Jujutsu Kaisen: A renowned animator looks back on his time at MAPPA

Poor working conditions at MAPPA are forcing big names in the industry to walk away from the studio and its anime productions.

Jujutsu Kaisen made headlines at the end of 2023. But if the anime was acclaimed for its brilliant adaptation, the spotlight was also on it for the bad ones working conditions reserved for the teams behind its design. Because the MAPPA studio now appears to be the executioner of its employees, leading them to overwork through time and quantity constraints that are far too intense for the resources given.

Although the Hidden Treasure/Untimely Death arc went smoothly, the problem emerged during the Shibuya Drama arc. Jujutsu Kaisen animators began to express their dissatisfaction with the overwork imposed by the studio, particularly with several last-minute cuts.

But it doesn’t stop there: because one of the most popular animators in the animation industry has also decided to avoid MAPPA. The company may well be one of the biggest studios at the moment for anime, betweenAttack on Titan, Jujutsu Kaisen and other big releases, the conditions imposed are enough to make the biggest names move away.

Poor working conditions at MAPPA described by a renowned presenter

Animators Dorian Coulon and Vincent Chansard recently participated in a stream on the Twitch channel KonohaTV_, to talk about their various projects and One Piece: Vincent Chansard is indeed popular for his work, particularly in the Wano saga.

He is thus one of the main animators in the revelation of Luffy’s Gear 5 (episode 1071), participated in Zoro’s fight against King (episode 1062), but also (among others) worked on 12 other episodes of the saga of Wano.

With his experience, the host joined the Jujutsu Kaisen team for episode 17 of season 2. However, after the episode aired, he had declared that he no longer wanted to work for MAPPA.

During KonohaTV_’s stream on Twitch, he was asked the reasons for this refusal. Vincent Chansard then explains that he does not want to support a company that does not care about the working conditions of its employees. He specifies that he agreed to try again with the studio at the request of another animator whom he trusts and with whom he likes to work: Hakuyu Go. But ultimately, neither creator wants to return to work for MAPPA.

The interview will soon be available in French with English subtitles, on the KonohaTV YouTube channel. In the meantime, Vincent Chansard will work again in Japanese animation, for another even more famous anime: One Piece, and its final saga.< /span>