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NEWS: Government Office Cites Overwork in Suicide of A-1 Pictures Staff Member


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L'Imperatore



Joined: 24 Mar 2014
Posts: 826
PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 6:52 am Reply with quote
I know that an animator's workload could be... how to describe it... hell. Madness. You name it. But 600 hours (25 days Shocked ) a month is just... Lord, this is beyond terrible.

RIP, and my heart goes with his family. Crying or Very sad
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blaizevincent



Joined: 16 Nov 2010
Posts: 407
PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 6:56 am Reply with quote
600 hours a month is mad!

600 divided by 30 days = 20 hours a day!
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誤称



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 549
PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 7:01 am Reply with quote
Quote:
The A-1 Pictures staff member worked on popular anime such as Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens and Big Windup!


Is this supposed to be comedic? Neither of those were in any way popular.
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lijachan



Joined: 19 Jul 2006
Posts: 99
Location: France
PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 7:07 am Reply with quote
The Big Windup! was popular, of course, perhaps not as much as Black Butler, but it was still popular. (To women, who make up pretty much almost majority of the watchers of anime nowadays)

On the topic, damn...20 hours a day?! You're pretty much killing them already with that much workload.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15292
PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 7:21 am Reply with quote
The worst part isn't just that they work so hard, but that they get screwed out of the bulk of royalties for each hit property.
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Gasero



Joined: 24 Jul 2009
Posts: 939
Location: USA
PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 7:26 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Anime director Daiki Nishimura (School Rumble, Valvrave the Liberator) also commented on the decision on Twitter, saying that "A-1 Pictures is not at fault... the current state of the entire business world that includes A-1 Pictures is at fault. To denounce A-1 Pictures alone is a mistake."
It will take a lot of industry insiders to initiate any kind of change if this is normal. I know a lot of creative industries have "cruch time" when workers spend numerous hours finishing up projects, but perhaps studios should have more realistic time frames for production? The problem with that thought is that when one studio can get away with making workers spend over 50% of the day at work other studios will want to do the same to stay competitive.

Quote:
During that time, the animation company managed the working hours recorded on the time cards, but medical facilities caring for the staff member record he worked 600 hours a month.
How can the medical facility know how much time he worked? Is that what he told them or is that a medical diagnosis? Between work, travel, and regular daily activity I doubt he would have been getting more than 3 hours of sleep a day unless he lived at the office.
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KH91



Joined: 17 May 2013
Posts: 6176
PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 7:30 am Reply with quote
Damn, I already knew how bad the working hours can be in Japan, but having to hear about it again, I'm still surprised. Also, if I recall Oda(One Piece) gets about 2 hours of sleep every night for who knows how long(I assume since the early years of OP).
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Vent



Joined: 22 Aug 2009
Posts: 318
PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 7:50 am Reply with quote
Gasero wrote:
How can the medical facility know how much time he worked? Is that what he told them or is that a medical diagnosis? Between work, travel, and regular daily activity I doubt he would have been getting more than 3 hours of sleep a day unless he lived at the office.


Welcome to the exciting bullshit world of Japanese business, where living at your office or only sleeping three hours a day are both equally likely and not mutually exclusive!
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Lusbox



Joined: 24 Mar 2014
Posts: 156
Location: UK
PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 7:50 am Reply with quote
So sad, I'd happily wait a few extra months for new releases if it meant they were actually working in healthy and enjoyable environments.
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mgosdin



Joined: 17 Jul 2011
Posts: 1302
Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA
PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 7:56 am Reply with quote
I'm reminded of the story my father ( WWII Vet, Philippines ) told about being in charge of Japanese POW's. If they were working on a job, clean-up or construction, he had to watch them closely as they would sometimes keep working in humidity & heat when they should have stopped and taken a break. They lost a number of men to the heat and my dad was always angry over that.

I know Americans can and will work themselves to death, it truly appears that the Japanese are even more prone to that.

Prayers for the man's family and friends.

Mark Gosdin
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L'Imperatore



Joined: 24 Mar 2014
Posts: 826
PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 8:17 am Reply with quote
Lusbox wrote:
So sad, I'd happily wait a few extra months for new releases if it meant they were actually working in healthy and enjoyable environments.

For the animators' sake, I don't mind either. However, I'm afraid such idea would be met with fierce resistance from quite a number of people, both inside and outside of Japan... their comfort zone being breached.
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RokugoPeachMoon



Joined: 03 May 2014
Posts: 79
PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 8:28 am Reply with quote
Vent wrote:
Welcome to the exciting bullshit world of Japanese business, where living at your office or only sleeping three hours a day are both equally likely and not mutually exclusive!


Yeah, let's not make sweeping generalizations about the industry and business of an entire country. Thanks.
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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 6253
Location: Katy, Texas, USA
PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 8:35 am Reply with quote
After reading this, I feel sorry for all the hard overworked people in Japan. Sad
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2862
PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 8:53 am Reply with quote
誤称 wrote:
Quote:
The A-1 Pictures staff member worked on popular anime such as Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens and Big Windup!


Is this supposed to be comedic? Neither of those were in any way popular.


they might not be popular but those are the ones the dead guy worked on, not the most popular shows of the studio.

RokugoPeachMoon wrote:
Vent wrote:
Welcome to the exciting bullshit world of Japanese business, where living at your office or only sleeping three hours a day are both equally likely and not mutually exclusive!


Yeah, let's not make sweeping generalizations about the industry and business of an entire country. Thanks.


a lot of people who have gone to japan complain about that.
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Banjo



Joined: 13 Dec 2010
Posts: 779
PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 8:57 am Reply with quote
that person should have looked for another job instead of this madness, sad story. Lets hope such thing never happens again for anyone~
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