On Friday, January 17, 2025, one of the controversial anime studios, Tonari, announced its shutdown after four years in business. As soon as the Tonari Studio shared this news on its “X” (Formerly known as Twitter) handle, fans took over the social media and shared their opinion. The news received mixed reviews from fans alike: Some believed to be the animation responsible for the shutdown, while the rest had nothing to say.
It is a North American-based company that shared the news via “X” (Formerly known as Twitter). “It is with a heavy heart that I announce Tonari Animation, Inc. is ceasing operations after four years,” the statement reads. “This decision was made after careful consideration and is due to several factors: the devaluation of the Japanese yen, increased competition from companies offering lower prices, a shrinking market share, and the inability to secure the partnerships or funding needed to sustain our operations.”
The studio produced several popular anime series, including “Boruto: Naruto Next Generation,” “Blue Lock,” “Black Clover,” and many others. Although the studio worked on many well-known anime franchises, its poor animation quality ultimately led to its shutdown.
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North American-Based Tonari Animation Shuts Down Amid Claimed Of Growing Competition And Unable To Secure Funds
The message, signed by founder and CEO Jarrett Martin, suggests the reason for their shutdown. In the message, Jarrett Martin mentioned the various reasons that forced them to make such a decision. He says, “They are ceasing operations after four years of Japanese yen devaluation, increased competition from companies offering lower prices, a shrinking market share, and the inability to secure the partnerships or funding needed to sustain our operations.”
They started in 2019 with the solo dream of making Japanese anime production more accessible to English-speaking creators and building a company that prioritizes the needs of the creators. They worked tirelessly to improve the conditions for animators with the best-in-class pay in the industry.
Over the years, they made a way easy for creators and worked on 80 titles and productions. However, they are shutting now, but Tonari Animation Studio’s will live on as the CEO and founder Jarret changing to the new role as Creative Director at Creative Freaks. The message ends with Thank You from the founder and the CEO.
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