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Voice Actress Megumi Ogata Asks for Understanding About Anime Production During COVID-19
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
Evangelion and Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun voice actress Megumi Ogata took to Twitter on Monday to urge anime fans not panic or use catastrophic language about the recent cancellations due to Coronavirus COVID-19 concerns.
Ogata wrote:
To everyone who loves anime.I think are a variety of feelings right now. But please, please don't say things like "sakuga hōkai" (when animation quality drastically drops) or "it's not moving". With the way things are in China, Korea and other countries, it's amazing that anything is on the air. While the cuts to production are painful to everyone working on that side, we're working as hard as we can. So, please.
アニメを愛してくれる皆様へ。
— 緒方恵美【M's BAR】代替公演・4/22横浜&4/29郡山! (@Megumi_Ogata) March 9, 2020
想いはいろいろあられると思います。だけどお願い。どうか今は「作画崩壊」とか「動かない」とか言わないで…。
中国・韓国他、いろいろな国とこのようになった今、オンエアに乗せられるだけで凄いこと。制作側皆身を切るように辛い中、必死に頑張っています。どうか。
The production of multiple anime series have been affected by Coronavirus COVID-19, leading to episode delays or in some cases, pushed back premieres. A Certain Scientific Railgun T's seventh episode was delayed by one week before returning. The show plans two additional "special episodes" instead of new episodes this month, although staff did not directly state that it was due to COVID-19. Infinite Dendrogram's seventh episode was also delayed a week. Anime series Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- and The Misfit of Demon King Academy, both scheduled to premiere in April, were pushed back to July.
Multiple anime film openings were pushed back from their planned opening date, including Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Shin Kyōryū (Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's New Dinosaur) and Shimajirō to Sora Tobu Fune (Shimajirō and the Flying Ship).
Japan and other countries have undergone measures to try to limit exposure to the COVID-19 virus. This has included canceling high-profile events like AnimeJapan 2020 and fan events for popular series and games like Love Live! School Idol Festival, Idolm@ster Million Live, and Final Fantasy VII Remake.
As of Sunday, the WHO reported that Japan has 455 cases of COVID-19 with six deaths. These numbers do not include the number of cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Yokohama. That cruise ship had 696 infected passengers and seven deaths.
Source: Megumi Ogata's Twitter account
