About the New Anime Making System Project 2020

Japanese animators have suffered from low wages, long work hours, and exploitative outsourcing contracts for decades. Because of this, the entire industry has faced impoverishment, and in recent years, the increase in inconsistent, low quality animation, shows getting taken off air, and degradation in art quality have become a very serious problem.

Under these circumstances, we are extremely concerned about the future of Japanese animation that is highly regarded across the world. 

…However, we don’t see any way for things to change without the help of the fans!

If improving the current anime industry is too difficult, then let’s craft a new anime industry as fans! 

As a step towards this path, we created the New Anime Making System Project 2020: a music video project that seeks to set a higher standard for the anime industry, by paying animators a fair wage.

To act as an aspirational beacon to the rest of our friends in anime studios all over Japan, we will raise the tides of our industry with the support of the global Anime fandom. That is the idea behind the New anime Making System Project 2020.

We collaborated with over 20 artists who have offered us their music as a charity for this project. Using this music, we will create an animated music video, like an anime opening, with Japanese animators!

(see more information about our collaborators under “participating artists” down below!)

The average monthly salary for a young animator in their 20s is 90,000 yen (about 810 USD)

According to the 2015 survey by the Japan Animation Creators Association, it’s said that the average annual salary for an animator in their 20s is about 1,100,000 yen (about 9,900 USD)

That’s about 90,000 yen (about 810 USD) per month.

For rookies in their first year at a company, there are even times when they earn less than 30,000 yen (about 270 USD) per month.

Rent for a standard studio apartment in Tokyo is about 60,000 yen (about 540 USD,) so you can see how low this monthly wage is.

There are many reasons for this extremely low income,

but the first is the low cost of inbetween animation. Most animators are hired under a payment model based on the number of frames they’re able to produce, and it takes time for them to get faster and reach a point where they can produce a lot of drawings and make a decent income.

For a TV series, one frame of inbetween animation goes for about 200 yen (about 1.80 USD).

This means if an animator draws 300 frames a month, they only earn 300*200= 60,000 yen (about $540 USD) per month. Drawing 300 pages in a month is incredibly tough, particularly for new animators.

Drop in art quality

Naturally, no one can live on this salary, so the turnover rate for new animators is extremely high. It’s said that 90% of employees leave their jobs within three years of joining a studio.

Even experienced key animators are paid less than what they deserve. After initially staying in the industry in their 20s, it’s extremely common for animators in their 30s to quit after thinking about marriage or a new job.

Because so many people quit, there is an extreme labor shortage in both key-animators and inbetween animators.

Because of this labor shortage, the quality of animation is declining and becoming a serious problem.

This is the reason why shows are taken off air more than before, and occurrences of inconsistent, low quality animation are becoming more common in recent years.

How did such a harsh work environment come to be?

Since anime requires a lot of money to make, if an anime doesn’t become a hit, it would mean a huge financial deficit.

In order to avoid this, the general method of anime production used by production committees is to get television stations, movie companies, advertising agencies, publishers, and major studios to invest in multiple companies a little at a time to create anime.

On one hand, this is necessary to avoid risks, but on the other, it has some negative consequences.

For example, the budgets given to production companies from the committees are extremely low: Japan’s anime production costs are less than a tenth of Disney’s.

This has caused production companies to lose money, and as a result, led to worse treatment for animators.

Currently, it’s said that one in four companies are in the red.

In addition, all the profits go to the production committee, so even if an anime becomes a big hit, the animators won’t see a dime.

There is no way to improve these unusually low production costs.

This abnormally low cost of production is the largest factor in the problem of low wages for animators. But unfortunately, there is no effective way to improve it at the moment.

If you’re a westerner, you might think that labor unions could do something about it, but that’s because many labor unions in the West are industry-specific unions in which an entire industry may participate. In Japan, industrial unions are not the standard, making it very difficult for labor unions to solve this issue.

Industrial unions are labor unions organized so workers from the same or even similar industries can exceed the restrictions of companies.

For example, if the anime industry were to do so, this would mean that every anime studio in Japan joins the same union.

As opposed to the U.S. where company unions are banned by law because they favor companies too much, in Japan, industrial unions are not so common. Most of the unions in Japan are in-house unions organized by members of each company.

