Last month, anime studio Toei Animation revealed that they had been the target of a hack, which halted some internal systems that were used in the anime production process while investigations were ongoing. Overnight, the NHK reported the details on what the hack was, as well as more information surrounding the returning TV anime episodes and continuing delay of the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero anime film.
According to officials that spoke with the NHK, the hack on Toei Animation was a ransomware virus that demanded a pay-off. Toei was able to confirm the existence of the virus and shut down its internal systems to investigate the extent of the virus’ reach. Details on the ransom, the virus itself, or where the virus may have come from, were not revealed.
The Japan Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center (JPCERT) revealed that these types of cyberattacks had become more common against Japanese companies during the pandemic, jumping from 20,000 reports in 2019 to 35,000 in the first 9 months of 2021. In February 2022, Toyota and its supply chain companies were targeted by a similar hack causing production to halt, with March seeing three other high-profile companies attacked.
Toei told NHK that while news episodes of One Piece, Digimon Ghost Game, Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai and Delicious Party Pretty Cure are returning after production was able to be completed despite being slowed down, the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero anime film will continue to see delays. All anime production is currently still slowed down due to internal systems not being fully operational.
The anime studio said, “The extent of the situation is still under investigation, and efforts are underway to normalize the operations. We deeply apologize to our fans for any concern this may cause.”
One Piece, Digimon Ghost Game and Delicious Party Pretty Cure will return on April 17, while Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai will air its first new episode in over a month on April 16. The series’ will resume streaming on Crunchyroll on the same day at their regular times.
Source: NHK
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Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.
