A recent article by MyJitsu, an online Japanese portal, pointed out that fans of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba anime were concerned about the returns that ufotable, the studio in charge of animating the series, was making from it.

The fans’ concern stem from the statements that were made by ufotable president Hikaru Kondo last year during his trial.

“I wonder how much money Ufotable will receive for this. I hope they get paid well and do a lot of good things for animators to get rich too ”

“ Kimetsu no Yaiba has spectacular animation. But it’s really sad to hear that even Ufotable, who does such a good job, can’t make money just by producing anime ”

“ Don’t make me sad for Ufotable providing us with amazing anime. I want the anime industry to pay well, that’s why I buy the physical copies “

Demon Slayer: Entertainment District Arc received a lot of compliments and also got recognized in the anime industry for its top-notch quality of animation. Each episode had a high audience rating going as far up as 9.2% on Fuji TV.

However, MyJitsu opened up that even though “Yuukaku-hen” has been broadcast with “movie-level” animation, ufotable was able to execute that because Kondo was hiding his income.

In fact, the studio president himself confessed during his trial in December 2021 that tax evasion was necessary to keep ufotable afloat.

According to Kondo, he had to move money from the web store and cafes to his home to not only prevent part-time workers from seeing the cash flow but to help prop up ufotable, which was making a loss on every piece of work they were creating.

In response to Kondo’s statements in the trial, a scriptwriter said, “His comments have caused a stir on the Internet and have become a cry of pain in the animation industry, highlighting the “dark side” … “

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotouge. It was serialized in Shueisha’s shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from February 2016 to May 2020, with its chapters collected in twenty-three tankōbon volumes.

A 26-episode anime television series adaptation produced by Ufotable aired in Japan from April to September 2019. A sequel film, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train, was released in October 2020 and became the highest-grossing anime film and Japanese film of all time.

A second season of the anime series, readapting the “Mugen Train” arc seen in the film and covering the “Entertainment District” arc from the manga, premiered in October 2021.

Source: MyJitsu