If individual anime studios demanded a raise to their budgets, the production committee could just say, “Well, we’ll just ask someone else then.” Without an industrial union like those in Europe and the U.S., it wouldn’t even be up for negotiation. 

The current standards need to change

Animators often are not protected by contracts governed by the Labor Standards Act — Which protects workers and is generally used by Japanese Companies. Instead, they often work under civil law-governed outsourcing agreements. This means many animators are not protected!

While this may be common in the modern anime industry, it does not mean it always must be so! We aspire to a higher standard of quality, to protect our colleagues, the studios that craft these works, and even the fans themselves.

Let’s make a new anime industry!

We know that we’ve got to be the change we wish to see in the world. The anime industry is in dire straits, but together, we can really make a difference. That is the idea behind the New Anime Making System Project 2020. 

For our music video project, will set a new standard for the anime industry by paying our animators two to four times the current industry standards!

In the start of the introduction video, we introduced 22 prominent artists who have offered us their music as charity for this project.

Using this music as the base, Japanese animators will create an animated music video, like an opening for an anime!

Of course, animators who have received housing assistance, and current to past dormitory residents will be joining as staff!

If you would like to support us in this effort, please consider assisting us with our crowdfunding campaign.

Thank you very much!

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Participating artists

≪ Music Team ≫

Direction, Composer, Conductor:

■Mason Lieberman

Composer on “RWBY”, “Beyblade Burst God”, and charity musician with Yoko Kanno, Yuki Hayashi, and many others. Recording Artist on “Rising of the Shield Hero”, “Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul”, and more.

Orchestrator/Co-Arranger:

■Kevin Penkin

Composer on “”Made in Abyss”, “Rising of the Shield Hero”, “Norn9”, and “Tower of God”.

Lead Vocal:

■Dawn M. Bennett

Music Director and Actress at Funimation.

Lead Vocal:

■Morgan Berry

TheUnknownSongbird on YouTube, Actress at Funimation, popular TikTok personality.

Lead Vocal:

■Donna Burke

Industry vocalist featured in “Tokyo Ghoul”, “Metal Gear Solid”, “Final Fantasy”, and more.

Lead Vocal:

■Adriana Figueroa /Adrisaurus

Popular Anime cover artist with 510,000 subs on YouTube.

Lead Vocal:

■Milly Jones

Vocalist on “Made in Abyss”, “Rising of the Shield Hero”, “Hollow Knight”, and more.

Lead Vocal:

■Amanda Lee

Popular anime cover artist on YouTube with 1,680,000 subscribers.

Lead Vocal:

■Jason Paige

Lead Vocalist from the original Pokémon Theme song.

Lead Vocal:

■Caleb Hyles

Anime cover artist on YouTube with 1,350,000 subscribers. Vocals for “RWBY” and other projects.

Lead Vocal:

■Casey Lee Williams

Lead Vocalist for “RWBY”.

Lead Vocal:

■Brina Palencia

Music Director and Actress at Funimation.

Guitar:

■FamilyJules

Popular YouTube game/anime cover artist with 420,000 subscribers.

Saxophone:

■Carlos Eiene

Popular YouTube game/anime cover artist, Insaneintherain Music, with 319,000 subscribers.

Trumpet:

■John Robert Matz

BAFTA-nominated composer and trumpet player.

Violin:

■Jeff Ball

Violinist and composer on Steven Universe, Steven Universe Future, and many other titles.

Violin:

■Diwa De Leon

Popular YouTube artist, String Player Gamer, with 146,000 subscribers.

Violin:

■Patti Rudisill

Violinist on titles like “Apex Legends”, “Call of Duty: WWII”, “Marvel’s Spider-man”, and dozens more. 

Violin:

■David Morales Boroff

Violinist and pianist from the San Diego area.

Violin:

■Zack Rapp

Violinist and guitarist who has performed with arts like “Dream Theater”, “Alek Darson”, and more. 

Drum:

■Fabrizio Cavallaro

Drummer with artists like “Kanye West”, “Giorgi Mikadze”, and more. 

Mixing:

■Matthew Templeman

Mix for “Tower of God”.

