Another day, another animator tweeted against Mappa. Animators are standing up against Mappa like bees on honey. Every day, we get some news related to Mappa’s animators, and this is just the start of how Mappa will go down.
First, it was the director for Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 episode 14, then some animators for Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 episode 16, then Jujutsu Kaisen 0 animators, and now a famous One Piece animator who worked with Mappa recently.
Chansard Vincent just opened up on Twitter why he doesn’t want to work with Mappa anymore. Vincent isn’t someone low-level animator. He is known for doing some insane animation throughout his journey.
In Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 17, he worked on the cut of Mahoraga in the pool. He even worked in some of the biggest episodes of One Piece, like the recent episodes 1071 & 1074. So, you get the point of view of how great of an animator he is. So for him to post something against Mappa, was like adding fuel to the controversy.
Popular One Piece Animator Tweeted that He’ll Never Work for MAPPA Again
On November 16, 2023, Chansard Vincent tweeted that two years ago, he said he would never work for Mappa again. However, one of his friends in the industry, Hakuyu Go, told him to reconsider his decision, so for the last time, he worked on Season 2 Episode 17. Furthermore, he said that this would be the last time he had worked for Mappa.
2 years ago i said iwould never work for mappa again. Hakuyu Go-san was the only one who made me reconsider,but this was the last time. Will see if i get permission to post genga. Here are some photos i took when i was working on the cut of mahoraga in the pool
Watercolor+colorex pic.twitter.com/LTZMg47Y8L— Chansard Vincent (@Sparkleredpanda) November 16, 2023
Even though he didn’t say why he doesn’t want to work for Mappa, it’s clear that it’s because of the hard-working hours. He didn’t talk about it earlier, but seeing the flow of the water, he also washed his hands in it.
If someone new shows up complaining about Mappa, I won’t be shocked since I have seen too much to get shocked now. I think now it’s the time for Mappa should rethink what they are doing, and plan a better schedule for their next work.
Here's my genga for JJK 41.
Managed to find a bit of time in between french work and my return to Toei to help a bit my King Hakuyu Go-san.
Sakkan Hakuyu-go
Thanks also to Lise legier, they did all the end frames of Mahoraga in the cut where he is falling down while being cut pic.twitter.com/lvuvmA3KGe— Chansard Vincent (@Sparkleredpanda) November 19, 2023
Why is Mappa underpaying their Animators?
It seems like Mappa wants to be a big Studio over time, and that can only happen if it works on more anime and, to be specific, “popular” animes while maintaining the good quietly. This isn’t said by me, but the CEO of Mappa said himself in an interview.
In 2022, an animator, Ippei Ichii, talked about Mappa underpaying their animator. He said that he was offered ¥3,800 per cut for an anime produced by Mappa under Netflix, and the minimum cost for an animator for a cut is ¥15,000.
So, if Ichii is speaking the truth, then Mappa is paying way less than it should. I think they are paying less because they are hiring too many animators at a single time to finish work quicker, and they get limited money from the producers to work on, which leads to underpaid employment.
Is Mappa really the one to Blame for? & How can this be solved?
On a bigger picture, Mappa is really the one to blame for it, but it isn’t like they are the only ones who are pressuring their animator, overworking them, and playing less. This happens in almost every industry.
Mappa is just hiring too many animators to work on every episode that they can’t manage their payouts. The studio is taking too many shows at a time, like just recently, Attack on Titan Final Season released simultaneously with Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2.
Just recently, there was a writer strike in Hollywood since they were getting paid less than they should be. They protested for 146 days, and in the end, the directors and the producers had to cooperate with them since they were the core of making films.
So if every animator, not only the ones who work for Mappa but from the entire animation industry, stood up for this and protested, there is a chance they might succeed. However, if this happens one day, our job is to stand with the animator and not think about our favorite animes getting delayed.
