We all have that friend, or maybe you WERE that friend.
That person who can’t seem to get out of their own way.
No matter how much you beg and plead for them to work their shit out, they just keep making
the same self-destructive decisions over and over again.
And for these kinds of friends, hitting rock-bottom seems like the only thing that will wake them
up to their problems.
The Japanese anime industry has been that friend for years.
At this point, everyone, even people who don’t watch anime, know about the sweatshop-like
conditions animators work under.
The anime industry is booming, but the guys at the top get the biggest slice of the pie
while the people doing the real work get crumbs.
I recently checked out an episode of Asian Boss where they interviewed an animator who
discussed the conditions in further detail, about how some animators sleep at work, don’t
shower for days, maybe even weeks, and how studios absolutely reek of body odor as a
result of this.
She then went on to explain how she’s living in a sharehouse for animators sponsored by
donations because she otherwise couldn’t make it on her own.
And she endures this because she loves to be an animator.
And this is a problem that happens everywhere in the world, even the US.
People in creative positions get taken advantage of by their superiors because they have a
passion for their creative work, so their bosses think it’s no problem asking them
to work a few extra hours or take on a large project for next to nothing, if compensation
is even offered at all.
So the slices for the higher-ups get bigger, while the crumbs for the labor get more and
more scarce.
Well, according to a Japanese website LiveDoor.com, China is seeing this as the perfect time to
strike.
Ironically, China is one of the countries that Japan is known for outsourcing to, and
this is a practice that even further cripples the Japanese talent pool.
But now China is looking to outright steal that talent from Japan for their own industry.
China has been really critical of the Japanese animation industry’s business and labor
practices, and now they are offering upwards of roughly $2,500 a month for Japanese animators
with at least 5 years experience with promotion and raise incentives, and free housing, and
the ability to create more freely.
Remember that most animators in Japan are lucky to bring home $1,000 a month unless
they work for one of the good guys like KyoAni.
And the animators appear to be interested.
They’ve been getting more and more vocal on social media about their working conditions,
and now you’ve got China offering a better wage, more room to advance, creative freedom
and a much more favorable living situation.
It’s the perfect storm to turn the anime industry on its head.
Because what happens to the Hero Aca’s, the Attack on Titan’s?
Who’s gonna animate this stuff?
Japan has loosened its stingy immigration policies, but who with the necessary skill
level would be dumb enough to work under those conditions if the locals don’t want to?
You can’t sell the idea of working in Japanese animation as some kind of honored privilege
if your own people are leaving and everyone in the world knows why they’re leaving.
China has a few decent anime here and there, but it pales in comparison to Japan, but if
they were able to recruit Japan’s workforce, and give them that creative space they want,
China could come up quick while simultaneously crippling the Japanese industry.
Now could a scenario like that happen?
I honestly don’t know, but you can’t keep treating people a certain way and not expect
it to eventually bite you in the ass.
Only time will tell if these things fall into place, but if there were to be a mass exodus
of Japan’s animators to China, that would be the ultimate rock-bottom for the Japanese
anime industry, who would then be forced to truly evaluate the situation they’ve caused.
And I would hope that they would finally do the right thing to get their people back.
In either case, if this major shift somehow went through, I think animators and fans would
be the biggest winners.
I could see some quality animation, and more importantly, a resurgence in quality content,
coming out of this situation.
Honestly, I don’t care where they end up, I just want them to get their money and for
us to keep getting good shit.
But I want to know what you think.
Do you see the Japanese anime industry falling to China, even at least momentarily?
Do you see this anime bubble bursting sometime in the near future?
Have you ever checked out any Chinese animation?
If so, what did you think?
Let me know your thoughts on it in the comments below.
I’ll be back again soon.
But until then, sayonara, suckas!