Anime Studio Mysteriously Vanished, With Artists Unpaid And Unhappy

Tear Studio churned out shows like this year’s Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher!? and last year’s Lord of Vermilion: The Crimson King. And Fragtime, a movie the studio animated, is currently in theatres. Tear Studio, however, seems to have suddenly vanished.

As reported Get News, the studio’s official Twitter account has been deleted. It’s been reportedly inactive for the past few months.

The official site’s contact page is gone.

The recruit page, too.

Other parts of the website are now missing.

A notice was posted on the Fragtime site stating that for the time being they had been unable to get in contact with Next Batters School, the company that owns Tear Studio. “We will continue to ask Next Batters School representatives for status reports to grasp the situation,” the notice added.

News site IT Media also tried calling Tear Studio, but was unsuccessful and couldn’t get in touch.

Freelance animators had taken to Twitter, stating that they have not received payment from the studio. As Hachima points out, freelance animator Gen Sato tweeted, “I never could’ve thought that a theatrical-release anime company would not only fail to pay but erase itself from Twitter and vanish (weeping tears).”

Other animators report being stiffed, with one saying an invoice submitted in late October has been paid.

“I have other friends who haven’t been paid,” Sato added. “We should think about a class-action lawsuit.”

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