An episode director of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 uploaded a self-deprecating image to express the defeated state of the animators at MAPPA given the studio's latest production schedule failure.
On social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Ookubo Shunsuke, the anime episode director who worked on Episode 12 of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2, uploaded artwork of an exhausted-looking Ema Yasuhara from Shirobako holding a loop of rope around her neck. In Shirobako, Ema is a freelance animator creating televised content within the Japanese animation industry. While Shirobako is typically upbeat and comedic in tone, the Ema in Shunsuke's post has been completely defeated by the harsh working conditions of the current animation industry. Shunsuke's post comes after news of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 has suffered another production schedule failure at animation studio MAPPA, with no hope of a delay for the mentally and physically drained animators.
Online user okinawa90s translated Shunsuke's post, as well as those of other frustrated animators at MAPPA regarding the management of Season 2 of Jujutsu Kaisen. Arai Kazuto, director and storyboard artist of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2, Episode 13, said: "Bad news came in and I am so done. The most boring ending imaginable. Ah, the festival is over. Yes, break up, break up. I'm seriously deflated. Nothing is fun anymore. I can't stand it."
Freelance animator Tsuchigami Itsuki -- who goes by the nickname "Miso" -- has recently been reposting his criticisms of MAPPA studio. On the official Jujutsu Kaisen forum on Reddit, deleted posts from animators associated with the Jujutsu Kaisen anime are also being shared, such as an animator calling studio MAPPA "scum." Animator director Roccia Nobili wrote and then deleted a post that simply said, "It's over."
As mentioned in the Reddit post, the quality of Episode 17 of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 will likely not suffer, as it features a stacked list of animators, but the production committee behind the Shonen Jump anime denying a delay for the sake of the animators' health once again calls into question the poor working conditions of the anime industry as a whole. Notably, MAPPA specifically has a poor history of treating its animators well; the prolific anime studio behind Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man and the recently finished Attack on Titan has been criticized by workers, industry analysts and fans alike for the poor management of its properties that come at the cost of the physical and mental well-being of its workers.
Of course, the situation isn't isolated to MAPPA. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, like many Gundam anime series before it, suffered from production problems at Bandai Namco Filmworks. While the series finale was generally well-received, fans of the G-Witch anime were shocked to discover that over 90 key animators were hired to get the anime across the finish line. "The final episode of Gundam Witch from Mercury has a total of 94 key animators. For a 20-minute episode. Absolute madness," one user said online. Marie Tagashira, a credited character designer on The Witch from Mercury, also seemingly intentionally excluded a few people in her congratulations to the staff for a job well done.
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
Source: X (formerly Twitter), Reddit
