A long-time employee of the renowned anime studio Madhouse has announced his departure – and made surprising accusations against the company. We summarize below.
After 35 years at Madhouse
As animator and character designer Kunihiko Hamada announced on his X account, he left Madhouse in March 2026. In total, he was associated with the studio for more than 35 years, including over 20 years as a permanent employee.
Hamada was unusually candid about his departure, saying the company made no attempt to persuade him to stay. In addition, despite his decades of work for the studio, he did not receive any severance pay. He did not reveal any further background information.
At the same time, Hamada confirmed that he was now working for another company. There he wanted to tackle new projects together with a young talent and continue to develop artistically in the future.
Over the course of his career, the animator has worked on numerous popular anime titles, including “Monster”, “NANA”, “Kaiji”, “Chihayafuru”, “My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999” and “Cardcaptor Sakura”.
The Madhouse studio is one of the best-known anime studios in Japan and was responsible for productions such as “Death Note”, “One-Punch Man”, “Overlord” and “Freezing: Beyond Journey’s End”.
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