The anime industry is no stranger to controversy. Questionable labor practices have long plagued animation studios no matter how prolific, as seen recently with the wave of Studio MAPPA employees speaking out against harsh working conditions experienced during the production of Jujutsu Kaisen's second season. Now, as reported by Bloomberg, a member of Toei Animation, along with other animators and creatives in the industry, is speaking up as well.

Tetsuya Numako, an animator at Toei who has worked on both Dragon Ball and One Piece, shared that many larger studios are comfortably able to raise the wages of animators and voice actors, but there are no organized labor unions to put any sort of pressure on employers. As a result, deep-seated issues like long working hours, low pay, and non-legal agreements between companies and workers run rampant through the industry. Even the United Nations has stepped in to warn of a potential collapse of the anime industry if practices do not change, but solutions aren't always easy to find.

"No Choice": Many In the Anime Industry Are Afraid to Speak Out

Fierce Competition Has Led to Many Animators and Voice Actors Keeping Their Mouths Shut

Yumiko Shibata, a former long-time voice actress, shared her experiences in the industry. She told Bloomberg, "As a voice actor, I couldn't eat very much." The actress who voiced Shunrei in Saint Seiya shared that over a 10-year period, her pay never increased from a measly 5,000 yen ($33 USD) a day. Now working mainly as an advisor, Shibata went on to express why she believed animators and actors remain stuck in this position, long after she left the field, and the issue stems from steep competition.

Shibata shared that many creatives in the industry are afraid to speak out, and are often fine with less-than-ideal wages because they know they can be replaced by someone else willing to work in the same conditions. "If a voice actor speaks negatively about the industry, they will lose job opportunities, so they have no choice but to endure," she told Bloomberg. And though the anime industry is rapidly growing, setting record highs in revenue only just last year, it doesn't quite mean that workers see any of the profit.

Anime's Impressive Growth Doesn't Benefit Everyone

Demand Has Only Led to an Increase In Competition

The anime industry has experienced incredible growth, more than doubling its annual revenue over the last decade to approximately 3.3 trillion yen in 2023. However, the increased demand has only led to an increase in the number of production companies competing with one another, and many still operate at a loss. As a result, the average income of Japanese animators is far below the average salary in Tokyo, and about half of the average income of American animators.

In some cases, if a production fails, of staff may never be paid at all. However, there is at least some hope conditions will improve. Figures in the industry like Tetsuya Numako, who worked on premiere shows like Dragon Ball, are beginning to voice their criticisms, and just this year, Japan's Fair Trade Commission launched an ongoing investigation into the industry's common practices. Anime is growing at an incredible rate, and it will be in everyone's interest to find solutions before the industry swallows itself whole.

Source: Bloomberg