One In Every Four Anime Studios Are Bleeding Money

It is not a surprising that the Anime industry has been struggling recently. It may seem like that is not in case with the rise in overall number of titles, but behind the scenes money is drying up and the staff is struggling. According to a recent Japanese television report, one out four anime studios is experiencing a net losses, this number increasing over the past couple of years.

Looking at the studios in the industry, about 25% of the studios are currently in the red as of 2015, that is an increase from the constant hovering at 20% from 2011-2014. So what is the cause of this terrible trend? Japanese Public television took a closer look behind the scenes to try and figure out the answer to this question. It seems that one of the factors adding to the downturn of the industry is the animators.

The television program went to the Tokyo Animator Dormitory, a place where young artists live and when they looking to making it in the industry, and talked to them about the situation. It was reported that "80% of animators quit within their first three years of working with a company" and that their average wages are very low. According to the report, the average wages for an animator that is in between companies is only about 60,000 yen a month ($540 USD). An animator named Tetsuya Akutsu, for example, as only paid 200yen (under $2) for five hours of work on a single frame of animation.

It seems that right now the anime industry is focusing on quantity over quality. Overworking and underpaying staff to produce a large quantity of lower quality series. Much like throwing multiple darts at once in order to see which one hits with anime fans. With such a high turnover rate of animators and staff, it is only a matter of time before the industry starts to crumble. However, even though studios are losing money, the anime industry itself is growing more popular globally every year. The industry is just becoming too big and therefore too oversaturated for Japan to sustain it alone. There needs to be some changes before there is an impending giant anime crash.

[HT: Otakuusa]