Producer Diverted Money from the Anime IyaPan
Producer Diverted Money from the Anime “IyaPan.” “Iya na Kao sare nagara Opantsu Misete Moraitai” is a doujin series by the illustrator 40hara that features girls showing their panties to their respective protagonists.
The series had two seasons, the first in 2018 and the second in 2019, with a third season announced. But did you know that the production of this anime was a nightmare for everyone involved?
Producer Diverted Money from the Anime IyaPan
In an interview given to the Nlab It Media website in 2022, the anime director, as well as the original author, 4Hara, spoke about how the anime’s producer diverted money from the production, threatened everyone involved, charged them money, and made insane demands.
The problem arose during the production of both seasons of IyaPan. The producer, identified only as “S,” is said to have diverted 5 million yen (approximately $1,645,000) from the anime’s production, leaving the studio in a difficult situation.
Despite this setback, the UWAN Pictures studio managed to complete the production of the second season (in collaboration with the A-Real studio) using their own funds!
The producer responsible for the embezzlement contested the final delivery of the work, claiming that they would not accept the finalized version and refusing to pay production costs. They mention that the project’s responsible producer, S, didn’t have much experience in anime production, and many issues arose during production.
For example, when the author requested corrections to illustrations, the producer often did not respond or ignored the requests, causing problems for the animators who had already worked on the illustrations. The producer also attempted to divide the team and frequently used the author’s name to force last-minute changes. The author and director had to intervene to ensure that the team worked more efficiently and that the author’s requests were met.
They mention that S was a producer who wanted to create “their own work” and often made absurd demands and sent aggressive emails. During the production of the second season, they established a chat communication system to avoid communication problems.
However, S continued to contact them by phone and make unreasonable demands. After the completion of the second season, the director received a notice from S’s lawyer demanding payment of unpaid production expenses.
They attempted to resolve the issue through negotiations, but S ended up breaking the contract and refusing to pay the remaining production expenses. The animation studio and the original author had to hire a lawyer and discuss the matter with the company responsible for funding the production.
While they managed to recover a small amount of money that was supposed to be transferred to S by other companies, the money diverted for production expenses was not recovered. They had to take legal action against S, but he never appeared in court and is still missing.
Although they won the case, they were unable to recover the money. They also discovered that S was known in the industry as a problematic person who attempted to contact other artists to do work for him. They discuss the importance of protecting the integrity of artworks and warning other artists and industry professionals about individuals like S.
They also mention that they tried to use subcontracting laws to help them, but they couldn’t because the company responsible for funding the production did not have a social capital of more than 10 million yen.
Director and the original author of “IyaPan” discuss the decision to launch a crowdfunding campaign to finance the production of the third season
They explain that “IyaPan” is a beloved work among fans, and they themselves have a deep love for the series. They mention that after the completion of the second season, they were eager to produce the third season, but the debts left by the production of the second season, caused by producer S, made it impossible.
The two had to use their personal savings to cover the debts, but they still didn’t have enough money to finance the third season. They decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign to raise the funds needed for the production of the third season.
They explain that the quality of the first and second seasons of the series was very high relative to the budget, and they want to give back to the fans not only by raising money to cover the debts but also by producing new projects and animations.
The two discuss that the animation industry is a field where large amounts of money are involved, and there are people who try to take advantage of it for their own benefit. They hope that by raising awareness about this reality, the industry can become fairer and more transparent.
They thank everyone who helped raise money for the production of the third season and request the continued support of fans for future projects.
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