Misery revealed: Jujutsu Kaisen animator exposes MAPPA Studio's grueling work environment

After the release of episode 14 of Jujutsu Kaisen season 2, the anime faced heavy backlash over its perceived low-quality animation. In response, Episode Director Hokuto Sadamoto candidly addressed the criticisms, shedding light on the challenging circumstances he had to face while working at MAPPA.

MAPPA has been known for consistently producing anime, making them an easy target for criticism whenever fans spot even the slightest error in an episode. Although animators used to bear the brunt of the blame initially, fans have gradually come to realize that it is the senior executives who are ultimately responsible.

Jujutsu Kaisen Key Animator's break down unveils MAPPA's poor work conditions

Screenshot of tweet from Hokuto Sadamoto (Image via Our Website/X)

After the release of Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 14, Episode Director Hokuto Sadamoto took the initiative to address the critiques from fans. From the very beginning, he appeared dissatisfied with his contribution to the episode. This was due to the enormous challenge of completing 250 cuts within a tight two-week timeframe.

Furthermore, he was under the impression that he would not receive any credit for his work on the episode, allowing him to preserve his reputation. Unfortunately, a leak revealed to fans that Hokuto was indeed the episode director, which consequently led to him facing criticism regarding the episode's animation and storyboarding.

Screenshot of tweet from Hokuto Sadamoto (Image via Our Website/X)

The episode director for Jujutsu Kaisen issued an apology to fans, acknowledging that he had attempted to evade responsibility for the episode. He expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of the released content and vowed to make amends in his future projects. For now, Hokuto Sadamoto was prepared to embrace the role of "the worst animator who has marred a masterpiece."

Fortunately for him, fans were no longer harsh on him and went after the anime studio MAPPA for putting its employees through such terrible working conditions.

How fans went after MAPPA

After the Episode Director's breakdown, fans of Jujutsu Kaisen disclosed that multiple staff members, including Hokuto Sadamoto, voiced their dissatisfaction with MAPPA's unfavorable working conditions.

One animator disclosed that they were not compensated due to losing the contact details of the production team. In the meantime, another animator shed light on the fact that multiple directors were involved in overseeing the Jujutsu Kaisen anime, with each episode being entrusted to a designated director.

In light of these events, there was a surge of animosity towards MAPPA from fans expressed online. To further add fuel to the fire, one devoted fan urged others to discontinue praising MAPPA's animation or episodes, opting instead to applaud the Jujutsu Kaisen team. Given the mistreatment of their own staff members by the anime studio, fans felt that MAPPA did not deserve any recognition for the hard work put in by their employees.

Finally, certain fans chose to criticize the irony displayed by Jujutsu Kaisen fans. The anime faced backlash from fans when it portrayed one of Satoru Gojo's scenes in a different manner compared to the manga. One might assume that the fans desired faithful adaptations of panels for the anime.

However, this assumption proved to be incorrect as the scene featuring Toji Fushiguro in Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode 14 was faithfully animated according to the manga. Nonetheless, it still faced disapproval from fans.

Fans expressed their sadness at the animators having to address online criticism, knowing that the staff had minimal control over the situation. Despite this, they faced criticism for their work, leading to emotional breakdowns and jeopardizing future job prospects.