Japan Animation Creators Association or in short known as JAniCA is putting up an attempt to improve the working conditions and better payrolls for animators.
While many might think that the anime industry is booming and overwhelming in Japan and the developers are having a good life. It is time to think otherwise.
Mainichi reports and following up on Canned Dogs‘ report,
Anime episodes usually cost between 1 to 2 million yen (8,500~17,000 USD) to make each episode, which costs only a fraction compared to the already famously low budget Japanese TV dramas. This situation was reflected earlier in the week when AIC’s private documents were leaked and revealed the breakdown of the 1 million yen budget for each episode, revealing that key frame and layout artists only get paid 2,000 yen for each cut. (each cut usually has 10+ keyframes, so 200 keyframes means the animator gets 30,000~40,000 yen)
Further interviews with the animators shows how bad their working condition is where animators have to work 12h a day without OT pay and earning much less than what an animator had expected to be.
It is no doubt with such poor conditions, Toyoo Ashida, chairman for Studio Live and also the one who set up JAniCA believes that it is a matter of time that anime industry will crash if this continues on
Personally, it is a fearful thought but pretty much expected. While you are sitting back on your luxurious sofa and watching your “unlimited supplies of new animes which you believe is a never ending process”, think of the animators who have slogged their lives with an effort for a living just to make a nice anime for you to enjoy.
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October 21st, 2007 at 5:48 pm #Anime and other things » Blog Archive » A bubble that is about to burst ? - The anime industry
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November 13th, 2007 at 7:24 pm #David Julio Wang
My god…
It truly is heart breaking.
Anime is very important to me.
I always feel deeply indebted to the artists and writers whenever I watch an Anime that particularly touches me.
I feel truly saddened to hear that their working conditions are so poor.
It shames me, but I am part of the problem.
I watch most of my Anime on crunchyroll and youtube.
I think I might have bought a DBZ movie or two and that’s it.
I am aware that everyone needs to be paid for their labors and that my enjoying artists hard work for free is disgusting behavior on my part. If I had money to spare, I would, with great joy and gratitude, pay for all the Anime I watch gladly and throw in generous tips as well. That is not the case with my life at the moment.
I am still figuring out what I want to do with my life, but I do know it has nothing to do with the accumulation of money.
Perhaps, that is the reason why Anime is so attractive to me.
The Anime stories I enjoy never celebrate the pursuit of wealth as being one of life’s great joys.
No.
Rather it is the adventure of exploring life and sharing that exploration with others that is the central beauty and majesty of Anime, and what touches my heart and gives me a sense of what I want my own life to be.
Perhaps, the animators themselves can put even more of their hearts into their art because they are living painful journeys themselves,as they draw away at their small desks for the seemingly endless hours they dedicate themselves to, for the creation of the stories they so dearly love.
sniff. sniff.
I wish I could help them…they are helping me.
Unfortunately, the world is still one of heavily repressed emotions, represented by the cold, calculating businessman with his dark suit and darkened heart.
“Those animators are basically slaves, so what? It’s their choice after all. Hey. It’s just business.”
I hope that their money tucks them in and keeps them warm at night…
Such a life is not for me, and, obviously not for the animators.
I say : it is not so much that animators need to be paid more, it is that animators should be drawing in a world where the idea of anyone going hungry, not being able to afford a doctor, sleeping under one’s desk, fearing constantly homelessness and abandonment,
simply does not happen.
and that will come, not just with me making enough money to buy my Anime,
that will come when we all decide that a world where some are making 1,000,000,000 yen a year and some are making 2,000,000 yen a year is not acceptable.
Everybody eats.
Everybody has nice clothes to wear.
Everybody has a safe, comfortable place to live.
Everybody has a job that challenges them and is worthy of dignity and respect.
Everybody.
Isn’t that what Anime is trying to teach us?