Anime staff and other professionals have recently raised concerns about the industry's sustainability in light of the Japanese yen's devaluation against key currencies like the Korean won and the Chinese yuan.

Recent reports of Nikkei Asia and Japan Time reveal that the yen is at a 16-year low against the won and its lowest against the yuan since 1993. Animator Otarou explained why this was significant in a recent post on X (formerly Twitter) in April: "The weak yen is also having a significant impact on the anime industry, with foreign companies that were able to do business with us until the beginning of the year now saying they can no longer accept orders at the same prices." Most anime studios act as contractors to production committees, which are entrusted with budgets for their services, which they use to subcontract to studios. Animator Otarou continued: "On the other hand, the committee's budget remains unchanged, and the studio has no choice but to cut its profits to compensate for the weak yen or to reduce filming costs. Furthermore, the purchasing power of anime fans is also decreasing."

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The latest post comes from an episode director for Crunchyroll Spring 2024 anime titles Mysterious disappearances and Bartender: Cup of GodKentaro Mizuno. Highlighting this issue in several posts this year, he said: "It's gotten to the point where good animators and competent companies in China and Korea no longer accept Japanese work, and even if they do, they can't make a profit. Even if it's gotten to this point, do you (the government) plan to do nothing? If things continue like this, sooner or later, talented Japanese animators and companies will be taken over by foreign companies. That would be the case."

Japan's anime industry often sources cheaper labor from China, Korea, and other countries.

Japan's reliance on outsourcing stems from cheaper labor costs, especially in Korea and China. If this cannot be sustained, it would likely force a reduction in the number of productions, or the already overworked and underpaid anime staff would have to work harder to compensate. A 2021 statistic from the Animator Dormitory Project claimed that 90% of animators quit their jobs in three years, making the increased costs potentially disastrous. Naturally, this also has real effects on viewers, including production issues and cancellations, and cementing the duopoly of cheaper, trope-laden anime or simply adaptations of works that can generate large profits.

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Anime May Be Forced to Use AI If Japan Can't Find Enough Creators Domestically

Mizuno's view is that exploitation stemming from low wages may already be happening, even internally. Chief Producer of Netflix Anime Taiki Sakurai gave a lecture at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry last year, with his comments having implications for both creators and the quality of anime for fans. On the one hand, he called on the Japanese government to introduce better tax support systems and for production companies to improve their ability to sell anime abroad. This was something that Chainsaw Man Producer Makoto Kimura highlighted MAPPA's change for the better. However, the bulk of his talk called for the introduction of AI, adding: "The difference between Japan and other countries in terms of acceptance is that Japan still relies on individual craftsmanship and has not been able to break away from it.. I think we're now trapped in a situation where there aren't enough creators to even borrow a cat's hand, and if we don't use AI, we won't be able to deliver tomorrow's product on time.”

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Sakurai's closing remarks included: "Also, while this isn't necessarily a good thing, it's now cheaper to make anime in Japan than in Thailand, Vietnam, or South Korea. In that sense, one of the attractions of Japanese production locations is that production costs are reasonable, which could be an opportunity for success."

Source: X (formerly Twitter), Nikkei Asia, Japan Time