Studio Ufotable has given us some of the most amazing-looking anime like Demon Slayer and Fate/Zero. But like many others lately, the studio has come under a negative light fighting off mistakes of the past.
Although ufotable is a bigshot in the animation industry, anime isn’t their only source of income. The studio as a whole also owns several cafes and merchandise stores. Between all that, the studio had earned around 441 million yen (around 4 million USD) from 2015 to 2018.
Last year, the top brass of the studio was accused of tax evasion, the verdict on that has finally come.
The Tokyo Public Prosecutor’s office has filed a formal indictment against Ufotable’s founder and former president Hikaru Kondo for tax evasion, for failing to pay about 137 million yen (1.24 million USD).
Kondo was accused of moving the income from cafes to his home directly and produced false income statements to cover the fact.
Ufotable has issued an official statement acknowledging the charge and assuring that they have corrected the income statements and paid the appropriate amount.
The studio hasn’t made any statements regarding how this will affect ongoing projects. But the fact that the hidden money was used to fund anime projects may put them in a tricky situation, especially when the second season of Demon Slayer is mid-production.
Demon Slayer has been on a roll lately as the highest-grossing franchise, and many fans are looking forward to season 2. We can only hope that the scandal doesn’t lead to a delay or worse in the series production.
It is sad to see how some of the best anime studios out there have something shady going on behind the scenes. While the industry as a whole is not perfect, let’s hope all these things get sorted out soon.
Source: Ufotable Website
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