働き方改革があった筈では？と聞いた所、例の事件はあくまでも元制作A個人の主張であり、加えてまだ交渉中の事案だ、と言い含められているという。
つまり全く何も変わってなどいない。
— 小川 みずえ (@OgawaMizue) June 17, 2019
For those who may not know, the horrid working conditions in the animation industry in Japan are unfortunately all too common. One of the reasons being is that there aren’t many animators in Japan which causes studios to take on more projects than their already overworked staff can handle. Not to mention the fact that it doesn’t pay a lot so fewer people are inclined to take that career path.
Even though the anime industry is growing more rapidly, especially in the United States, there is still an ongoing problem in Japan. Hopefully things can be resolved once and for all and the animators and artists can receive proper compensation without being overworked. Let us know your thoughts on the ongoing problem with Studio MadHouse in the comment section below.
Source: ANN
