How Popular Is Anime In Japan, Really?

 

Millions of people worldwide consume anime every day. But how prevalent is it in Japan itself? The answer: not as much as some international fans would like to believe.

Anime: Japan’s geek gateway drug

For millions around the world, anime is their first exposure to Japan, Japanese culture, and the Japanese language. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Anime acts as a powerful “gateway drug” to the Japanese language and culture. People learn Japanese, make Japanese friends, and even move to the country because they’re current or former anime fans.

I’m no exception. I discovered anime in the 1980s when I happened upon Robotech. After I learned the show was a wild fusion of three original Japanese anime, I went down the rabbit hole to see what else was out there.

Sadly, at that time, there was little available in translation. I made do with VHS tapes off of satellite of shows like Dirty Pair and Gatchaman that I bought off of people I found in the back of the Comics Buyer’s Guide.

Over the years, my hardcore anime watching waned. As I learned more Japanese, I became more interested in news from Japan and in other aspects of Japanese culture. But I’ll still watch the occasional series if it catches my interest.

Anime outside of Japan has come a long way from when I was ordering VHS tapes by post. The global Japanese animation market exploded in the past decade, from 0.24 trillion yen in 2012 to 1.31 trillion yen in 2021. Some analysts say they expect the global market to grow by almost 10% year over year between now and 2030.

In other words, more and more people are taking the same journey I did as a kid — which is nothing short of awesome.

Who watches anime in Japan?

However, this popularity can breed misconceptions. Particularly, some anime fans outside of Japan think anime watching is a near-universal phenomenon within the country.

So how many people actually watch anime in Japan? The answer is: quite a few. But not everyone. And it’s important to know exactly who’s watching.

There are some English-language Web sites — quite a few, actually — claiming that something like 70 to 75% of Japan’s population watches anime. They claim similar viewership for the US. However, after combing through these sites, I couldn’t find a source for these striking claims.

I did, however, find several Japanese marketing firms that collect this data for the domestic Japanese market. These numbers are a lot more modest.

Famitsu Intelligent Strategic Marketing is one company that produces statistics about Japan’s domestic anime market. Their 2017 report put the total domestic viewing audience at around 31 million people — which was, at the time, about 32% of Japan’s population.

Kadokawa Game Linkage found similar results in 2020. They estimated an audience of around 35 million, or 37%.

That’s not bad. However, that also means a majority of the Japanese population — over 60% — doesn’t consume anime at all.

And the audience that watches anime is primarily young. In f-ism’s report, they found the largest audience was 5–9 year olds, with around 65% in this age range watching anime. The next largest age range was 10–19 year olds at around 44%. Viewing numbers steadily drop after that, with only 40% of young adults saying they watch anime. People 60+ were the smallest market segment at under 20%.

Sazae-san > One Piece

Of course, a key question is: what are people watching?

When people in the west say “anime”, they typically mean shows like One Piece or Naruto. But Japanese animation is highly diverse. The longest-running — and most popular — shows reflect this diversity.

Japan’s most popular anime.

In f-ism’s report, the most popular anime that are watched in time-shifted format (video on demand) are the usual suspects like One Piece and Dragonball Z. But look at the list of anime watched in real time. Sazae-san — a slice of life show about a typical Japanese family — leads the pack, followed by Chibi Maruko-chan and the long-running detective series Meitantei Conan (Case Closed).

Source: f-ism

To call Sazae-san “popular” is an understatement. The long-running show has been on the air now for half a century. It holds the Guinness Record for the world’s longest-running animated series. The show is such a ritual that there’s a phrase — Sazae Syndrome (サザエ症候群; sazae shoukougun) — that refers to the malaise induced by watching Sazae-san on Sunday night knowing you have to return to work or school the next day.

f-ism’s numbers are borne out by Video Research’s weekly round-up of the most popular programs watched in real time. Sazae-san tops the list, followed once again by Chibi Maruko-chan, Meitantei Conan, and Pretty Cure. The first shonen anime, My Hero Academia, barely squeaks in at number 6.

Sazae Slayer

Watch our video essay on the popularity of Demon Slayer — and what one of Japan’s foremost animators thinks about it — on our YouTube channel.

Some caveats to these numbers. First, these are broadcast numbers. More and more, younger viewers in Japan are shifting away from broadcast TV and towards video on demand services such as Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, and Ameba TV.

VOD services tend to be cagey about their viewership numbers and ratings. However, we can surmise that, since their viewership runs young, they’d slant away more from shows like Sazae-san and more to what international audiences think of when they think of “anime”.

Also note that there’s one exception to the iron reign of Sazae-san: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer).

We’ve written before about the runaway success of Demon Slayer — most notably the film, Mugen Train, which shattered domestic box office records. It’s done just as well on TV too: the February 6th, 2022 episode was the most-watched animated show on TV that year. (The other shows were exactly what you’d expect to see: Sazae-san followed by Conan and Chibi Maruko-chan.)

Demon Slayer is one of those intergenerational phenomenon like Evangelion that seems to hit Japanese anime every 10 years or so. In other words, it’s the exception that proves the rule.

It’s great if your love of anime leads you to visit Japan — or even move here. Just don’t assume once you get here that everyone you meet will be up on the season’s hottest anime. Because odds are, if they’re over age 20, many of them won’t have any idea what you’re talking about.

TOKYO REVENGERS ANIME REVIEW

 

Tokyo Revengers is an anime about a guy named Takemichi Hanagaki, he is 26 years old and living in a small apartment, he hates his job, and has only ever had one girlfriend. He use to be in a gang until he left during middle school due to being bullied by a stronger gang that took over his school. Since then Takemichi Hanagakirealized he ran away from his past and was given the opportunity to travel back in time.

