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Former MAPPA Animator Describes Working Conditions as Like a 'Factory'

Freelance animator Mushiyo explained why they chose to leave studio MAPPA in a series of tweets on May 14. According to Mushiyo, who worked on the most recent season of Attack on Titan, the studio engaged in unhealthy work conditions during the series' run. (Note: while the tweets were initially public, Mushiyo has since locked their account).

Mushiyo questioned their decision to work for the company, describing their experience of being asked to fix drawings over and over and over again until the sun came up as why they quit. They criticized MAPPA's decision to work on four shows at the same time instead of properly training its team so that such corrections wouldn't be necessary. Mushiyo compared the work environment to a "factory" where bottom rung animators are tasked with correcting issues instead of drawing.

According to Mushiyo, their complaint wasn't unique. "As far as I can tell, about 80% of the employees had similar complaints at the time."

MAPPA took over animating the popular Attack on Titan anime series from Wit Studio starting with the first part of its final season. The series premiered in December 2020 while MAPPA was also working on Jujutsu Kaisen and Gymnastics Samurai. Zombie Land Saga Revenge debuted in April. Mushiyo regularly shared their own artwork while working on the Attack on Titan Final Season on Twitter.

Source: Mushiyo's Twitter account via Otakomu