Both Ufotable, the studio behind the anime series Demon Slayer, and the company’s founder, representative director, and president Hikaru Kondo have been indicted for tax evasion.
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The animation studio acknowledged the indictment made by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office. It also states that the company has filed an amended tax return and paid the full amount. It also apologizes for any inconvenience it may have caused to any related parties. Ufotable allegedly owed 137 million yen in taxes.
According to the Kyodo news service (via Anime News Network), ufotable owes 109 million yen in corporate tax from 2015 to 2018, and 28 million yen in consumption tax from September 2014 to August 2018. Kondo reportedly hid money earned from ufotable anime-themed restaurants and stored them at home last year.
The ufotable animation studio was founded by Kondo back in 2000. It’s best known for its anime adaptation of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and its successful first film Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train. It has also produced other anime adaptations including Fate/Zero, The Garden of Sinners, and Katsugeki: Touken Ranbu.
Both the Demon Slayer anime series and film are available to stream on Funimation now in Japanese subbed and English dubbed.
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If you just can’t get enough of Tanjiro Kamado and his quest to save his sister, the video game Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles lets you play through the story so far. The CyberConnect2 developed 3D fighting game will launch on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on October 13, 2021.