CATDOLL: Japanese industry insiders: The Chinese may destroy the Japanese animation industry

In recent years, the Japanese animation industry has paid more and more attention to global promotion, and has also cooperated more and more with neighboring countries, especially China. Now the Japanese animation industry is not only going abroad, but also importing more. Recently, the news that "Once Upon a Time There Was a Spirit Sword Mountain" was produced by a Sino-Japanese joint venture has attracted widespread attention in Japan. However, a well-known Japanese animator Fukudano Ryuki said: "The Chinese may ruin Japanese animation."

Currently, the unit price for animators to draw an original painting is about 4,000 yen, but compared with the past, the unit price of TV animation original painting work exceeding 5,000 yen is gradually increasing. What we should pay attention to is that in this case, the sponsor is often from "China".

When JAniCA was founded 10 years ago, the then head Toyo Ashida once said: "The salary of Japanese animators is too low. At this price, even East Asian countries with lower average incomes can easily hire Japanese animators." In this sense, it is natural that "more and more employers of Japanese animators are becoming Chinese" today.

At that time, this concept was recognized by animators and production staff over 40 years old, but most people still believed that "there is no need to worry about such problems for at least 20 years." However, only 10 years later, we have seen such a reality. As a result, Ashida's prediction has become more and more true.

At that time, I thought, "There's nothing wrong with this. After all, whoever pays more is the righteous one." And I didn't mean to say that. I really thought so. After all, the reason I became an animator was, "I was influenced by many works, and I also want to make such influential works." Therefore, it didn't matter whether the Japanese funded it or not.

If the animations made in China are interesting and some works have caused a craze in Japan, then working for the Chinese is also feasible. However, many people in China have the idea that "If you want to work for the Chinese, sorry, you should find someone else." As Mr. Ashida's prediction gradually comes true, it can also be seen from how the Japanese animation industry looks down on domestic animators.

The reason why there is a theory that "Chinese animation is difficult to gain popularity worldwide" is mainly because "producers cannot produce world-class works and scripts under strict control." However, if it is not targeted at China from the beginning, and it is not considered to be broadcast in China, and only money is paid to arrange a Japanese production team to produce "Chinese animation", then who can say that this is impossible?

In fact, among the Chinese works we have received, some of them make me feel that they have the potential to become popular all over the world. Even if the production is entirely done by Japanese, if the relevant rights are controlled by Chinese, then all the profits will belong to Chinese, which will lead to the decline of Japan's national strength. This kind of thing is actually not shocking.

Sadly, we have to face the fact that Chinese investors can easily offer higher salaries than domestic ones. Such high investments may have an impact on animators. Even if this situation can increase the income of Japanese animators, it is not something that can be ignored or complacent.

And due to the depreciation of the yen, there will be a situation where foreign investors will offer several times more than domestic ones in the future. I recently saw in the news that "Japan has invested in cultivating overseas creative talents." Many people have expressed their opinions on this, but specifically, the measures are "cultivating staff who adapt to local culture and voice actors who can speak the local language, which is different from cultivating domestic animators." It sounds like a relief, but because of this opportunity, our country may also participate in the work of cultivating animators in the Asian circle.

As a result, Japan, once the leading country in animation production, has to face the situation of gradually losing its advantage. In addition, the development of CG technology and the reduction of costs are putting pressure on hand-drawn animators.

Even I, who have always been optimistic, feel a little uneasy about this. I have to keep thinking about how to deal with it and face it with a positive attitude. (The author is the famous animator Fukudano Ryuki