During his adventure in the past, he meets up with his girlfriend Hinata’s brother Naoto and tells him that his sister will die 12 years in the future. Because of this Naoto decides to become a cop and save her, and so does Takemichi.

The great thing about this anime is that when he goes back in time, he actually is able to come back to the present day. Each day spent in the past is a day spent in the present time but his body is in a state of suspended animation. Due to facing his past bullies and never backing down despite getting his ass handed to him over and over again, he gains respect and

friendship of the leader of the Tokyo Manji Gang Manjirō Sano!

When coming back to the present small things start to change and gradually his actions in the past ripple into the present. The anime has a great cast of characters each with a unique set of morals and life decisions. Without giving too much away the main goal of the character is to write his wrongs from his past, to maintain his relationship with his girlfriend, and to save her from her present fate. Takemichi’s goal is to save the Tokyo Manji Gang!

5 HEARTS OUT OF 5

ART STYLE AND ORIGINAL FACTORS

The art style for Tokyo Revengers is modern, clean, and very realistic. During fight scenes, you feel the character’s pain and during times of sadness, it’s almost like you are watching a friend cry. The anime focuses on light tones and bright colors that contrast its dark humor and also at times intense story.

All of the characters are very well-fleshed out and have unique backstories. The main character especially is such a good protagonist because you really care for him and his life, he’s the ultimate underdog.

*My only complaint is that I wish the anime had the main character go back in time and learn to protect himself even just a little because he is always getting his ass kicked, watching it makes me feel so bad for him. Also, the ending was way too much of a cliffhanger to the point that it makes you mad the way they ended it because it’s at such a good part.

How to get AMC free trial?

 

AMC is an American Entertainment platform launched on February 29, 1980, mostly 43 years ago. It has its headquarters in New York and the United States. There is a total of 2,026 employees working with AMC as per the data of February 2022. It provides many services such as cable channels, streaming services, production studio, and independent film distribution. 

With a subscription to AMC, you can stream content from various channels such as BBC America, IFC, AMC, and Sundance TV along with many of their movies and shows on demand.

If you are thinking about whether AMC offers a free trial or not, then let us tell you that AMC gives free trial services to users. In this blog, we will tell you How to get AMC free trial.

AMC free trial activation

Before getting started with the activation of the free trial make sure you have downloaded the AMC application to the device you want to stream the content. There are many ways to get AMC free trial described below. 

1. Sign up on the AMC application. 
2. Enter the required details.
3. Create a new username and password for your account.
4. Enter your credit card details. 

After this, you will be provided with a free subscription for 7 days of the AMC trial.

You can also get a free trial by using third-party apps such as Amazon Prime Video. To get the subscription through Amazon, follow the below-mentioned steps:

1. Open the website of Amazon Prime Video.
2. On the window, a text would be displayed saying “Start your free 30 trial now.”
3. Then click on it.
4. Now you have to create a new account.
5. Enter the asked details such as Your full name, mobile number, email id, your payment method, and any other information if asked. 
6. Now you should visit Amazon’s free trial AMC Plus.

And with this, you can stream AMC’s free trial services through Amazon Prime Video.

AMC Subscription Price

After discussing How to get AMC free trial, now we will tell you about the pricing policy of AMC which you will have to pay as a subscription fee if you want to continue with the services of AMC. 

The charges of AMC vary from plan to plan. 

• If you purchase a standalone plan of AMC directly from the website, then you will be charged $9 per month. 

• But, if you purchase an annual plan of AMC then you will have to pay $83.88 which will result in a saving of $2.
• If you purchased the subscription through any third-party application, then you will be charged a different amount. The amount may vary from app to app. 

Final Thoughts

After learning how to get AMC free trial, you should try to use the free services even if it is just for 7 days. The content variety that is available on the application is vast which will surely entertain the users.

Some key points of Canadian Laws Regarding Agricultural Sector

 

Canada is one of the world’s biggest Exporters of Agriculture Produce after other countries. In 2018, Canada produced the following:

• 20.3 million tons of rapeseed
• 3.5 million tons of dry pea
• 2 million tons of lentil
• 3.4 million tons of Oats (which made it the second-largest producer of Oats in the world)
• Soy of 7.2 million tons
• Barley of 8.9 million tons
• 13.8 million tons of Maize.

And many more. The list is not yet complete there are several other products as well but you got the idea of how big Canada’s agriculture production is. 

In this blog, we will discuss Canadian Laws Regarding Agricultural Sector so let us begin with our blog.

Government Departments of Canadian Agriculture

Canadian Government has different departments divided for various functions relating to agriculture which are described as follows:

• Department of Canadian Dairy Commission

Their role is to ensure that the producers get fair prices in exchange for their products. And to give good quality products to the final consumers.

• Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

They formulate and regulate the policies relating to Canadian Agriculture, income earned from farming, development & research, and inspection and regulation of the animals and plants. This department is headed by the Ministry of Agriculture (Canada).

• Department of Fisheries and Oceans 

Conserving and making sustainable use of Fisheries resources is their main function.

• Department of National Farm Products Council

The function is to promote agriculture practices in Canada and overseas. They promote Canadian Eggs, Canadian Turkey, Canadian Hatching Egg producers, and Chicken producing farmers of Canada.  

• Grain Commission of Canada

As the name suggests it is responsible for grains produced. This department is headed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Agri-Food. 

• Agency of Canadian Food Inspection

It conducts food inspection programs before allowing the food to be delivered to anyone. They also check the health of those animals which were being used in the process to check if any harm has been inflicted on them or not.

