Forum - View topicINTEREST: American Animator in Japan Offers His Take on the Industry's Wages and Work Environment
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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Let's not forget the simple truth, the inbetweener animators, who do most of the drawings but get the lowest payment are not employees of the company, they are paid a commission for their work (just like when you pay someone in deviantart for a drawing). Japan has pretty good labour laws, but Osamu Tezuka created this system so anime could be created inside Japan at the lowest cost posible and now that ghilbi is downsizing the trend towards better paying for the low end animator has vanished. The simple truth is that anime is such a niche work environment and japan has much bigger economical worries for them to legislate only for it (micromanaging is not cost effective), this will not change in our lifetimes. Chances are in one decade or two CGI will take the work of inbetweeners and this discussions will become pointless. |
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mdo7
 Posts: 6280 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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Well as Justin said it himself on this Answerman:
I have to assume the anime industry/biz (as in some studios, maybe some CEOs, and whoever allowed this unacceptable condition) may have also sabotaged itself. Also I read it on Siliconera that Under the Dog anime is suffering from tight budget. |
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Yause
Posts: 97 |
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Kyoto Animation is better, but there's a difference between reality and the PR line (which is crafted for recruitment purposes). Their minimum standard isn't as dire because geographic isolation necessitates more long-term development and retention of employees, plus they compete on higher quality animation.
No overtime isn't true (there's no overtime on the books, but there are "voluntary" overnight stays during tight periods), although conditions aren't as bad as in Tokyo. As you might expect, the flipside of geographic isolation is that senior employees make more elsewhere. As an animator in Kyoto, you work for KyoAni..........or you work for KyoAni. That's why some veterans have left to join the madness in Tokyo or to hop over to Nintendo. Edit: As for artistic freedom, KyoAni is reputed to be fairly homogenous in approach, although efforts have been made to allow for some individuality. Last edited by Yause on Mon Mar 09, 2015 10:49 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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sukochi
 Posts: 37 Location: Tokyo, Japan |
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i have seen this article now for the 3rd time on a different site and it kind of bothers me. Of course I think animators are underpaid. And sure its an extremely hard (technically and mentally) career choice. I myself have had a 'doctor-stop' once due to stress. BUT, depending on how determined one is and one's skills increase, it does get better. Its not an industry where you draw a picture and it gets OK'd by the director instantly. Even if your director says OK, once your cel, or BG is put together with the rest of the other parts (cels, BG, effects) and is shown to the main directors, it can still be not OK and then asked to retake it. This job isnt for everyone. You have to be able to take criticsm of your work and skill, and even your level of determination. I've worked with a lot of other foreigners here in the last 8 years, and most of them (usually from the west) tend to demand their weekends off (most of us are expected to work 6day weeks - sometimes I wish also, but its the comapny rules here - and you either have to accept them or change job) and long holidays (long over here in Japan is anything over 10days). This mans arcticle is painting an overall bad image of the industry here. Sure there are lots of down sides to the job, but a lot of the people here want to do this job no matter what, because its some thing they feel passionate about. And due to the low salary (in the beginning, it does go up and you progress in skill and position) most people commute from their family homes, so as not to have to pay rent etc. So ofcourse for us foreigners who have no family home here, we find it more difficult as we have to pay for stuff. BUT thats OUR CHOICE! We CHOSE to come to work here!
