So North Korea is making anime now?
Summary:
- Production files for an upcoming anime called Dahlia in Bloom were found on a server belonging to a North Korean animation studio.
- Fans wonder if one of the Chinese subcontractors outsourced the anime further.
- The studio's official statement confirms that the work wasn't outsourced directly to North Korea.
Recently, 38 North (a website that does research on North Korea-related topics) published a very interesting report. Apparently, they found a cloud server based in the country which stored production materials for several different products.
Among them were files related to the production of an upcoming anime called Dahlia in Bloom (Madougushi Dahliya wa Utsumukanai), as well as for another yet unnamed project for the studio behind it, EKACHI EPILKA.
Naturally, this raised a lot of concern from people online. This is the first time we hear of anime being outsourced to North Korea, and given the political tensions between the country and the rest of the world, fans are decidedly unhappy. So, what's going on, exactly, and what might it mean for anime production?
It's Not Just About Dahlia in Bloom — Other Production Materials Were Found
Well, first of all, it doesn't seem like only EKACHI EPILKA productions were affected by this discovery. Western animation production materials were also found — of all things, Invincible seems to have been at least partially outsourced to North Korea, as well as Octonauts, a children's cartoon by BBC.
However, Dahlia in Bloom doesn't appear to have been outsourced to North Korean animators directly. The instructions for the production materials are given in Chinese and translated into Korean.
It seems that one of the Chinese subcontractors (outsourcing to China is quite common for anime at this point) decided to save money by outsourcing the anime further to SEK Studio, located in North Korea. It's likely that the aforementioned Western series ended up being outsourced in a similar way.
That said, at least for Western productions, it wouldn't be the first time something gets outsourced to SEK Studio. Even one of the Avatar: The Last Airbender episodes was produced there.
This Might Imply Severe Issues in the Anime Industry
The most controversial part isn't even the anime being outsourced to North Korea specifically, though. It's the lack of control over the subcontractors and the outsourcing process, which might result in lower quality productions.
The Official Response
So far, the official account behind Dahlia in Bloom has confirmed that the production committee and the studio were unaware of the situation prior to the report. EKACHI EPILKA released a statement saying they never issued any work to a North Korean studio, and said there was potentially a leak from another subcontractor — the same theory fans have.
At this point, fans just hope that the anime release won't be delayed because of the investigation.
Source: Anime News Network