2014 was a complicated year for the animation industry. In general, foreign animated films led by Disney continue to be a topic of conversation, while Japanese animation still maintains a fascinating ecology, but only a very small number of excellent works can be known to the general public, and most of the good works can only be disseminated among core animation fans, even if they are not bad. This time, let's review and deeply analyze the problems that have arisen in the animation industry in recent years, and look at the new pattern of the industry.

In August 2014, Studio Ghibli's film production division announced its dissolution, citing the retirement of Hayao Miyazaki, which made it impossible to maintain a regular supply of theatrical productions. In addition, Ghibli is a full-time employee company that is relatively rare in the animation industry, and it is very comprehensive in terms of employee benefits, so it is overwhelmed in terms of management. So what exactly does the disintegration of Ghibli mean? Most industry insiders say it will free up Ghibli's animators to apply their abilities to a variety of other titles. However, some people have countered that the fast pace and low remuneration in the current TV animation industry make it difficult for Ghibli artists to perform at the highest level in the industry.

In the upcoming release of Mamoru Hosoda's work "Children of Monsters", it is said that there will be many former Ghibli art masters such as Takashi Omori, Yohei Takamatsu, and Yoichi Nishikawa, and it will be possible to see whether Ghibli's genetics will stimulate the industry as a whole. So speaking of "Monster Child", let's take a look at its lineup. The production of "Children of Monsters" was created in 2011 by Yuichiro Saito, the former producer of the long-established Madhouse, and Saito has been the producer of Mamoru Hosoda since "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time". MAPPA, founded in 2011 by Masao Maruyama, one of Madhouse's original founding members, is similar. In recent years, there have been many examples of small studios that have become independent or emigrated from big-hand studios. TRIGGER, which was founded by the former GAINAX members, StudioColorido, which was supervised by Yojiro Arai of the former Studio Ghibli, and WitStudio, which was founded by the former members of Production I.G., are all animation companies born in 2011~2012.

There are several reasons behind this trend that are worth noting. The first is that the old people have always been in the company, and the opportunities cannot be transferred to the younger generation, which is also a common thing in ordinary companies. Second, the affiliation leaves the organization because they want to participate in a particular work or work closely with a particular supervisor. Judging from Saito's situation, he decided to become independent in order not to destroy the one-on-one system with Mamoru Hosoda. Although a certain TV animation series has received a good response, because the original company cannot produce a sequel for many reasons, the producer of the series can be independent from the original company to set up a new company and produce a sequel. The same person can guarantee the quality of the work, and in the future, you can also accept a lot of work from the original company. Such an ecology will undoubtedly shine after the disintegration of Ghibli.

■ The loose generation animator behind the black company report

There are two sides to everything. In April of this year, NHK reported that the average annual income of new animators was 1.1 million yen, bringing the sensitive topic of the "black animation industry" to the forefront. However, in fact, this figure comes from the "アニメーション制zuò者実態調査報告書2015" (Animation Production zuò者 Actual Investigation Report 2015) published by the Japan Animators/Performance Association, and the so-called annual income of 1.113 million yuan is limited to "animation articulation" (the staff who is responsible for a series of actions that connect the original paintings, and most of them are performed by newcomers). The average annual income for supervisors is 6,486,000 yen, the total painting supervisor is 5,638,000 yen, and the producer is 5,420,000 yen. Overall, it's not a high-paying career, but as long as you can leave a performance, you can still make a living from it. In addition, if you want to become a freelancer, you need to constantly hone your skills, and for freelance artists, the skills and speed of painting are the most important factors.

