This is the kind of news that churns your stomach. If you were saving your reserves of copium for the upcoming yuri anime Let Me Fix You (Kimi wo Tsumugu), I have bad updates. Weeks before its release, the project has crashed into a concrete wall after one of the heaviest, darkest, and most murky backlashes we’ve seen this year, forcing the dissolution of the studio responsible for the animation.

A backlash that destroyed an entire studio

The chaos erupted in early May when a person under the alias Maryco dropped a bomb on social media: they directly accused Federico Antonio Russo, CEO and co-founder of the European studio Buta Productions, of grooming. And no, these weren’t just rumors; the victim exposed that this individual systematically manipulated them for over four years, starting in 2021 when they were only 14 years old and he was 23. To make matters worse, they backed their testimony with a 33-page document full of screenshots and messages, leaving the executive cornered and forcing him to delete all his social media to escape public scrutiny.

As expected, the animation team wasn’t going down with the ship. In a timely move, all workers immediately cut ties with Russo, causing the company to collapse overnight. The animators released a statement clarifying that none of them were aware of their boss’s misdeeds and revealed the internal hell they endured, as another ex-cofounder admitted the CEO had a toxic history of manipulation and lack of transparency. Now, the staff is organizing as freelancers to try and salvage the work already in progress, with empathetic clients supporting them during the transition.

About Let Me Fix You (Kimi wo Tsumugu)

For those who weren’t aware, this project was set to be a short-format adaptation of a beloved yuri dojin manga. Its premiere was scheduled for late May on YouTube, with the team ambitiously planning to expand it into something bigger in the future. However, with the studio dissolved and this scandal tainting the atmosphere, the creative team has requested time off to discuss whether it’s worth reviving the work under a new independent structure or if it should be canceled outright.

What do you think of this disaster? Do you believe the staff can salvage the project, or have we written off this anime forever?