Agriculture Industry of Canada

Given below is a list of the agricultural industry of Canada:

• Brewing Industry
• Egg Industry
• Forage Industry
• Buckwheat Industry (It is used for mixes of Pancakes and Pasta)
• Fish and Sea Food Industry
• Fruit Industry
• Dairy Industry
• Confectionery and Chewing Gum Industry
• Industry of Canary Industry
• Grains and Oilseed Industry.
• Industry of Maple Syrup

Bottom Line

The list relating to Canadian Agriculture Industry mentioned above is not yet completed because this industry is just so wide and is nearly impossible to cover every product. Farm Credit Canada and The Agricultural Credit Corporations are the two examples that provide loans to farmers at very low rates and also give the required training to the farmers and guide them on what they can do to enhance their product quality. Not only this but Canada has a large number of Profit and Non-Profit government-organized companies that are set up especially just to help the farmers in any way possible. We hope that this blog helped you providing some knowledge about Canadian Laws regarding Agriculture Sector.

Energy Independence in the USA and oil price volatility

 

Energy independence is a significant factor that shows how well a particular economy is performing concerning to its natural fuels. For an economy, it is essential to perform well both in terms of economic assets independence and financial resources as well.

So, in this read, we will try to study the reasons why can’t energy independence in the USA make its way out. And for this reason, we have summarized the whole content into a few highlights which are enough to let you understand the same. 

Let’s have a cursory look at it.

What is energy independence?

Before diving into the complete concept, it would be quite better to have an insight into what “Energy Independence” is. It has been noticed that the term is explained incorrectly by many of us. Energy independence refers to adding up all of the economy's energy production comprising oil, natural gas, coal, and renewables, and then deducting the net energy consumption from it. The outcome shows the energy independence of that particular economy.

However, in this read, we will majorly be focusing on oil and gas production and the factors relating to it.

Understanding Behind-the-scene factors

The U.S. is the world’s largest producer of oil and gas despite its sourful public relations and the high volatility of the oil and gas industry. One of the major factors impacting the prices of oil is the war held between Russia and Ukraine. The war has impacted several countries adversely and has even influenced major working and pricing. 

Let’s have a look at the other factors contributing to the hurdle in energy independence in the USA, and they are:

Ample of ready-to-use federal lands: The oil and gas industry has ample federal lands that are ready for use. Among the unused lands, around 5000 lands were approved in the year 2021. The number of lands that have been approved is about 6 times the average number of wells drilled in the past 5 years. But the current data reads that the number of lands approved are higher when put against the number of wells drilled.

Plenty of unused leases at disposal: The other factor concerning this issue, is that there are plenty of unused leases at disposal which are around 10 years of unused leases at the disposal. The oil and gas industries are currently producing nearly on half of the area.  

New projects won’t cut down the prices: As per the recent study, it has been depicted that launching new projects won’t help in cutting down the prices or would lead to an increase in the supply in the short term. Energy independence in the USA is an era of plenty of fossil fuel energy. It has also been concluded that the new big oil projects are not fast, and safe. In addition to it, they are not expected to bring long-term solutions.

The Final Cut!!

The read was furnished to help in understanding the factors essential for bringing energy independence in the USA. This is so because working or improving these areas will help the whole economy to bloom and prosper. A timely and thorough monitoring of these aspects will surely help in bringing favorable outcomes.

Suzume review – Makoto Shinkai’s charming modern Alice in Wonderland

 The Your Name director’s mythic and comic new animation is an absorbing, intriguing and bewildering work

Here is the new animation from the Japanese film-maker Makoto Shinkai, whose 2016 fantasy Your Name captured moviegoers’ imagination and led him to be thought of as a new master and perhaps even the heir to Hayao Miyazaki himself. It is an absorbing, intriguing, bewildering work: often spectacular and beautiful, like a sci-fi supernatural disaster movie or an essay on nature and politics, but shot through with distinctive elements of fey and whimsical comedy.

Suzume (voiced by Nanoka Hara) is a lonely, smart teenager, who lives with her aunt after the death of her mother. While walking one day she chances across a mysterious young man called Souta (Hokuto Matsumura), who is apparently in search of a door. Fascinated and somehow nettled by this stranger and his eccentric quest, Suzume sets out to follow him, stumbling into abandoned ruins and finding a disturbing door in the middle of nowhere.

 

Like a modern Alice, she opens it – and appears to unleash vast cosmic forces and earthquakes. It appears that Souta’s mission was to seal up these calamitous portals; he says that his vocation is that of a “closer”, for which he needs a “keystone”. But a bizarre quirk of fate transforms Souta into a broken-down child’s chair that hobbles about talking in Souta’s voice, and as for the keystone, it takes the form of a talking cat called Daijin (Ann Yamane).

And so their adventures commence, at once vastly mythic and quirkily comic, and the resulting flavour has some undoubted charm. Suzume can be read at one level as about the seismic changes of adolescence and adulthood, but isn’t only (or maybe at all) about sex: it’s about status, respect and being seen. Suzume has something important to do, and of course what she has to do is protect nature itself, an idea with its own generational importance.

• Suzume screened at the Berlin film festival, and is released on 13 April in Australia, and on 14 April in the US and UK.

 

… as 2023 gathers pace, and you’re joining us from India, we have a small favour to ask. A new year means new opportunities, and we're hoping this year gives rise to some much-needed stability and progress. Whatever happens, the Guardian will be there, providing clarity and fearless, independent reporting from around the world, 24/7. 

Times are tough, and we know not everyone is in a position to pay for news. But as we’re reader-funded, we rely on the ongoing generosity of those who can afford it. This vital support means millions can continue to read reliable reporting on the events shaping our world. Will you invest in the Guardian this year?

