And we are back today with yet another Japanese anime studio blaming “Covid” for their inability to put out episodes of currently airing anime on time.
This time it is studio Silver Link (again!) announcing BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense, Season 2, Episode 7 will be postponed by two weeks.
And again, supposedly, due to “Covid”.
Then again, this isn’t a big surprise.
After all, Silver Link was one of the first studios to come out blaming the delay of anime they were working on in February, 2020 to “Covid” when Japan had fewer than 800 cases in a country of over 125 million.
They were also the same studio that came out blaming “Covid” over the weekend, when they announced the delay of The Misfit of Demon Academy II Episode 7.
The same anime whose first season was delayed for over four months in February, 2020 due to the same reason.
So, that BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense Season 2, Episode 7 is also delayed from February 22nd to March 8th shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Nor should it surprise fans of BOFURI that Silver Link says, while they believe Episodes 8, 9 and 10 will probably come out on time (well, at least “on time” after the delay of Episode 7), they are not sure if Episodes 11 and 12 will have the same experience.
Japan’s anime industry is overworked and underpaid
All of this reminds me of a prediction I heard on an anime podcast I listened to back in December.
The podcasters, two men quite knowledgeable about the Japanese anime industry, were exclaiming on just how many anime series would be airing in the Winter 2023 season.
More anime than ever before, in an industry that is already overworked and underpaid.
They then predicted delays for many Winter 2023 anime series, simply because so many Japanese anime studios are not good at scheduling their time effectively.
Nor do they pay their animators enough to have them bend over backwards to finish an episode when crunch time arrives.
Throw in a distinct shortage of animators in the Japanese anime industry, primarily due to the abysmally low pay most of them earn, and it really is not surprising so many Winter 2023 anime series are now experiencing long delays.
Sure, some of the studios will continue to blame Covid.
A virus most of the rest of the world moved on from early last year and a virus, I might add, that is no more series than the common cold nowadays for 99 percent of people who contract it.
Unfortunately, however, unless anime studios like Silver Link still plan on blaming Covid several years from now, it appears they may have to come up with a different excuse for their inability to deliver future episodes on time soon.
Meanwhile, BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense Episode 7 is postponed for at least two weeks.
Don’t hold your breath for it coming out on time then though either.
You can currently watch the first five episodes of BOFURI, Season 2 via Crunchyroll. But, honestly, why would you bother when there is no guarantee every episode of the anime’s second season will release any time soon.
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