Being an Animator in Japan Is Brutal
- Thread starter Brian Griffin
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SIR HERDERP PRESIDERP SDO
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Very expensive esp. in the cities, a monthly salary of 300k yen of $2.5k is the bare minimum for a single employed person to live in Tokyo, and that's if you live a very frugal lifestyle, that's why loan sharks are so prevalent there because the cost of living is so expensive even for white-collar workers with families.
Anyways, It's part of the overall competitive culture of East-Asian countries both in school and at work which sadly drives some to the point of suicide (That's why the suicide rates in Japan, Korea, Taiwan,etc. are very high) or they give-up on life and live as recluses like Hikikomoris.
The Dreamer
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Hmmm well that kinda reality crush. I am a classical 2D animator and have always wanted to work in a Studio, and since the western world is moving more and more to 3D (DAMN YOU FREAKING BASTARDS!! YOU'RE KILLING ART!!) Japan was kinda ideal place since it's not only full-2D but also very popular.
Now the salaries are indeed a bummer. However, it depends on where you work. Just like this guy who went from 300 to 1000 bucks. You got to know your worth and not rely on one job to get you through life. That's a basic in every industry. The guy who taught me to animate was a 2D veteran who worked on plenty of films and is an author of original short films as well. He talked about his days as an in-between animator and he had decent salary. Nothing spectacular but enough for normal life.
But then again... Japan.
In general the comic/manga/animation industry is a hard place to live in. For instance some publishers like Image comics pay creator owned work 37$ per page (times 30 equals around 1000$ per month wich isn't bad considering you still have time to make a second publication and pick up a 1000 more, that is if you're doing all the work yourself), while some other smaller companies pay a lot lesser amounts so it gets harder. Marvel and DC on the other hand, pay their artists high amounts per page (500$ *_*) so they are quite lucky. Naturally you have to be a veteran to work there but hey go pro or go home kid...
Now, as for manga, we're more or less aware of how things are. If it's popular you're good to go. If it's not you're a poor poor man. Thus you have mangaka who barely make the living, while on the other hand you have One Piece wich makes its author a very happy bastard.
It depends really. But Japan is known for being a terrible place for foreigners to work since the Japanese are used to it, we are not.
Now the salaries are indeed a bummer. However, it depends on where you work. Just like this guy who went from 300 to 1000 bucks. You got to know your worth and not rely on one job to get you through life. That's a basic in every industry. The guy who taught me to animate was a 2D veteran who worked on plenty of films and is an author of original short films as well. He talked about his days as an in-between animator and he had decent salary. Nothing spectacular but enough for normal life.
But then again... Japan.
In general the comic/manga/animation industry is a hard place to live in. For instance some publishers like Image comics pay creator owned work 37$ per page (times 30 equals around 1000$ per month wich isn't bad considering you still have time to make a second publication and pick up a 1000 more, that is if you're doing all the work yourself), while some other smaller companies pay a lot lesser amounts so it gets harder. Marvel and DC on the other hand, pay their artists high amounts per page (500$ *_*) so they are quite lucky. Naturally you have to be a veteran to work there but hey go pro or go home kid...
Now, as for manga, we're more or less aware of how things are. If it's popular you're good to go. If it's not you're a poor poor man. Thus you have mangaka who barely make the living, while on the other hand you have One Piece wich makes its author a very happy bastard.
It depends really. But Japan is known for being a terrible place for foreigners to work since the Japanese are used to it, we are not.