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≪ Animation Team ≫

■Shintaro Douge (Director)

“Mr. Osomatsu” Opening 1/Opening 2 Director

“March Comes In Like a Lion” Opening Director

“Twin Star Exorcists” Storyboarder, Director

“Black Clover” Picturebook Animator

■Shingo Tamagawa (Key Animation)

“Gundam Reconguista in G” Animation Director, Character Animation Director

“Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt” Character Animation Director

“Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway’s Flash” Animation Director

■Masaaki Tanaka (Key Animation)

“Pokémon the Movie: The Power of Us” Main Animator

“Attack on Titan Season 3” Animation Director

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≪ Production Management ≫

■Jun Sugawara (Producer)

Founded the NPO Animator Supporters in 2011, and has been working to improve the low wage problem in the anime industry ever since. 

The NPO currently provides housing assistance at the Animator Dormitory for new animators. So far, over 40 new animators have resided at the Animator Dormitory, in which some of them have gone on to become directors and animation directors. At the Animator Dormitory, located in Tokyo, new animators can stay for less than 30,000 yen per month including rent, utilities, and a stable internet connection. 

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Perks

$30

Thank you email including a limited edition illustration of New Anime Making System Project, 2020

$150

Keyframe Collection , Standard Edition (30 Pages)

$300 We Love Animation

• 1) Keyframe Collection , Standard Edition (30 Pages)
• 2) Music Video Character T-Shirt (Type A)
• 3) Storyboard Collection

The T-shirts available are shirts of the characters who make an appearance in the music video! There are 3 designs: the A type, B type, and C type.

$500 Anime Forever!

• 1) Keyframe Collection , Standard Edition (30 Pages)
• 2) Music Video Character T-Shirt (Type A)
• 3) Storyboard Collection
• 4) Your name in the credits (Small)

$1000 The Animator Supporter

• 1) Keyframe Collection, Standard Edition (30 Pages)
• 2) Music Video Character T-Shirt (Type A)
• 3) Storyboard Collection
• 4) Keyframe Collection, Deluxe Edition (100 Pages)
• 5) Music Video Character T-Shirt (Type B)
• 6) Background Art Collection (30 Pages)
• 7) Your name in the credits (Medium)

$3000 Anime Be Eternal

• 1) Keyframe Collection, Standard Edition (30 Pages)
• 2) Music Video Character T-Shirt (Type A)
• 3) Storyboard Collection
• 4) Keyframe Collection, Deluxe Edition (100 Pages)
• 5) Music Video Character T-Shirt (Type B)
• 6) Background Art Collection (30 Pages)
• 7) Designer Illustration Card from KAPPA-KUN
• 8) Your name in the credits (Large)

$5000 Collector

• 1) Keyframe Collection , Standard Edition (30 Pages)
• 2) Music Video Character T-Shirt (Type A)
• 3) Storyboard Collection
• 4) Keyframe Collection , Deluxe Edition (100 Pages)
• 5) Music Video Character T-Shirt (Type B)
• 6) Background Art Collection (30 Pages)
• 7) Designer Illustration Card from exclusive Animator Dormitory Channel illustrator/KAPPA-KUN
• 8) Designer Illustration Card from animation staff
• 9) A portrait of you in the credits drawn by animation staff

◆Your name will be shown along with the credits of our staff, represented in a still image

In regards to the addition of names, portraits, and animations to the credits– we are thinking of adding a few seconds of animation line art of our main staff doing everyday things. Ryoko, for example, would be depicted doing work at her kitchen table. The Collector’s perk will include a still image of the donator’s daily scene in the credits.

$10000 Otaku King!

• 1) Keyframe Collection , Standard Edition (30 Pages)
• 2) Music Video Character T-Shirt (Type A)
• 3) Storyboard Collection
• 4) Keyframe Collection , Deluxe Edition (100 Pages)
• 5) Music Video Character T-Shirt (Type B)
• 6) Background Art Collection (30 Pages)
• 7) Designer Illustration Card from exclusive Animator Dormitory Channel illustrator/KAPPA-KUN
• 8) Designer Illustration Card from animation staff
• 9) A short animation of you in the credits drawn by animation staff

◆Your name will be shown along with the credits of our staff, represented in a few seconds of animation doing daily-life activities. e.g. drawing, skateboarding, etc.

In regards to the addition of names, portraits, and animations to the credits– we are thinking of adding a few seconds of animation line art of our main staff doing everyday things. Ryoko, for example, would be depicted doing work at her kitchen table. The OTAKUKING perk would depict the donator’s daily scene with a few seconds of line art animation on the credits.