Terumi
Nishii , lead
animation director of “ Jujutsu Kaisen 0 ,”
has painted a bleak picture of the future of the anime industry, suggesting
that we could soon expect more anime studio bankruptcies. In a post on Twitter,
Nishii stated:
- « In the future, the
capacity of each studio will be completely exhausted. We expect to
see more and more bankruptcies due to the fact that a production scheduled
for 3 years will be finished in 5 years, but the budget has been spent on
another production. I wonder how many animators will be able to
survive at that time. The careless will be eliminated. We should all study
more! ».
Nishii's concerns
about anime budgets are supported by other industry figures. Anime
production commonly begins around three years before it airs. For
example, “Solo Leveling” producer Atsushi Kaneko recently shared in a “Solo
Leveling” special that he received the project outline in July 2020. Since
animation usually occurs at the end of production, an excessive number of
corrections due to low competition means additional compensation. If
this is not taken into account, other projects that are also underway will
collapse despite the significant work done, resulting in bankruptcies.
Terumi
Nishii has long maintained that the impending collapse of the anime industry is
largely due to the declining skills of the new generation. She also previously criticized
the practice of hiring entertainers through social media, whom she considers
cheap labor who will not have the time or environment to learn from their
mistakes and improve. NAFCA hopes to introduce an Animator Skills
Certification, which will standardize skills and open a path for skill to be
commensurate with job prospects and salary.
A key part of
Nishii's role is to correct animators' drawings that do not meet acceptable
standards. Previously, he has spoken about the enormous health
pressures faced by animation directors, who are essential for an anime to
maintain a consistent design. Kiyoshi Komatsubara, lead animation
director of “Bleach: The Thousand Year Blood War,” opened up about this topic
late last year, describing health issues at the end of the year for two years
in a row. " I realize I'm getting older and I need to take care of
my health, so I'll be more careful next year ," he added.
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