[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-133557-en":3,"doc-seo-133557-105":31,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":28,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":29,"read_time":30},133557,962084928432,"Maya Linwood","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d",8,"Research & Report","How an Animation Production Studio Survived the Pandemic - The Case of Graphinica, Inc.","A collaborative ethnographic account explains how Graphinica, a Tokyo CG animation production studio, coped with Covid-19 after the CEO assumed the role in April 2020. Despite a long-standing financial deficit and industry disruption, the studio not only survived but moved into profitability during the crisis. The narrative contrasts “digitalization” and “going online” in anime production, arguing that Graphinica’s digital production strengths helped maintain deliverables while remote collaboration was restructured for continuity and post-pandemic transformation.","How an Animation Production Studio Survived the Pandemic: The Case of Graphinica, Inc.  \nNao Hirasawa & Ryotaro Mihara  \nThe following account has been generated through an interlocution between Ryotaro Mihara, an anthropologist, and Nao Hirasawa, the CEO of Graphinica, Inc.1 Graphinica is a Tokyo-based computer graphics (CG) animation production studio. It is well recognized among the global animation community for a number of popular animated titles, including Expelled from Paradise (Seiji Mizushima, dir. 2014), Hello World (Tomohiko Ito, dir. 2019), and Netflix original Record of Ragnarok series (Masao Ookubo, dir. 2021). Hirasawa is also the founder of Arch Inc.,2 an animation planning and producing company. Mihara has been conducting his fieldwork at Arch since 2018, observing their works of developing animation projects as well as participating in them, especially their attempts to expand their business scope outside Japan, as Arch’s “Global Business Advisor.” Leveraging this connection, Mihara interviewed Hirasawa regarding his experience in leading Graphinica in the midst of the pandemic, and discussed the implications on the future of the animation business. Hereinafter, subject “I” refers to Hirasawa and “we” refers to Graphinica, unless otherwise stated. The following account is, however, a  \n1 [http://www.graphinica.com/en/](http://www.graphinica.com/en/)  \n2 [https://archinc.jp/en/](https://archinc.jp/en/)  \nPage 1 of 10  \n\n| JBA 11(2): 225-234 Fall 2022 |\n| --- |\n| © The Author(s) 2022 ISSN 2245-4217 |\n| [www.cbs.dk/jba](www.cbs.dk/jba) |\n\nDOI:  \n[https://doi.org/10.22](https://doi.org/10.22)[ ](https://doi.org/10.22)[439/jba.v11i2.6778](439/jba.v11i2.6778)  \nJournal of Business Anthropology, 11(2), Fall 2022  \nco-authored work: Mihara wrote the English draft, as well as its Japanese translation, for Hirasawa’s review, and revised the text with Hirasawa, through which Mihara enhanced his understandings on the mechanics of anime production. Hirasawa, on the other hand, also developed his thoughts through the revision by remembering relevant events in response to Mihara’s comments and agreeing (and disagreeing) with Mihara’s suggestions regarding how his experience should be contextualized (especially in an academic context) . The authors, in this regard, produced a collaborative ethnographic account, written jointly with an anthropologist and his interlocutor (cf. Van Maanen 1988) in the context of business anthropology.  \nI assumed the post as CEO of Graphinica in April 2020 by accepting the offer of its parent company Memory-Tech Holdings Inc.3 Covid-19 (the novel coronavirus disease 2019 causing the pandemic) had already spread widely by that time, and a number of negative impacts on the Japanese animation (anime) business were surfacing. In addition, it was quickly evident that Graphinica had been loosely managed since long before the pandemic, accumulating several hundred million yen of deficit. This was not a small amount for a studio with approximately 300 personnel and two billion yen (17 million USD) in annual sales. In other words, Graphinica was running into double hardship: its own financial crisis and the pandemic on the top of it. Some (sarcastic) industry insiders/watchers might have thought that I was used as a “scapegoat” tomop-up this losing game that few people believed the studio could turn back (I later noticed that the offer was in fact declined by multiple other candidates before reaching me) .  \nOverriding all such sarcasm, however, Graphinica not only survived the pandemic during my term as a CEO, but it has also moved into the black in the midst of it. How was that possible? We (Hirasawa and Mihara) believe that sharing Hirasawa’s experience leading Graphinica would highlight key issues for the anime business (and creative industries in general) to the postpandemic transformation.  \nIt is said, generally speaking, that the pandemic has given a kick in the back to the anime business to go ","cbCaitButgcW0XTI","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaitButgcW0XTI","pdf",1862871,2,1,10,"English","en",105,"# Collaborative ethnographic account and context\n## Graphinica’s background and leadership change\n## Double hardship: finance crisis and Covid-19 impacts\n# Digitalization and production capabilities\n## Distinguishing digitalization from going online\n## Strengths in digital tools and asset delivery\n# Online collaboration and future implications\n## Streamlining teamwork under pandemic constraints\n## Lessons for the post-pandemic anime industry","[{\"question\":\"Who are the interview partners and what is their relationship to Graphinica?\",\"answer\":\"Ryotaro Mihara, an anthropologist, conducted fieldwork at Arch Inc. since 2018 and used that connection to interview Nao Hirasawa, CEO of Graphinica. The account is presented as a collaborative ethnographic narrative between the interlocutor and the CEO.\"},{\"question\":\"Why was Graphinica under severe pressure when Hirasawa became CEO in April 2020?\",\"answer\":\"Graphinica faced a pandemic-driven disruption alongside an existing financial crisis, with deficits accumulated over time. The studio had around 300 personnel and significant annual sales, making the deficit especially critical.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the document distinguish “digitalization” from “going online” in anime production?\",\"answer\":\"Digitalization refers to producing anime using digital technologies and tools, including CG asset creation and digital workflows that were already common before the pandemic. Going online concerns broader collaboration practices for delivering an anime show, which was more heavily disrupted by Covid-19.\"}]","How an Animation Production Studio Survived the Pandemic - The Case of Graphinica, Inc. | PDF",1787222290,25,{"code":4,"msg":32,"data":33},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":34,"title":13,"keywords":35,"description":14,"schema_data":36,"social_meta":87,"head_meta":89,"extra_data":91,"updated_unix":29},"how-an-animation-production-studio-survived-the-pandemic-the-case-of-graphinica-inc","",{"@graph":37,"@context":86},[38,54,69],{"@type":39,"itemListElement":40},"BreadcrumbList",[41,45,48,51],{"item":42,"name":43,"@type":44,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":46,"name":47,"@type":44,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":44,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":44,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/how-an-animation-production-studio-survived-the-pandemic-the-case-of-graphinica-inc/133557/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":63,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":64,"interactionStatistic":65},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":42,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-23","2026-08-20",true,{"@type":66,"interactionType":67,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":68},"ViewAction",{"@type":70,"mainEntity":71},"FAQPage",[72,78,82],{"name":73,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":75},"Who are the interview partners and what is their relationship to Graphinica?","Question",{"text":76,"@type":77},"Ryotaro Mihara, an anthropologist, conducted fieldwork at Arch Inc. since 2018 and used that connection to interview Nao Hirasawa, CEO of Graphinica. 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