Felix Film edits animator job listing over generative AI

Felix Film, the Tokyo animation studio behind Nekopara and Otherside Picnic, edited its new-graduate animator job listing on 17 October 2026 to remove a line that welcomed applicants who could create illustrations with image generative AI, and published a statement the same day saying it has not decided whether to use the technology. Anime News Network reported the change in a story by Ken Iikura-Gross.

The change sits in the listing's second requirement. In its original form, the studio sought applicants who "can create illustrations using Blender or image generative AI," in Anime News Network's rendering of the Japanese text. The aggregator Otakomu, which preserved the before-and-after wording, renders the same phrase as applicants who can draw the picture they intend using Blender or image generative AI being very welcome.

The edited listing now welcomes applicants eager to use "3D CG tools such as Blender and new digital technology to improve the efficiency of drawing and broaden the range of expression," and adds that Felix Film is "studying how AI technology can be used as one of the technologies to support the work of creators in the studio," again in Anime News Network's rendering.

In a statement posted the same day, Felix Film said, in Anime News Network's translation, "At this point, our company has not decided to implement generative AI for images in the studio, but we are studying its potential future use." The studio said twice that it wants the technology to support its creative staff rather than replace them. It also wrote that "if we implement generative AI technology in the future, we will carefully consider the elements of the services and techniques used, the rights issues, and the effects on the studio." The statement closes on the studio's own line that its aim is not to have AI make animation but to support the people who make animation with new technology.

The revision does not ban generative AI. The studio kept the possibility open in both the listing and the statement and limited itself to a promise to weigh rights questions before any implementation, as the secondary summary Yomimono notes. The listing's first requirement, which names the roles applicants should be aiming for, is unchanged: episode director, key animation director, character designer, concept designer.

Felix Film was founded on 14 May 2014 and works from Mitaka, Tokyo, according to its company page, which lists capital of ¥5 million, 125 staff (100 employees and 25 freelance or contract), and CEO Tomohito Naka. Its production credits include Nekopara (2020), Otherside Picnic (2021, co-produced with Liden Films), Aharen-san Is Indecipherable (2022) and MF Ghost, which Naka directed.

The animator posting lists a monthly salary of ¥227,025 for contract employees, made up of a base of ¥196,325 and a fixed overtime allowance of ¥30,700, with overtime past 20 hours paid separately. Applications are open to students graduating in spring 2027.

The revision lands in a Japanese animation industry split over generative AI. Anime News Network reported in May 2023 that about 94% of roughly 25,000 Japanese creators surveyed by Arts Workers Japan were "concerned that AI could have harmful effects such as rights infringement," citing TBS News Dig. In a CEDEC 2026 survey of 1,349 game-industry respondents that Anime News Network covered in September 2026, 85.8% said they use generative AI, while 40% said they do not use it in released products or services.

For an animator applying to Felix Film, the posting no longer asks for generative AI skills, and the studio has committed to nothing beyond studying the technology and checking rights questions first. The change settles the wording of the requirement; the studio's plan stays open.

Felix Film takes applications on a rolling basis, by email to recruit@felixfilm.co.jp or by post, until positions fill, and the studio has set no date for deciding whether to use generative AI.