Jojo character designer honestly tells foreign anime fans not to go to Japan and work in anime
Terumi Nishii is one of the most respected artists in Japan, having served as character designer for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable and Mawaru Penguindrum. She’s also one of the few animators who could actually speak English. In fact, she even has her own English twitter account so she can talk to foreign fans. However, the renowned animator recently let out a tweetstorm warning fans about going to Japan to get a job in anime. In fact, she tells them that it’s not as glamorous as one would think.
No matter how much you like anime, it is not advisable to come to Japan and participate in anime work. Because the animation industry is usually overworked😭
— NISHII_terumi (@Nishiiterumi1) April 22, 2019
I always feel sad when asked by young anime fans at overseas events that “I want to enter the Japanese animation industry, what should I do?” It’s not a very recommendable environment.
— NISHII_terumi (@Nishiiterumi1) April 22, 2019
In her tweets, she pointed out that making a living in the Japanese animation industry is hard. Not only are people overworked, but the pay is extremely low.
I am disappointed in the Japanese animation industry. . .
— NISHII_terumi (@Nishiiterumi1) April 22, 2019
Japanese anime has nothing like royalty or revenue sharing for character designers. The material we drew is collected and discarded.
— NISHII_terumi (@Nishiiterumi1) April 22, 2019
Japanese animation is surprisingly low budget. But the quality is high. That is because they have low wages and work long hours. Even if it is impossible, the budget will not go up.
— NISHII_terumi (@Nishiiterumi1) April 22, 2019
I like Japanese manga and anime, but I have many questions about the industrial structure of anime. And that has not improved for decades.
— NISHII_terumi (@Nishiiterumi1) April 22, 2019
In rare cases, older people in the anime industry say, “This is a job you like. Do not complain about running out of money.” I think that is a strange thing.
— NISHII_terumi (@Nishiiterumi1) April 22, 2019
In her tweets, Nishii also pointed out that the wages are so low that parents still have to send money to their children working in the anime industry. Yes folks, mostly, it’s the parents still paying for their kids even after they became “independent”.
My first salary was 2800 yen. It became 60,000 to 100,000 yen a month in experience of one year. But at this point I lost my deposit. Tokyo’s minimum wage is 985 yen per hour, but it can not be paid so much. Many rely on their parents’ money.
— NISHII_terumi (@Nishiiterumi1) April 22, 2019
Make an animation using the creator’s parent’s money. That’s strange.
— NISHII_terumi (@Nishiiterumi1) April 22, 2019
As for animators unionizing…
Building a union is a continual failure in Japan. Production companies dumping rampant
— NISHII_terumi (@Nishiiterumi1) April 24, 2019
However, she does offer a solution, and that’s working with foreign companies. A good example would be Netflix, which is injecting the anime industry with lots of money. In fact, Netflix is funding a lot of anime right now, including one that Nishii is working on, Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac.
I think Japanese animators should do more work with foreign capital.
— NISHII_terumi (@Nishiiterumi1) April 22, 2019
I think we have to change generations. In order to do so, I think we need to work with people abroad.
— NISHII_terumi (@Nishiiterumi1) April 22, 2019
The Japanese anime industry is also infamous for abuse of its workers. A production assistant recently sued Madhouse (Death Note, Cardcaptor Sakura) after he was hospitalized due to overwork,and the studio’s higher ups reportedly harassed him for talking about it. And in an older case, an animator from A-1 Pictures (Sword Art Online) actually died from overwork, with his family winning a lawsuit against the studio. There is no easy fix on these things, and many are just hoping to catch a break which might never come. And to conclude, here is another somber reminder from her:
Japanese animation is maintained only by the feelings that the creators “like anime”. However, with the increase of the number of works in recent years, some people have broken mind and body.
— NISHII_terumi (@Nishiiterumi1) April 22, 2019
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source: Sora News 24