As for me, I've been working here in the industry little under 8 years now. I've been assistant art director a few times and now Art Director. I love my job and love meeting the people who enjoy what we do. Sure, it can be stressful, but its getting through it as a team, to make something we can all be proud of. We are always looking on how to improve ourselves skillwise. To the majority of us (the ones who stay - there are quite a lot of people recently who quit with in a year once they realize the reality of our work) money isnt the biggest reason for our work. We enjoy making people have that escapism that is anime! We love being able to let people come home from School or Work and switch on the TV or PC and be able to forget about their stress and lives for 25minutes. Or go on a date to watch an anime movie at the theatre. Going to special events and meeting the fans and seeing their smiles and them going crazy over the merchandise..... It makes all of it worthwhile. For me personally! Also, its very rare for an animation studio to support foriegner work visas....so its slightly ungrateful for one to publicly bash ones work conditions whilst receiving a visa sponsorship from that employer. Pierrot might think twice when it comes to visa extensions. Im not saying what this man is implying is wrong, but I just want to say, not all of us feel wrong-done or unsatisfied with our employers, studio or industry as a whole. Our career path isn't just given out on a plate for everyone to enjoy, we have to work hard and try hard to get anywhere in our CHOICE of career. If anyone comes here expecting to earn a fortune within their first 5 years of their career as an animator or artist.....it might be wise to do a bit more research. Also, try going to a japanese language school for 2 years, followed by an animation school here for 2 years before-hand. Believe me, this helps! I did it. |
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sukochi
Posts: 37 Location: Tokyo, Japan |
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Thanks very much for the recognition! hehe! |
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configspace
Posts: 3717 |
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@ sukochi
Is that you Scott? Love your work Dog Days! Yeah, I agree it's not a complete picture as I mentioned with other responses in my previous post. The reality seems to be that there is both light and dark, and always a vareity of choices involved. |
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brucepuppy
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A big NO. I love watching anime, unlike some people here who only watched 1 or 2 anime, so i don't want it to crash. It's definitely in urgent need of improvement, but purge it completely is an insane idea. Besides, he's still working there despite the harsh environment. He can go back to his country but he chooses to stay. Kudos for him and for his dream & idealism. |
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mdo7
Posts: 6280 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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@ sukochi
Thank you for giving your thought on the industry. I like your insight. 
If it's not a problem, you should be interview on the ANNcast. |
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Kaioshin_Sama
Posts: 1215 |
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And people get a little more insight into why I find anime a lot more distasteful than I used to. It's why I really hate the production committee, uncompromising deadline oriented, commercialism fixated model the current industry follows. Not only does it stifle any sort of the creativity that saw anime's rise to prominence as a culturally significant and distinct format and style of expression for pretty much solely commercial endeavors, sometimes it's hard to accept what is quite often just a bunch of producers and robber barons making money off of the passion, interest and hard work of others while giving them empty wish fulfillment dreams and failing to train the next generation of creators and nurture there talents in any significant way. There's a lot that's really wrong with the current structure and outlook of anime and in many ways it just kills the enjoyment of it all.
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sukochi
Posts: 37 Location: Tokyo, Japan |
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sukochi
Posts: 37 Location: Tokyo, Japan |
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HAHA! Thanks for the comment! Not everyone has the same insight as me (TBH, I also had a slightly different view during my first year or two also). HAHA! I'm always open to offers. But unfortunately, Dog Days'' hasn't been streamed in the west as far as I know, hence why ANN doesnt cover it........(cries) LOL. Nevermind. |
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Mr. Oshawott
 Posts: 6773 |
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@sukochi
Thanks for your viewpoint. As long as you and others are happy with your occupation, I totally respect that. __________ I agree with brucepuppy; wishing for the anime industry to collapse is really a bad idea, as that won't solve the issues surrounding it- it'll only exacerbate them. I watch anime shows on a daily basis, so if the industry goes, so does the employees' source of work, as well as my primary source of entertainment. |
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sukochi
Posts: 37 Location: Tokyo, Japan |
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Thank you! |
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Madoka...AYUKAWA!
 Posts: 158 |
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Because he has no options... I really wonder if there is just teens on this site, a lot of people fail to grasp how harsh its is out there, probably the lot of you dont even work, or live comfortably enough be oblivious to vile working conditions., people have no options, either they accept the work conditions or there are others that will accept them, hence why such conditions exist in the first place. The lot of you should really know the world out there.
Well said. But as proved but prior comments people still dont fully understand the circumstances of why so many people accept working conditions like those in a lot of fields, as proved by the ones that find complacence that "he is still doing it" so it should be fine or he can quit or go back to his country and "live off his rich parents".. |
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Galap
Moderator
 Posts: 2354 |
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My question is: how is it legal for them to pay their workers less than the minimum wage? There has to be some kind of loophole they're using.
This may be biased since I myself work in a field that is 'harsh' in that way (work hours), so maybe I've gotten used to it, but I find the pay issue to be worse than the work hours issue. Man, those wages are terrible. That amount of income is completely unlivable. |
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