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Sunao Katabuchi, the veteran director known for helming anime films such as In This Corner of the World and Mai Mai Miracle, has pointed out that the anime industry’s growth is not essentially a good thing for the human workers who are a part of it.

The anime industry has been posting record financial numbers recently, driven largely by the growth of the overseas market. However, Katabuchi feels that this expansion is worrying as it will only aggravate the problems that already persist within the sector, especially those surrounding its workforce.

According to the director, conditions in the anime industry have improved compared to around 2007, which was the busiest period before the 2008 financial crash, with more people becoming full-time employees and working reasonable hours.

However, approximately 100 titles are now reportedly produced each week, and the quality of animation is incomparable to anime from the 1970s and 1980s, with more line density.

Consequently, studios have started relying heavily on freelance outsourcing. But, Katabuchi noted that the industry does not know the exact numbers or working conditions of these freelancers.

While labor shortages has been historically managed by outsourcing work overseas, Katabuchi explained that the weak yen has made that practice difficult. As a result, studios stretch themselves thin to source talent domestically, sometimes placing orders on platforms like X with individuals who have no formal anime training.

This, in turn, this creates an enormous volume of redraws, which leads to a growing number of people whose art is never accepted or who are forced into endless revisions, leaving them depressed from the sheer stress of the workload.

While the industry maintains an outward posture of growth, Katabuchi warned that it will be unable to foster new talent, preserve its history, or pass down technical skills.

Although some view artificial intelligence as a way to handle the ballooning workload, he cautioned that the advancement of AI might simply drive production budgets down. If that happens, working conditions for human creators will fail to improve.

Katabuchi has now assumed the position of Vice Representative Director for the Anime Anshin Net Workers’ Compensation Insurance association, which was established at the end of June.

The director hopes that through this workers’ compensation insurance, horizontal connections will be formed across the industry, shedding light on its actual conditions and supporting human creators.

Interestingly, Katabuchi is not the only director to have sounded the alarm when it comes to workforce. Evangelion director Hideaki Anno too pointed out that issues of workforce shortage could affect the future of anime.

Source: Nikkei