Anime staff and other experts have recently raised concerns about the industry's sustainability in the face of the Japanese yen's devaluation against key currencies such as the Korean won and the Chinese yuan. China.
Recent reports from Nikkei Asia and Japan Times revealed that the yen is at its lowest level in 16 years against the won and its lowest level against the yuan since 1993. Animator Otarou explained in April why this matters in a recent post on who did business with us until earlier this year said they could no longer accept orders at the same price.” Most anime studios act as contractors for production commissions, are assigned budgets for their services, and they use these funds to subcontract with the studios. Animator Otarou continued, “On the other hand, the budget from the committee remains unchanged, and the studio has no choice but to cut profits to compensate for the weak yen or to reduce costs. of scenes. Furthermore, the purchasing power of anime fans is also decreasing.”
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The second post comes from the episode director of the Crunchyroll Spring 2024 anime Mysterious Disappearance and Bartender: Glass of God, Kentaro Mizuno. Highlighting this issue in multiple posts this year, he said, “It is time for good animators and competent companies in China and Korea to no longer accept Japanese work. , and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to make a profit. It's come to this, friend [government] Planning to do nothing? If things continue like this, sooner or later Japan will sink. Japan's talented animators and companies will be taken over by foreign companies. They will be dominated – exploited. That will be the case.”
Japan's anime industry often uses cheaper labor from China, Korea and other countries
Japan's reliance on outsourcing comes from cheaper labor costs, especially from South Korea and China. If this cannot be sustained long term, it will likely force production volumes to decrease, or the already overworked and underpaid anime staff to work harder to compensate. A 2021 statistic from the Animation Dormitory Project alleged that 90% of animators quit after three years, making the added burden potentially disastrous. Of course, this also has real implications for viewers, including production troubles and cancellations, while also reinforcing the monopoly of anime filled with cheap tropes more money or only adaptations of works that are reliably expected to bring in large profits.
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Mizuno's vision of exploitation stemming from low wages may already be happening, even domestically. Netflix Anime chief producer Taiki Sakurai held a talk at the Institute for Economic, Trade and Industrial Research last year, with his comments having implications for both creators and quality anime for fans. On the one hand, he called on the Japanese government to introduce a better tax support system and asked production companies to improve their ability to sell anime abroad. This is something that Chainsaw Man producer Makoto Kimura emphasized changed MAPPA for the better. However, much of his talk called for the introduction of AI, adding: “The difference between Japan and other countries in terms of adoption is Japan still relies on individual craft skills and cannot yet escape this. I think we're currently forced into a situation where there aren't enough creators willing to borrow even a cat's paw, and without using AI, we won't be able to deliver tomorrow's products in time.”
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Sakurai's final comment included, “Also, while this isn't necessarily a good thing, making anime in Japan is now cheaper than in Thailand, Vietnam or Korea. In that sense, one of the attractions of Japanese manufacturing facilities is that affordable production can be a chance for success.”
Source: X (formerly Twitter), Nikkei Asia, Japan Times