Gloomy Days Ahead: Anime Industry Forewarned by Terumi Nishii of Jujutsu Kaisen 0

Key Takeaways:

– Terumi Nishii, the chief animation director of Jujutsu Kaisen 0, warns about the impending bankruptcy in the anime industry due to budget mismanagement.
– The industry is grappling with an insufficient number of skilled animators.
– The low-paying, strenuous conditions of the anime industry are causing concerns for the welfare of the employees.
– Lack of specialized training, massive overtime hours, and absence of industry-standardized tests are the core issues according to Nishii.
– Nishii actively works with The Nippon Anime & Film Culture Association (NAFCA) striving to improve the anime industry’s working conditions.

As one of the leading figures in the anime industry, Terumi Nishii, whose directorial prowess made Jujutsu Kaisen 0 a phenomenal success, forewarns a bleak future for the anime industry in a recent X post. Nishii outlines the potential rise in bankruptcies due to the industry’s financial mismanagement and workforce crunch.

Decoding the Anime Industry Crisis

Nishii enlightens anime fans about the looming crisis through her Twitter post. She anticipates hardships driven by stretched production timelines and budget misallocation. Projects slated for a three-year timeline now potentially extend for five years due to budgets directed towards different projects. While companies exhaust their capacities, they might lay off less skilled or newer animators, she highlights.

This grim prediction comes after a thread criticizing inexperienced animators’ ability to draw trace lines for shading. Responding to the critique, Nishii urges production companies to ensure that projects align strictly with their original specs. Any discrepancy should be rectified by the animator until instructions are accurately met.

The Predicament of Overworked Animators

Highlighting the growing concern of talent shortage, Shingo Adachi, the character designer for Sword Art Online, points out the overreliance on underpaid freelance artists. Nearly 200 anime series come to life in Japan each year, but there aren’t enough skilled animators to cover all of these projects. As a result, studios lean heavily on freelance animators who are often passionate about anime, but lack required expertise. Indeed, the plight is dire for these animators who, despite toiling for hours, earn an unimpressive paycheck of about $2 per hour.

Corroborating these statements, Henry Thurlow, a non-Japanese animator based in Japan, told Buzzfeed, “It’s an illegally harsh industry.”

The Problem as Viewed by Terumi Nishii

Nishii points out that the dearth of specialized training and a universal skill tester are the root causes of declining quality work in the anime industry. In her view, studios tend to gamble their resources on underqualified beginners only to have senior animators redo their lackluster submissions later—resulting in wastage of time and effort.

Complementing this situation is the industry’s questionable salary structure. Even successful ventures like Attack on Titan don’t guarantee good earnings for key-frame animators, leading to a degraded dream-job status for animators. Amid these situations, an overall lack of unions in the sector compounds these intrinsic problems, according to anime producer Masuo Ueda.

Combatting Anime Industry’s Crisis

Nishii emphasizes regulations to ensure better standards in the anime industry. She has been actively working with The Nippon Anime & Film Culture Association (NAFCA), which aims to improve the working and living conditions of anime creators. NAFCA introduced an animator skill test to establish a standard for the hiring of animators, effectively preventing the engagement of cheap labor through social network recruitment.

Concluding Thoughts

Nishii has consistently vocalized her concerns over the anime industry’s labor exploitation, long hours, health issues, and poor compensation. If drastic measures are not implemented, it remains uncertain how long the industry will withstand such challenges. The ominous forecast of more bankruptcies is a call-to-action for the industry to take immediate corrective measures for its sustainability.