Unlike many others, we have no billionaire owner, meaning we can fearlessly chase the truth and report it with integrity. 2023 will be no different; we will work with trademark determination and passion to bring you journalism that’s always free from commercial or political interference. No one edits our editor or diverts our attention from what’s most important. 

With your support, we’ll continue to keep Guardian journalism open and free for everyone to read. When access to information is made equal, greater numbers of people can understand global events and their impact on people and communities. Together, we can demand better from the powerful and fight for democracy.

Whether you give a little or a lot, your funding is vital in powering our reporting for years to come.

Anime: Let’s Talk About it!

 With the state of events today, I think it is important to stay positive and find something fun to do. As such, with the growing popularity of online services such as Netflix and Hulu, I find it important to also introduce or entertain those doing something else – those watching Anime. By analysing its different aspects, such as its history and what makes it unique, my aim is to answer many peoples’ critiques, which argue  that anime is unrealistic, childish, or plainly  stupid. I also wish to provide the necessary information to those uninformed about the topic, which in return can allow them to try out a new long-lasting hobby.

For those that are unsure about what this article’s main focus is, I will give a short rundown. Anime, as it is known in Japan, is any sort of animation, or cartoon. The name isn’t even really an abbreviation of the English word “animation”, but instead is the way that the Japanese would say “animated cartoon”. Even so, its massive growth throughout the world jumpstarted the recognition that anime, simply said, is just Japanese animations.  

Its history,  interestingly enough, predates  events such as the 1930s Depression, with the earliest ever animations being created around the beginning of last century. Following the Second World War, a culturally rich Japan would find itself under heavy influence of the United States.  American brands such as Disney  became  leading motivations for Japanese cartoonists to  open  up  in  order to  compete. This  led  to a 50s boom in entertainment, with studios for anime and manga blowing up across the nation – a good example is  TōeiDōga  in 1948, or  Toei Animations  as it is known now.  Consequently,  a  depression in the 70s along with several  new trends  caused  an explosion in the 80s,  in accordance with  the rising economy, as famous anime, including  Dragonball  and Fist of the North Star  were born. The 80s epoque was key for the development of anime – for example, thanks to  Dragonball, anime in the 90s such as Naruto and OnePiece, now regarded as classics, were  created.  Of course, this is without mentioning the growing popularity of anime outside of Japan, as the subject has received increasing international support ever since the 70s. Cartoons such as Sailor Moon depict this aspect well. The 21^st century brought forward new innovative anime as well as continuing classic series. Implementation of new technology helped improve the quality of following shows, such as the amazing  Code  Geass  and Death Note. In the 2010s, modern anime such as My Hero Academia, Hunter X Hunter,  Demon Slayer  and Attack on Titan  appear on the scene to amaze the world.

Anime is unique thanks to its focus on both storytelling and artistic animation – creativity is at the forefront of all good anime. Varying tempos in different anime pave the way great plot development, which bring forward the author’s imagination. Things often get turned upside-down in order to expose completely new and unexpected viewpoints, allowing you to dive deep into this alternate universe. Figuring out plot twists is also truly exciting.

When discussing anime, one also has to mention the artistic aspects. Its most distinctive features include the eyes, which are purposefully made larger and more colorful, the haircut, which often has an abstract shape and color, as well as physical traits, such as whiskers in Naruto’s case. Outfits also play a distinctive role in anime personalities – an iconic example is Luffy’s straw hat. In fact, many animators have stated their discontent with the rising pressures around drawing characters:

“The talk is that just drawing the eyes for a modern anime girl takes as much effort as it used to take to draw the entire bridge of the Space Battleship Yamato.”    

Nevertheless, it is thanks to such ‘burdening’ effort that Japanese animators  manage to blow the minds of billions of viewers throughout the world. This focus on the art and style of the production is what manages to set apart anime from normal cartoons such as Tom and Jerry. Each movie or series has a specific style which it respects. Asking 3 different artists to draw each other’s work would leave you with 3 different drawings for each work – nothing is the same.  The variety in anime is also complemented not just by unique stories but also by the unique art.  

As such, calling anime immature  is  a rather vague critique. Those who watch anime know that apart from the ‘notable Shounen’, which are oriented towards teenage boys,  there are  other  shows which excellently depict the grit and weight of their universes.  Much like movies, anime  covers  a wide range of age groups,  as  specific  shows are not as appropriate for children. A  child watching  Dragonball Z  would be able to understand the ‘superhero’ plot. However, if you show the same child  Terror in Resonance,  an anime about the motives behind terrorism, they won’t understand.

In all honesty, I myself thought anime was stupid. That is at least until my good friend introduced me to Tokyo Ghoul, after which I had a complete change of heart.  As such, my message to anime critics is to watch the first 4 episodes of any popular anime within their preferred genre – afterwards, if you want, you can leave your impressions below.   

Naruto drawn by Toriyama ((Dragonball creator) – middle) 
Original Naruto by Kishimoto (left) 
Krista’s eye from Attack on Titan (right)

This doesn’t mean that there is no reason to critique anime. There are several social viewpoints against it with which I agree. One of them  is  the over sexualization of women and the unrealistic expectations that it can set for both men and women about their bodies. This is of course within some limits, meaning that it  doesn’t apply to all anime.  Specific examples can be found in many Shonen anime, such as the 17-year-old Joseph Joestar in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and the 18-year-old Nami in One Piece. Much like Disney movies from the U.S, these exaggerated appearances and features can deceive people’s perception of beauty. On the other hand, I would say that an exaggerated character can be a complementary part of a show – wouldn’t it make sense for an exaggerated character to be part of an exaggerated story? There is also the fact that many of the artists behind the anime might simply be aiming to humor their viewers through imaginative exaggeration. This means that anime with weaker plots might be trying to impress or make people laugh through artistry, rather than making them feel attached, through storytelling. Such series often leave  behind a bad reputation for those who are uninformed (e.g., ‘Food Wars’). Not to say that good-looking anime contains bad plot, of course – this is  a generalisation.  Still, there are lots and lots of anime which try to rectify their mediocre storytelling with flashy animation and jokes.

