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WIT Studio has apologized for the use of generative AI in the opening theme of Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 4 and noted that they will redraw these parts of sequence in question.
The controversy unfolded as fans criticized WIT Studio after noting that the opening sequence of latest Ascendance of a Bookworm anime, which adapts the contents of Part 3: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke light novel saga, had some AI generated content in it.
Following the backlash, the studio conducted an investigation into matter, and found that there were indeed certain cuts of the opening that utilized artificial intelligence in its production of background art. However, the company clarified that neither the art director nor the the background art production company, NAM HAI ART, were involved for this mishap.
WIT Studio noted that while they were always interested in new technologies that can be employed in animation production, the general companywide policy was to not use generative AI in their works (except in The Dog and The Boy, which the studio claimed was experimental).
However, despite the policy, the cuts managed to make it through, which WIT feels reflects badly on their production process and inspection standards.
The studio apologized to fans and the creator of the series for their poor oversight regarding this. The production committee of the anime to drafted a similar apology in their own statement.
“We take our management responsibility for this series of events very seriously. As the production company of this work, we deeply apologize to the fans, the original creator, and all related parties,” WIT Studio said in their statement.
“As this matter has generated a large number of various opinions online, the Production Committee deeply apologizes for causing significant concern and inconvenience to the viewers who have been looking forward to the work, as well as to the original creator and all related parties. Moving forward, we will work in cooperation with WIT Studio Inc. to verify the production system and strive to prevent any recurrence,” the production committee noted.
Going forward, WIT Studio noted that they will be redrawing the background art for the said cuts and replace the opening with the AI Generated content with the new completed sequence with the redrawn material, both in the upcoming episode and also in the Blu-ray and DVD releases.
“Starting from Episode 2, we will broadcast a replaced opening video with the relevant sections corrected. Furthermore, regarding Episode 1, which has already been broadcast and distributed, we will sequentially replace it with the corrected version of the opening video after the broadcast of Episode 2. Regarding the Blu-ray BOX and DVD, if the release date changes due to these replacement measures, we will notify you separately.“
Additionally, the all versions of the opening, which were streaming YouTube and other social media platforms will be removed, and the completed redrawn ones will be uploaded after the second episode airs.
Ascendance of a Bookworm season 4 started airing on April 4, 2026, with Yoshiaki Iwasaki directing the series at WIT Studio. The series is being streamed for international audiences by Crunchyroll. Both the studio and production committee have requested the fans to continue supporting the anime adaptation.
Source: Oricon
