They are probably the most active studio in anime production in recent years. As much as they are, without a shadow of a doubt, to be appreciated for the quality of their works, anyone could easily understand that behind the processing of dozens of anime in such a short time there are people at the end of their rope.
You only have to search the internet to find some horrible stories. For example, the story of MUSHIYO, an animator who through several tweets vented his immense frustration. MUSHIYO removing any doubt as to who he said hadn't really quit answered another user, who explicitly asked him "so you're quitting MAPPA?", and the answer removed any doubt "Yes, I made a mistake".
Tweet: https://twitter.com/Mushiyo07/status/1393328625479413762
On his profile you will find all the tweets. The beginning is peremptory, in fact he asks: "I don't know why I worked so hard to get into this company". The main reason for his complaints is obviously poured on the immense amount of work, it seems that in fact they find themselves working every week (an expression he repeated six times) until dawn.
The animator compares the work at Mappa as a real factory job, in which rather than animating they are constantly redoing the same things in a mechanical way and many act only to redefine small details; he reports that he was reprimanded once because he "dared" to improve a drawing in his own way to say ugly.
He adds that his time at the studio could have been better if he had at least had the time to work on something original, but since they work on 4 projects at the same time there's obviously no time to focus on something different, just as there's no time to teach the craft to newcomers, another element he missed.
MAPPA is, in fact, not having any program to train younger animators, unlike studios such as Kyoto Animation and Toei, and this not only makes the job more stressful for everyone but also more difficult to find someone to replace him when he leaves the studio.
Finally, he concludes by asserting that he is aware that these are just his personal considerations, that he too may have made mistakes, and that it is not his intention to blame his former co-workers who stayed, but that about 80% of people feel the same way, including one of his superiors who at the time he quit explicitly told him that it would be better if he took care of himself, and now he acknowledges that he was absolutely right.
But you can find plenty of other similar stories. Anyone who cares about the health of workers and that they get their fair share of pay must stop looking at the anime produced by this study from today and try to make something change in working conditions. I will, won't you?
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