Joseph Joestar (JJBA S2) – left
Nami (One Piece) – right

So, to conclude this article about anime, what I have covered is just a small part of the big picture. If there is one more thing I would want to add is that you should try it! Personally, I would say that it has granted me joy that I would never have otherwise discovered. It is good fun, it can be enjoyed with friends over plenty of online streaming platforms  such as Netflix or Hulu, and it is most definitely a viable, interesting source of entertainment for all!

Information about featured image: Heroes from Shounen Jump – the most famous company behind Japanese youth entertainment. It is responsible for both manga and anime.

Anime Is Booming. So Why Are Animators Living in Poverty?

 

TOKYO — Business has never been better for Japanese anime. And that is exactly why Tetsuya Akutsu is thinking about calling it quits.

When Mr. Akutsu became an animator eight years ago, the global anime market — including TV shows, movies and merchandise — was a little more than half of what it would be by 2019, when it hit an estimated $24 billion. The pandemic boom in video streaming has further accelerated demand at home and abroad, as people binge-watch kid-friendly fare like “Pokémon” and cyberpunk extravaganzas like “Ghost in the Shell.”

But little of the windfall has reached Mr. Akutsu. Though working nearly every waking hour, he takes home just $1,400 to $3,800 a month as a top animator and an occasional director on some of Japan’s most popular anime franchises.

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And he is one of the lucky ones: Thousands of lower-rung illustrators do grueling piecework for as little as $200 a month. Rather than rewarding them, the industry’s explosive growth has only widened the gap between the profits they help generate and their paltry wages, leaving many to wonder whether they can afford to continue following their passion.

“I want to work in the anime industry for the rest of my life,” Mr. Akutsu, 29, said during a telephone interview. But as he prepares to start a family, he feels intense financial pressure to leave. “I know it’s impossible to get married and to raise a child.”

 

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The low wages and abysmal working conditions — hospitalization from overwork can be a badge of honor in Japan — have confounded the usual laws of the business world. Normally, surging demand would, at least in theory, spur competition for talent, driving up pay for existing workers and attracting new ones.

That’s happening to some extent at the business’s highest levels. Median annual earnings for key illustrators and other top-line talent increased to about $36,000 in 2019 from around $29,000 in 2015, according to statistics gathered by the Japan Animation Creators Association, a labor organization.

These animators are known in Japanese as “genga-man,” the term for those who draw what are called key frames. As one of them, Mr. Akutsu, a freelancer who bounces around Japan’s many animation studios, earns enough to eat and to rent a postage stamp of a studio apartment in a Tokyo suburb.

Tetsuya Akutsu, a freelance animator, wants to start a family, but on his wages, he said, “it’s impossible to get married and to raise a child.;Credit...Noriko Hayashi for The New York Times And it wasn’t so long ago that Mr. Akutsu, who declined to comment on the specific pay practices of studios he had worked for, was toiling as a “douga-man,” the entry-level animators who do the frame-by-frame work that transforms a genga man’s illustrations into illusions of seamless motion. These workers earned an average of $12,000 in 2019, the animation association found, though it cautioned that this figure was based on a limited sample that did not include many of the freelancers who are paid even less.

The problem stems partly from the structure of the industry, which constricts the flow of profits to studios. But studios can get away with the meager pay in part because there is a nearly limitless pool of young people passionate about anime and dreaming of making a name in the industry, said Simona Stanzani, who has worked in the business as a translator for nearly three decades.

More on Japan

• A Corruption Scandal: Japan’s prosecutors accused Dentsu, an advertising company that was one of the driving forces behind the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, of conspiring to evade the public bidding process leading up to the Games.
• A Video-Gaming School: Japan’s first e-sports high school thought it would turn out pro gamers. Instead, it attracted an unexpected demographic: absentee students.
• Economic Growth: After more than two years under some of the world’s tightest border controls,  tourist spots in Japan are packed. That has been good for business.
• Yakuza on the Field: As Japan’s iconic gangster group faces a changed world and a waning appeal, a softball team is helping former members build a new life.

“There are a lot of artists out there who are amazing,” she said, adding that studios “have a lot of cannon fodder — they have no reason to raise wages.”

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Vast wealth has flooded the anime market in recent years. Chinese production companies have paid Japanese studios large premiums to produce films for its domestic market. And in December, Sony — whose entertainment division has fallen badly behind in the race to put content online — paid nearly $1.2 billion to buy the anime video site Crunchyroll from AT&T.

Business is so good that nearly every animation studio in Japan is booked solid years in advance. Netflix said the number of households that watched anime on its streaming service in 2020 increased by half over the previous year.

But many studios have been shut out of the bonanza by an outmoded production system that directs nearly all of the industry’s profits to so-called production committees.

These committees are ad hoc coalitions of toy manufacturers, comic book publishers and other companies that are created to finance each project. They typically pay animation studios a set fee and reserve royalties for themselves.

While the system protects the studios from the risk of a flop, it also cuts them out of the windfalls created by hits.

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Rather than negotiate higher rates or profit-sharing with the production committees, many studios have continued to squeeze animators, lowering costs by hiring them as freelancers. As a result, production costs for shows, which have long been well below those for projects in the United States, have remained low even as profits rise.

Studios are typically run by “creatives who want to make something really good,” and “they’ll try to bite off way too much and be way too ambitious,” said Justin Sevakis, the founder of Anime News Network and chief executive of MediaOCD, a company that produces anime for release in the United States.

