“Fragtime” OVA Animator Tear Studio Plans to File for Bankruptcy

It was revealed this Monday that Tear Studio, the studio that animated the OVA for yuri manga Fragtime, is planning to file for bankruptcy. According to credit research company Tokyo Shoko Research (TSR), the anime studio—whose official company name is Next-Batter’s Circle—has already begun legal proceedings to file for bankruptcy. The report states that the company plans to formally file for bankruptcy at the end of this month.

According to TSR, Tear’s studio in Tokyo’s Suginami Ward had already ceased operations last December 13. The report also notes that the studio’s total debt amounts to 43 million yen (around USD 393,000), which includes 8 million yen (around USD 73,000) unpaid wages towards its 50 or so animators.

Last week, a tweet by freelance Japanese animator Gen Sato went viral after the animator revealed that he has yet to be paid for his most recent work for a certain studio. While he did not name the studio, netizens were able to correctly guess that Sato was referring to Tear Studio, which has recently produced the theatrical OVA of yuri manga Fragtime.

Sato’s tweet then prompted netizens to check the studio’s website and Twitter accounts, and found out that the former is currently running (as of this writing) while the latter is already deleted. Some links in the site, however, do not work.

In a later tweet, Sato stated that he is considering a possible class-action lawsuit together with fellow animators who were also not compensated by the studio. The official website of the Fragtime OVA also issued a statement earlier today, saying that they were not able to contact Tear Studio for updates. Note that the OVA was published and animated by two different companies, with Tear Studio handling animation only. Hence, future bluray releases won’t be affected.

The theatrical OVA was released last November 22 opening in selected theaters. The OVA was also screened at the recently-concluded Anime NYC, where Sentai Filmworks also announced that they had licensed the anime.

Tear Studio was established in 2013 and worked on anime such as Lord of Vermillion: The Crimson King series, The Royal Tutor anime film, and the Why The Hell Are You Here, Teacher!? series.

Source: Anime News Network