Boruto Animator Vows to ‘Expose Everything’ After Sudden Netflix Anime Production Pay Cut
Animator Kyohei Ebata, known for his work on major anime series like Boruto, has publicly alleged that his pay was suddenly cut by the production team for the new Netflix anime series, YAIBA: Samurai Legend. In a series of social media posts, Ebata vowed to "expose everything" about it to deter such incidents from happening in the future.
Ebata first brought the issue to light on July 17, posting on X (formerly Twitter) about the dispute. "My pay was cut based on a one-sided assumption, so I plan to expose everything once this project is finished, partly as a warning to others," Ebata wrote. He followed this post up with a detailed explanation of the events that led to the pay dispute the next day. He claimed a producer, whom he referred to as "P," decided to cut his pay after becoming suspicious of his work. The producer's reasoning for the pay cut was reportedly based on observations of highlight color changes, which led them to the conclusion that Ebata was making someone else do the work.
Ebata explained that the changes in the highlight color were a normal part of his creative process. He stated that he used different highlight colors for clarity and adjusted his shading style to add more detail as the work progressed. Despite his explanation and offering to prove his case, the animator claims the production refused to listen or investigate. "I suggested they could compare my artistic habits with other episodes, or even trace the IP address from the submitted files to investigate which PC I worked on, but they didn't verify anything and this was the result," Ebata stated. He was informed that his pay would be cut starting the next month, but he was still expected to complete his work for the current month under the old terms.
The animator was originally supposed to receive a performance-based pay on top of his base fee for the work he did. However, his pay was cut to "Base Fee Only" by the producer. He described this new arrangement as becoming an "all-you-can-work subscription." In subsequent posts, Ebata also shared an alleged rumor about the producer in question, claiming that the producer was “apparently suspended until recently after being reported to the Labor Standards Inspection Office.” Despite the potential for professional repercussions, including losing work, Ebata remained defiant in his stance, stating that he wouldn’t give up, as there were people who believed in him.
These allegations add to existing reports of a difficult production for YAIBA: Samurai Legend. In a past interview, the show's chief animation director and character designer, Yoshimichi Kameda, had noted that the creative team was "forced to produce the remaining number of episodes with the bare minimum." He highlighted the strain of creating new assets for every episode with little opportunity to reuse animation cuts.
The incident involving Ebata wouldn't come as a shock to anime industry observers, as long-standing issues faced by freelance workers, who constitute the majority of the anime workforce, have been well documented. However, his allegations surfaced at a time when a new law to protect the rights of freelancers in the anime industry had been passed. This legislative reform was prompted by both international and domestic pressures, including the United Nations Human Rights Council's 2024 report.
https://www.cbr.com/boruto-animator-yaiba-production-pay-cut/ |