“By the time they’re done, they have very possibly lost money on the project,” he said. “Everyone knows it’s a problem, but unfortunately it’s so systemic that no one really knows what to do about it.”

The same is true of the punishing nature of the work. Even in a country with a sometimes fatal devotion to the office, the anime industry is notorious for its brutal demands on employees, and animators speak with a perverse sense of pride about such acts of devotion as sleeping at their studios for weeks on end to complete a project.

In the first episode of “Shirobako,” an anime about young people’s efforts to break into the industry, an illustrator collapses with a fever as a deadline looms. The cliffhanger ending hinges not on her health but on whether the show she is drawing will be finished in time to air.

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Jun Sugawara, a computer animator and activist who runs a nonprofit that provides young illustrators with affordable housing, began campaigning on their behalf in 2011 after learning about the penurious conditions endured by workers creating his favorite anime.

Animators’ long hours appear to violate Japanese labor regulations, he said, but the authorities have taken little interest, even though the government has made anime a central part of its public diplomacy efforts through its Cool Japan program.

“So far, the national and local governments don’t have any effective strategies” for dealing with the issue, Mr. Sugawara said. He added that “Cool Japan is a meaningless and irrelevant policy.”

 

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A game center in Tokyo featuring anime-inspired prizes. An activist said the government showed little interest in protecting animators from overwork.Credit...Noriko Hayashi for The New York Times

 

 

In an interview, an official from Japan’s Labor Ministry said the government was aware of the problem but had little recourse unless animators filed a complaint.

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A handful have done so. Last year, at least two studios reached settlements with employees over claims that the studios violated Japanese labor regulations by failing to pay for overtime work.

In recent years, some of the industry’s larger companies have changed their labor practices after coming under pressure from regulators and the public, said Joseph Chou, who owns a computer animation studio in Japan.

Netflix has also gotten involved, announcing this month that it will team up with WIT Studio to provide financial support and training to young animators working on content for the studio. Under the program, 10 animators will receive around $1,400 a month for six months.

But many of the smaller studios are barely scraping by and don’t have much room to increase wages, Mr. Chou said. “It’s a very low-margin business,” he said. “It’s a very labor-intensive business.” He added that the studios “that manage to adapt are the big ones, the ones that are public.”

Not all studios pay such low wages: Kyoto Animation, the studio that an arsonist attacked in 2019, is known for eschewing freelancers in favor of salaried employees, for example.

An Introduction to Anime

 

The word anime — pronounced "ah-knee-may" — is an abbreviation of the word animation. In Japan, the word is used to refer to all animation. However, outside of Japan, it has become the catch-all term for animation from Japan.

For decades, anime was produced by and for Japan — a local product, with a distinct look-and-feel to not just the artwork but the storytelling, the themes, and the concepts. Over the last forty years, it has become an international phenomenon, attracting millions of fans and being translated into many languages. A whole generation of viewers in the West has grown up with it and are now passing it on to their own children.

Because all things anime tend to be lumped together, it's tempting to think of anime as a genre. It isn't, at least no more than animation itself is a genre, but rather a description of how the material is produced. Anime shows, like books or movies, fall into any number of existing genres: comedy, drama, sci-fi, action-adventure, horror and so on.

 

What Makes Anime So Special?

Most anime fans can sum this up in two words: "It's different." Anime is as unlike most American cartoons like "Batman" and "Spider-Man" are different from the comics that run in daily papers. These differences show up in many ways including the artwork storytelling, breadth of material and even cultural nuances exhibited by the characters.

Anime art styles range from the flamboyant and outlandish in shows like "Samurai Champloo" and " FLCL" to the simple and direct in shows like "Azumanga Daioh!." That said, even shows with more "basic" artwork can still be visually striking. Anime has this way of making everything look fresh and new.

It doesn't shy away from epic storylines, either, which often run for dozens (sometimes hundreds) of episodes. The best anime, though, no matter what their length, all demand great emotional involvement from the viewer. 

The sheer range of anime shows out there means a fan of most any other kind of TV or movie can find an anime series that mirrors its style. For fans of hard science fiction, the show "Planetes" would be perfect for you; romantic comedy fans will love "Fruits Basket" while crimefighting lovers will enjoy "Ghost in the Shell." There are even adaptations of classical literature like "The Count of Monte Cristo."

Not only that, fans of anime also get an intimate look into Japan's history, language and worldview, woven into a great deal of anime on many levels. Some shows are takeoffs on Japanese history like "Sengoku Basara" or raid Japanese mythology for story ideas like "Hakkenden" or "Hell Girl." Even shows that are outwardly non-Japanese in their presentation like "Claymore" and "Monster" have tinges of a Japanese sensibility to them.

What's most striking is how anime's impact is coming full circle. Some recent American cartoon productions, like "Avatar: The Last Airbender," are openly inspired by anime itself, and live-action English-language versions of anime titles are starting to come into production more frequently. 

Is Anime Okay for Young Kids?

Because anime's so broad-reaching in its subject matter, it's possible to find anime aimed at just about every age group. Some titles are specifically for younger viewers or are suitable for all ages like the animated series "Pokémon" or Studio Ghibli film "My Neighbor Totoro" while others are aimed at teenage audiences and older like "InuYasha." There are even some animes aimed at older teens like "Death Note" and some for mature audiences only like "Monster" and "Queens Blade." 

Japanese cultural attitudes about sexuality and violence require some titles to be placed a category higher than they might normally be. Nudity, for instance, is handled much more casually in Japan; sometimes a show that isn't meant specifically for adults will have material which may seem racy to Western viewers.

