The Sad Truth of Being A Japanese Animator

In the sequel to my last video, The Sad Truth of Being A Mangaka, I looked into the life of Japanese animators instead. Today I discuss the salary, hours, and working conditions of animators in Japan and just how difficult of a job it is. Why is it so harsh? Why don't things change? Watch to find out!

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[laurabythatagari]

People think art isn’t worth money, the thing is artists are highly skilled workers. It’s not a hobby, it’s not a talent. It’s gruesome, tiresome work, and we treat the artists like absolute SH*T while being all to happy to consume their creations

[dragonsmith]

Kyoto Animation paid their talent a living wage and trained them up with a good work life balance. They were having a great impact on the industry. It's very sad an evil person did the unthinkable. I hope the spirit of Kyoto Animation will live on forever.

[giyutomioka]

As a fellow artist who went to school to become an animator, I have the utmost respect for them all! My professor told me to change my major from animation to something else. Anything else. I planned on working for Disney/Pixar, but they fired a ton of employees and lowered wages when I was one year away from graduation. I'm grateful that he warned me and I listened. I could have never lived that kind of life while burnout was consuming my passion! To all those that are animators, thank you and better times are to come!!

[eyu]

Quite frankly if the Japanese government is aware of this problem of unfair wages and poor work hours in the studios. Then they need to take action without having workers ask for it. Anime and Manga are some of the biggest economic resources for the nation of Japan. The world loves it and are willing to pay to get it. So pay the artists what they deserve for their wonderful art!

[thealchemist]

I am a comic artist and graphic designer myself who was dreaming of being able to draw animation like the Japanese anime; I watched Anime since 1994; however, I never thought the life work of an animator in Japan is that miserable! I always thought of them like highly-paid professionals due to the worldwide distribution of Anime & Manga! Thanks for such an enlightening video, and the other one about Manga artists too.

[bedivere]

I'm an animation student who aspires to be an animator but because of this reason, I am now leaning more into just becoming an illustrator. The hardwork from every staffs of an anime is what makes me feel really mad against people who just complains about everything. Even the tiniest mistakes, they will complain not knowing or just straight up ignoring how hard it is to even make a 24 minute animation.

[hiimtruong]

"You get what you pay for" is what i've always belive for the longest time. But with anime & manga, i got way more than i can ever give back. Honestly, can't thank this amazing people enough

[kien]

I'm worry for Japan animator. Their passion is why they willing to overwork for a trash pay just to create something they love. And their work inspire more people, give them the passion to continue this cycle. The only people who benefit from this are their boss who don't feel the need to pay them more because their Passion pay themselves.
Passion in japan is like a trap now.

[animetoonshd]

This is why I love Kyoto animation. The fair pay shows in their work

[verminspencer]

Hope they get better laboral conditions and even a higher pay if it's possible. They deserve more knowing how popular and succesful anime is, inside and outside Japan.

[Thesilentvoice...]

Watching this made me think of Demon Slayer and how the Mangaka (Koyoharu Gotouge) did not get paid well. The movie broke records in Japan and even the anime has had a lot of viewership in Japan and worldwide via Netflix and Crunchyroll. But her pay was low. The animators working on that probably didn't get paid as much from the movie. I just wonder where is all the money going? Is it being used for next projects or to fund current ones? With Disney or any American/European studio, every person gets paid well for any animated series, and there is still enough money for new projects. The situation in Japan needs to change because they give the best art and animation out of every country in the world and they don't get the recognition or money for their work.

[violet_]

My brother is aiming to become an animator and he even wants to go to Japan to work there. But after watching this, I'm scared for his health and future. I totally don't want to ruin his mental image and dream of being an animator, but I want him to be aware of this cruel reality.

[khunagueroagnis]

This was my dream job for a long time until I found out about the harsh conditions. I hope it gets better for all the Japanese animators out there, they deserve so much more since there job is incredibly hard.

[ArchipelDocumentaries]

Hi, this is the second time you are using some of our footage in your videos, after the one on "The Sad truth of Being A Manga Artist". While we didn't say anything the first time, we find it regrettable that:
- You haven't asked for authorization to use our footage.
- The footage you are using does not depict your subject. In the mangaka video, you have used footage from our portrait of Shinichi Sakamoto, who is nowhere near being in a struggling situation with his work. Likewise, in this video you are using footage from our portrait of Koji Yamamura, who is in a similar case, non-struggling and proud of his independent status.

We won't be doing any claim as what has been done is done, but please ask us for authorization for any use of our footage in your future videos, and please add a credit mention in this video and a mention that the footage you are using is simply for illustration purposes & that it does not reflect of the actual situation of these creators. Thank you.

[notationmusical]

The sad thing I see is that when people love an anime, most of the time, they praise the animation (Violet Evergarden, Mushoku Tensei, Link Click, etc.), but when a series is bad with their story and characters, even if the animation is "good" or "great", it is never really appreciated (Examples: Darling in the Franx, SAO, I could go on).
I remember people complaining about the filler episode in MHA season 5, and the animation being "bad", and while I have noticed a shot of one of the characters being a little off-model, there were still many shots of smooth animation, (the shot of the dragon flying being one of them). Granted, story and animation are separate and I understand that whatever happened behind the scenes, that should not, in cases, affect how the consumer views the product. People are allowed to have opinions. A bad anime in their eyes will still remain bad to some people even if they know what happened behind the production. But I feel as if animation with sakuga is now expected to be the bare minimum or that people will call an animation bad and leave it like that without giving a reason. I am a beginner at animation, so I know how hard it is. You have to storyboard, layout, do in between frames, line art, and on top of that, make sure it's consistent.
So if you want to support animators, I recommend checking out the Animator Dormitory Project. Also, anime are made by youtubers as well so I recommend checking out Sempai Club Hikari~be my light and Super Clockwork Hero. Both are short and won't take your time. (Sry this was long, I just really like animation)

[Resolutey]

I fell in love with anime only just recently. This video and the one about mangakas just broke my heart. Seeing the fruits of their labour, just how much energy and life and soul they put into their craft, yet they make less than a McDonald's worker, who requires no extraordinary skill.
This video has been released a year ago, and I sincerely hope at least something is changing.

[eyezyuh]

Absolutely brilliant video, my man. I really really hope more studios start valuing their animators more and more

[clydewy]

On one side they realize their dream everyday, on the other hand they are exhausted by the amount of work they have to produce. It's tough, but I would gladly overwork myself for my dream as well, that's all I can say. (Being a full-time writer I mean)

[joshuafigaro]

Thanks for shedding light to this subject, anime was an escape for me when i was depressed, and the people who helped me get through hard times are going through tougher times themselves, i hope this video gets more views so people can spread this heartbreaking video

[quachey]

Nothing but respect for anyone in the animation industry, for Japan especially where the work culture is a crazy, intense, and exhausting grind. The passion that animators have for their work is a truly beautiful thing. Great vid as always man.🤝