Dahlia in Bloom Staff, Ekachi Epilka Studio Respond to Report Claiming N. Korean Animators Worked on Anime

The official X/Twitter account for the Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start With Magical Tools anime and the official website for the Hokkaido-based anime studio EKACHI EPILKA have both released statements, after the 38 North website posted a report on Monday claiming that North Korean animators worked on Dahlia in Bloom and an unnamed work at EKACHI EPILKA.

38 North is a Stimson Center-based website that provides analysis about North Korea. According to the report, NK Internet blog reporter Nick Roy discovered a cloud server with a North Korean IP address that was incorrectly configured, allowing anyone without a password to access it. North Korea uses these types of servers because most IT workers inside the country do not have access to the Internet.

Roy observed the files on the server throughout January, and discovered the server hosted files that included instructions for animation work, and the results of that day’s animation work. Some files contained instructions in Chinese and translated into Korean, which suggested a third company was responsible for relaying information between the animators and production companies.

A layout sheet Nick Roy found on the cloud server featuring the name Ekachi Eplika and text in Chinese and KoreanImage via 38 North38 North noted that while it did not find any concrete evidence on the exact North Korean animation studio involved, it is likely to be April 26 Animation Studio (aka SEK Studio). The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned the studio in 2016 as a North Korean state-owned enterprise. The U.S. government has since sanctioned Chinese companies twice that worked with the studio.

The report stated that Roy found files on the server related to both the Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start With Magical Tools anime and an unnamed work at EKACHI EPILKA. The files for EKACHI EPILKA featured the name “Neko” (Cat).

38 North was careful to note that there was no evidence to suggest that the companies it identified in the files had any knowledge of working with North Korean animators. The report added, “In fact, as the editing comments on all the files, including those related to US-based animations, were written in Chinese, it is likely that the contracting arrangement was several steps downstream from the major producers.”

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the FBI warned in May 2022 that IT workers from North Korea were attempting to obtain employment while posing as non-North Korean nationals. The report even listed “graphic animation” as one of the areas of work in which employees from IT companies were engaged. The employees might use VPNs or other methods to appear as though they reside in another country.

On Tuesday, the official X/Twitter account for the Dahlia in Bloom anime posted a statement “regarding what is in a series of reports” about the anime. The statement said that “neither the production committee nor the production studio were aware of the information,” and adding that the staff are currently investigating the situation.

On Wednesday, EKACHI EPILKA posted a statement on its homepage, stating that its layout sheets were used without permission, and the studio has no connection to the drawings and art found on the server. The company said it speculates that there was a leak from a subcontractor company, but EKACHI EPILKA has never placed any orders through a North Korean company and there is no evidence of such orders.

The 38 North report also identified other projects on the server, including the third season of the Amazon Original animated series Invincible and the BBC children’s cartoon Octonauts. Skybound Entertainment, the studio handling Invincible, also made a public statement after the report.

Sources: 38 North (Martyn Williams), Martyn Willams’ X/Twitter account, Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start With Magical Tools anime’s X/Twitter account via Rocket Boys, EKACHI EPILKA website