Anime distributors are generally quite conscious of these issues and will include either an actual MPAA rating (G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17) or a TV Parental Guidelines rating as an indicator of what the intended audience is for the show. Check the show's packaging or program listing to see which rating applies.

Confused about where to start? We recommend checking out the sci-fi, cyberpunk "Cowboy Bebop" or a swords-and-sorcery tale called "Berserk." If you already know a friend who's an anime fan, clue them in on what you like to watch — they should be able to guide you towards what's best and what's new in that category.

How Japanese Anime Became the World’s Most Bankable Genre

 

It was once considered a niche genre just for hard-core fans, but streaming has helped turn it into a globally popular juggernaut. Now the Japanese animation industry is scrambling to meet an almost insatiable demand: "It’s increasingly becoming a borderless form of mass entertainment."

The coronavirus pandemic has yielded many surprising insights for the global film and TV business. One of the most curious new facts to emerge is that Japanese anime might just be the world’s most COVID-resistant form of popular entertainment.

During the height of pandemic lockdowns in 2020, when total U.S. box office sales fell 80 percent for the year and Japan’s theatrical market slipped 45 percent, Japan’s total anime industry contracted just 3.5 percent, with a market value of about $21.3 billion (more than 2.4 trillion yen). In that same fraught year, the anime business also produced its biggest theatrical hit of all time: Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train, an action-packed period fantasy that earned nearly $48 million in North America, $365 million in Japan and $504 million worldwide, becoming the biggest theatrical blockbuster of any kind in 2020 (it beat the Chinese war film The Eight Hundred, which took in $461 million in its home market). And the outsized earnings for anime have only continued. The top three titles at the Japanese box office in 2021 were all anime hits; and Jujutsu Kaisen 0, a dark fantasy anime based on a manga series of the same name by Gege Akutami, brought in $106 million there earlier this year, as well as a healthy $34 million in North America for a $187 million worldwide total.According to consultancy Parrot Analytics, global demand for anime content grew 118 percent over the past two years, making it one of the fastest-growing content genres throughout the pandemic (the firm measures its demand metric by combining consumption data with social media activity, social video and independent research).

“Even in pandemic times, still the anime market thrived,” noted Kana Koido, a partner at Japanese indie distributor The Klockworx, during a recent panel discussion at the Far East Film Festival. “Japan is such a unique market, where even though total box office in 2020 was almost half of what it had been in 2019, still there was this rare content that did better than ever.” 

Those who are tapped into Japan’s anime industry say the precursors for these boom times have been building for years. During the decade before the pandemic, from 2009 to 2019, Japan’s anime industry doubled in total market value to $22.1 billion, according to the Association of Japanese Animations.

 

The key force behind such growth has been a widening demographic embrace of anime culture, both within Japan and among consumers virtually everywhere. Once the province only of otaku — Japan’s hard-core anime and manga fans, formerly stereotyped as socially awkward misfits too absorbed in their fantasy worlds to participate in “normal society” — anime is already far along the well-trodden path of niche subcultures that have found themselves suddenly embraced by mainstream society as the next cool thing.

“Over the past five to 10 years, in Japan and in the West, there’s almost been this anime renaissance that has happened, where it went from being this thing you would get bullied for liking to being something all kinds of people want to talk about,” says 27-year-old anime influencer Joseph Tetsuro Bizinger, who goes by Joey the Anime Man on YouTube, where his channel has grown over the past decade to 3.2 million followers. “It’s going through this motion that gaming went through in the 1990s, where if you played games you were a nerd, until suddenly everyone played games. That’s why anime films are just becoming such a massive thing. It’s not just a few nerds from your class who go see [the latest anime release] — now the entire class is going to go.”

Bizinger adds: “And I think that’s the big reason why the streaming sites are trying to get as much anime as possible, because they see the bigger potential in it now.” 

During the AnimeJapan convention in Tokyo in March, Netflix revealed that it would launch 40 new anime titles, spanning a growing range of genres, in 2022 alone. Characteristically, the streamer had data to justify the expansion: In 2021, over half of all Netflix subscribers worldwide watched at least some anime content on the platform. 

 

Other platforms report the same findings. 

“We’re seeing more and more appetite for anime throughout all demos, in all countries,” notes Gaku Narita, executive director of original content for Japan at The Walt Disney Co., which is also in the process of dramatically boosting its output of licensed and original anime titles on Disney+. “It’s increasingly becoming a borderless form of mass entertainment.”

But anime also continues to operate by its own unique logic. Setting it apart from most forms of filmmaking, anime’s theatrical earning power has been enhanced rather than eroded by the streaming revolution, which continues to increase the accessibility and awareness of key titles, while also shortening the cycle between the release of hit anime TV series and the spinoff feature films that typically follow in theaters. And anime’s strong fan culture and the event-like nature of its releases would seem almost tailor-made for a moment when the theatrical model more than ever needs to emphasize the benefits of the in-person communal experience. 

“The atmosphere of going to the theater to see anime is very different from watching a normal Hollywood film,” notes Asa Suehira, chief content officer at anime streamer and distributor Crunchyroll, which has been building the U.S. anime audience for years by making Japanese TV releases instantly available via simulcast. “People dress up in cosplay, they scream from the crowd when their favorite character comes onscreen or sing along with the songs,” he explains. “It really is more of an event than just watching a movie.”

 

The anime boom times have sparked a predictable wave of consolidation and dealmaking in the sector. Last year, Sony Pictures Entertainment acquired Crunchyroll, one of the largest U.S.-based anime specialty streamers, for $1.2 billion from AT&T. The Japanese conglomerate has since merged Crunchyroll with Funimation, the anime streaming service it already owned, creating the largest specialty platform devoted to the subculture. AMC Networks followed in January with the acquisition of Houston-based Sentai Holdings, a global supplier of anime content and merchandise, best known for its popular anime-focused streaming service, HIDIVE. Meanwhile, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video also continue to expand their anime offerings, while HBO Max, which has yet to launch in Asia, is known to be lining up licensing arrangements. 

