Animator reported not being paid after Tear's Twitter account went offline

The official website for the Fragtime anime issued a notice on Tuesday that the anime's production has been unable to contact Tear Studio . Tear Studio had animated the Fragtime project.

The notice stated that the anime's production tried to contact Tear Studio 's representative for a status update, after reports about the studio began spreading on the web and on social media last week, but has been unable to do so. The production will continue trying to contact the studio's representative.

Tear Studio 's Twitter account is inaccessible as of Monday, and the studio's official website briefly went down on the same day. As of press time, the website is back online, but some links on the site do not work.

Animator Gen Sato , who had posted on Twitter that he assisted an animation director for Fragtime , noted on Monday that an unspecified animation film studio had deleted its Twitter account and had supposedly not yet paid him for work. In a later reply, Sato added that he is too busy during the year-end production cycle to consult a lawyer, but he is considering a possible class-action lawsuit along with friends who had also reportedly not been paid.

Tear Studio was founded on March 15, 2013, and operates under the official company name of Next-Batter's Circle. Jun Katou is the company's representative director. The studio most recently worked on the Fragtime anime, which opened in Japanese theaters on November 22. The studio also worked on the Lord of Vermilion: The Crimson King anime series, The Royal Tutor anime film, and the Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher!? anime series.