Forum - View topicCan I become an anime artist?
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Siin
Posts: 3 |
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Think of this question sort of as a reboot of the 2004 thread:
animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6825 I figured I'd reboot this because A) It may be different 11 years later and B) My situation very well may give me a small step up I'm a fifteen year old girl in a similar situation. I can easily say that there's nothing I'm good at other than art. I'm moving into my junior year and switching to a residential art school for my final two years. Given the school's prestige, supposing I make it through the program I could technically get into any art school I wish. I know it sounds cocky, but it's pretty much reality given how unique the school is. In addition, if anyone can help me out with this, is it possible for a female American to create Japanese hentai or echhi with some form of a team? My biggest fear going into this is that I'll end up doing some one-man comic that barely sells. *shudders* Other than that, the same questions as the old thread apply. Do I have to go to certain college or university? Is the college or university in Japan or the US? Do I have to live in Japan? Do I need to know Japanese? I'll add that my family is willing to do ANYTHING to get me out of the USA ASAP so going to Japan may be for the better lol. |
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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The odds are incredibly low, but there is precedent to young foreign artists making a name for themselves in Japan. I'd say a good measuring test is while you're still in school create some art and put 'em up on Pixiv. If you can't win over a lot of the Japanese fans on Pixiv then I think it's pretty safe to say that it probably won't work out. But that's a first step that I think would reasonable set you on the path while staying within reality.
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Siin
Posts: 3 |
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Okay, that's doable! I'll try and get some stuff up there soon! Thanks for the non-patronizing reply, too LOL. And I love the Time of Eve profile pic! I had no idea that site even existed to be honest aha...
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Parse Error
 Posts: 592 |
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Learning Japanese is going to be a must as well, and the earlier you start on that the better.
One option you might want to consider for the near-term is using MikuMikuDance or something similar to make short animations by yourself, or longer ones with a team of people who share your ambitions. There's already quite a few raunchy skits made that way in addition to the countless racy music videos, so it's a fairly readily attainable goal to start out with. |
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Siin
Posts: 3 |
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Sweeet, that's doable too! I think for now I'm going to focus on getting different poses down. Thanks so much for all the resources, guys!!
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Galap
Moderator
 Posts: 2354 |
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What type of art are you most interested in? Animation? Background art? Manga? There have been quite a few people from outside Japan that have come to do all of these things, so this is definitely something you can do.
Since you're young, you're at an advantage because you have the time to focus strongly on developing your skills. Your family being supportive is a big plus as well. My advice: 1: Learn Japanese. Become fluent. It's a task that will take a good amount of time, but it's certainly doable. It's just a language after all. 2: I have little experience with formal art training, and there are quite a few artists that are successful that are self taught, but I'm sure many people get quite a lot out of it. I certainly got a lot out of what I was able to receive. If art is what you know you're good at, go to the residential school. And after that, maybe go to a college for animation. There are quite a few schools that offer animation courses in Japan, and most of them are geared to prepare you to be an animator in the anime industry. Alternatively, you can go to school for animation in the US, but I'll say that those places have more of a focus on independent film and 3DCG, thought 2D programs do exist. I say if you're willing to go school in Japan after high school, it's probably a good idea since the US is pretty much a wasteland when it comes to drawn animation. To a large extent I give that the blame for why I gained an interest in art and animation so late compared to most people. 3: You've probably heard this before, but it's the best of advice: make sure you draw every day, and you will keep improving. |
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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Okay, I don't want to be the dick who craps all over somebody's dreams. However when I see a comment like this...
...it makes me think you really need a reality check, at least if you're really serious about pursuing this as a career. So here is the harsh truth of the situation: If you shudder at the thought that you might only make it as an artist who produces a small comic that doesn't sell well then you have absolutely no business pursuing this as a career. Again, that may sound harsh but it's the absolute truth. Realistically you'd be quite lucky to make it as an artist at all. Regardless of how talented you are, it's an insanely competitive field and most people who pursue such a career (let alone as a foreigner in Japan) never make it at all. And even those that do usually don't make much money and/or don't produce any big hits. For every big shounen hit there are a thousand tiny, largely forgotten series as well. If your main concern is popularity and/or financial gains you are barking up the wrong tree. At best a career in art is going to entail years if not a lifetime of toiling in obscurity for meager financial returns. Getting the opportunity to work on a small, one person comic that doesn't even sell well should be seen as one of your success scenarios. If you view that as the worst possible outcome then yeah, definitely this is not a thing you should pursue. Again, I'm not saying this to be mean. And if you really do feel driven to pursue this you should. But that drive really better be strong enough that you're willing to pursue such a career for its own sake. The fact that you even have a job making art/anime/manga better be enough to satisfy you, or else you're just setting yourself up for massive disappointment and that's to say nothing of the very real possibility you never land such a job at all. |
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dirkusbirkus
 Posts: 699 Location: Manchester, UK |
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I'm also going to go against the grain of this mostly positive thread.
You're talking about trying to make it as a female foreigner in one of the most xenophobic and patriarchal societies in the developed world. I appreciate your desire to get out of the US and it's great that your art can be a conduit for that but really, Japan is not a forgiving place for young women or migrant workers. I would seriously consider the situation you'd be getting yourself into. Japan is not a golden land of opportunity, the reality very rarely echoes the dream. Having said all that, becoming an artist fulltime is a wonderful aspiration. You're still young, consider if your current passion for anime is likely to be something you want to be drawing 10-20 years down the line. |
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Souther
 Posts: 629 |
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To add to what everyone else said, it's very, very difficult, but not impossible. Manga-wise, this young woman managed to get into a manga school(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oezbqfn4ceY). Felipe Smith got a manga serialised in Japan and here's some advice from him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a_vptJ-PTI Finally, someone from America became an assistant to the author of Prince of Tennis. Animation-wise, there's some non-Japanese animators.
If you have the drive and the will, go for it, but have a back-up plan. |
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 12083 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Might wanna' read this recently published article, for some more insight.
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SaiyanYasha
Posts: 33 |
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is it quite possible that you'd think some animators in America are also anime character animators for a possibility?
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 19154 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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No. Anime grunt work does sometimes get outsourced, but it's almost always to Korea or (less commonly) SE Asia. You'd never see American animators working on anime unless it's a co-production.
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OsamuTezuka
Posts: 51 Location: Metropolis |
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Well TekkonKinkreet is proof it can be done. The director is American!
anime#6531 |
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st_owly
 Posts: 5234 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland |
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I would recommend giving The Princess of Tennis a read. It's by a woman who went to Japan and ended up becoming assistant to Takeshi Konomi on the Prince of Tennis.
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Saffire
 Posts: 1256 Location: Iowa, USA |
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Thomas Romain is a French animator currently working with Satelight who has some pretty good anime cred. LeSean Thomas is currently working in conjunction with Romain and Satelight on Cannon Busters and worked in Korea for a while. Both are on twitter.
The anime industry is awful to break into though, it's almost certainly better to build a resume somewhere else and try to get noticed. Romain was picked up by Shoji Kawamori, for example. |
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