Anime also appears to be immune to the recent reassessment of the streaming business model — at least so far. Netflix’s disappointing first-quarter financial results, which entailed the streamer’s first subscriber fall in a decade and a 25 percent plunge in its share price, have only increased the value of anime. 

While Netflix is trimming its profligate content spending in most areas, it’s likely to spend more on anime. The U.S. and European markets are believed to be fully saturated for Netflix, but Asia Pacific is the one region where the streamer still has headroom for growth — and it’s the area of the world that watches the most anime. As subscribers stalled or fell virtually everywhere else last quarter, Netflix added 1.1 million Asia-based subscribers. And as the world’s third-largest economy, Japan, in particular, is a vital growth territory. Just 5 million of Japan’s population of 121 million people currently subscribe to Netflix — but 90 percent of those who do subscribe watched anime in 2021, the streamer recently reported.

 

A similar logic will apply to to the various other Hollywood and Silicon Valley streamers that are now clamoring for growth in the region.

‘Jujutsu Kaisen 0’ COURTESY OF CRUNCHYROLL

Predictably, as in so many other areas of the economy today, the torrent of global demand has spiked prices for the finite existing supply of top anime titles and production partners. 

“The overflow of capital isn’t necessarily a great thing — because of the relatively small size of the industry and the number of people who are working in it and actually drawing the frames for these shows,” says Netflix’s creative director of anime, Kohei Obara. “It’s not like we can have twice or three times more of them instantly, just because the money is there.” 

Obara estimates that there are only about 5,000 anime artists and creators at work today in Japan — a figure that shows how profoundly Japan’s creative community already punches above its weight on a global basis. (The U.S. is estimated to have thousands more, with Disney’s Pixar — just one of the many Hollywood animation giants — employing a staff of more than 1,200.) 

The cascade of foreign investment has brought benefits too, though. Despite its centrality to Japan’s popular identity, the anime industry has always had a darker side — studios known for punishing hours, exploitative conditions with few benefits and a workforce that many employers viewed as disposable. Companies that violate Japan’s labor laws in this way are referred to as burakku kigyō, or “black corporations,” and Tokyo’s anime world was once notorious for them.

 

“If you take a snapshot at some particular point in time, then you still see some of those old antiquated ‘black’ conditions existing throughout the industry,” says Disney’s Narita. “But overall, the influx of capital has really brought on a lot of positive changes. It’s not just the select few who are getting rich; the artists on the ground are starting to make decent money.” 

The boom should bring exciting developments for fans as well, aside from easier access to titles. Production budgets for premium anime projects have increased anywhere from one and a half to three times, insiders say. And with ever greater demand for their talent, top anime artists are experiencing more creative freedom than ever before. 

“There are more and more opportunities and options for distribution, which has really increased production budgets,” adds Genki Kawamura, one of anime’s most prominent producers, who works regularly with leading artists like Mamoru Hosoda (Mirai), Makoto Shinkai (Your Name) and Tetsurō Araki (Netflix’s latest anime feature, Bubble). “That means that there is more breadth to what we can express creatively — which is a really great thing.”

Action-packed anime Chainsaw Man review

 

What comes to your mind after hearing the phrase “Chainsaw Man”? Well! You might think that it is a person who really enjoys the Chainsaws, a person whose name is on a power tool or you may assume it is an upcoming superhero. It can be anything if you are not into anime series, but if you also fantasized about anime series, you might know that this is an upcoming anime series centralized on a guy who developed a cute chainsaw devil named Pochita (Shiori Izawa). The interesting thing about this character is, it is able to turn all of its body parts into chainsaws. Well! If you’d ever suddenly come across any such news, your reaction would be probably like “What the heck is this happening?”

So! We will jump into Chainsaw Man review soon to let you know what are the most interesting parts of this series and why should you watch this bloody, bash and bonkers show.

Chainsaw Man- It cuts as a knife but feels all right

The plot revolves around young Denji (Kikunosuke Toya), who is a sadboi and creates a devil. It is created by the renowned anime studio MAPPA. If we talk about the character- Denji, he has been forced to take on odd occupations and sell off pieces of his body in order to exist because of the dues his deceased father left. His only company is the aforementioned Pochita, he first encounters him in an extremely depressing flashback while he was standing in the pouring rain at his father's grave.

The two then decide to support one another and spend their days seeking what they should do and how they can refer to "devils" in order to make as much money. He is making the best of his challenging existence, despite lamenting the absence of a woman to play video games and afterwards dozing off in each other's arms. Yet, all is not lost since he now has an adorable friend who saves him when he finds himself up against a wall and nobody else is there to assist.

Well! Everything that comes after must be more exciting and mysterious than what was just encountered in the last section of this first episode since this is only the beginning. Although the harshness and bloody action we have seen has been successful as if it doesn't persist, it will soon turn dull.

This Chainsaw Man anime is fully packed with action, comedy, horror and mystery, you must experience the most miserable characters and an amazingly interesting story that gets deeper and deeper after every passing episode.

Summing Up!

As the Chainsaw Man anime series is getting the highest rating at all, it is not hyped but it has that craze. It has the ability to glue you up on the couch and Chainsaw, the human-devil hybrid is enough to thrill you. Denji is damn fun, almost every character is great and engaging. If you are a demon-fighting anime lover, you will enjoy it from the core as it deserves a hats-off in this category.