AGP#145 – Working for the (Anime) Man with Matt Schley

Matt Schley from Otaku USA and The Japan Times joins Evan for a discussion of some recent developments in labor practices in the anime industry, particularly the Black Kigyo “Union” (more on what that word means in this case in the podcast) and their lawsuits to recoup wages for production assistants at Studio 4°C and Trigger. Plus Violet Evergarden: The Movie and Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes in the Queue segment! Topics include: unions get the goods, nobody’s innocent in the anime industry, and bourgeoisie yakitori. Runtime: 1 hour, 23 minutes Direct Download RSS Feed iTunes Spotify Stitcher Google Music Send us Feedback! Support us on Patreon! Join our Discord server! More episodes Show Notes Opening/Ending Song: “Blues Machine” by Scott Gratton Episode Edited by: Patrick Sutton The Queue Matt watched Violet Evergarden: The Movie, Kyoto Animation’s comeback film. Read his review! Evan is playing Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. The Discussion: Anime Industry Working Conditions Name drops: Studio 4°C, Studio Trigger, Science Saru, Studio Tear, Black Kigyo Union, Fragtime, Terumi Nishii, Eunyoung Choi, JAniCA. Tezuka’s impact on the cost of anime Studio 4°C case Trigger case COVID stuff: list of show/films affected, Evan’s article, voice acting impacts, delays in compositing. Studio Tear filed for bankruptcy Terumi Nishii on Netflix budgets Poor accounting as part of the problem Animator Dormitories short anime film funding Twitter: Evan, Matt, Ani-Gamers Mastodon: Evan Matt writes for Otaku USA and The Japan Times. Evan writes for Otaku USA Magazine and Anime News Network. Evan sometimes updates his side blog Anime Burger Time.