However, in recent years, the wave of the loose generation (ゆとり generation) has also begun to sweep the animation industry. If a former newcomer cannot reach the standard level, he or she can only quit and move to other industries. This is not the case with today's young people, who are less able to feel the sadness of their own inadequacy. At 200 yen per frame, if you don't draw well, you probably won't have anything to eat, but they don't bother them because they live at their parents' house, and the number of unmotivated young people like this has been increasing in recent years. Those who volunteer to do so don't even understand the outline of the work, and there are not a few young people who have the mentality of a student who learns to draw while working. In addition, in order to pursue efficiency and cost, many reports have reported that in recent years, most of the animation connection and coloring work has been entrusted to overseas companies, which will further reduce the number of employees in Japan and hollow out the animation industry. But at the root of it, the cultivation of animation talents is the primary problem.

■Will the current system be terminated within 5 years?

Then let's take a look at the stylistic trends of the works. The phrase "everyday animation is coming to an end" came from the mouth of an animation critic. The so-called "everyday series" refers to the works in which many beautiful girls appear in the play and depict their ordinary and everyday styles. It started with Lucky Star in 2007, and then continued to emerge until 2015, when its momentum slowed for a while. Most of the characters in daily works are occupied by "cute elements", so their commercial goals are inevitably the so-called "cute dolphins". "Cute dolphins" are a kind of otaku who are extremely fond of cute specialized characters, and they are also the main force of large-scale consumption of limited edition BD or merchandise. However, due to the reduction of daily works, the cute dolphin business law is coming to an end. In place of everyday works, there are youth group portraits that anyone can easily enjoy, such as 2011's "We Don't Know the Name of the Flower We Saw That Day". Although this method allows more ordinary people to come into contact with the works, it is no longer possible to squeeze the ultra-high consumption of a single person through guò cute dolphins.

In other words, the recovery of money for animation works has shifted from short-term returns to long-term returns, but it hasn't worked out much in the last year. The overall revenue, such as the sale of credit and merchandise, and the income from events, were not able to cover the deficit. Even so, the number of animations in the new zuò is constantly increasing. It is reported that the cost per episode of TV animation has even decreased to a certain extent compared with 2005~2006. In addition, although the number of theatrical versions of anime is increasing, the number of moviegoers is decreasing, which leads to a tendency for the budget of theatrical anime to shrink. According to industry insiders, even the fiery "The Wind Rises" has only reached the break-even process. Some time ago, Hideaki Anno publicly stated in an interview: "The current animation production system is in danger, and it is only a matter of time before it collapses. Not 20 years, only 5 years is enough. "Big animation studios will survive, but small and medium-sized studios that rely on just one or two big studios will be in crisis." Between the lines, there is even a hint of "not needed for 5 years".

■Viewers can save the industry by spending money!

Because of the development of the network environment, the infringement of copyright has led to the loss of the function of Ghibli, and the body of the industry is about to bottom out. Again, it's time for the animation industry to forget about Hayao Miyazaki! "The next generation shouldn't continue to commemorate or look for Miyazaki, just do more things like LoveLive! It's better to have a work that the audience can enjoy purely so that the money can be put to work. Although this is a very extreme opinion, the words are not rough, and works that cannot be recognized by the audience will die no matter how much they have connotation. On the other hand, works that are truly artistic are also being produced. Although the work "Hundred Days Red ~MissHOKUSAI~", which was supervised by Keiichi Hara and released in May, was not satisfactory at the box office, it was indeed a good work that combined the research of the times with high-quality painting. In terms of genre and content, the "Hundred Days Red" production team must have expected that the box office would be relatively bleak, but we should applaud the production of this work, and Japanese animation can reach such a level that it can be released as a commercial work, in other words, an investment in the future. "In This Corner of the World", which will be released in 2016, is also a work that has nothing to do with the cute dolphin business law or "animation for pure enjoyment".

There are many people who think that spending money on hobbies is a very stupid thing. It's not too good to think that you can spend as much money as you can for the right things, and the animation industry is like an engine, and every penny of the audience is like gasoline, and there is the energy that drives "Japanese animation". Spend money on animation, and only by doing so can you continue to see interesting animations five years and ten years later.

The words and sentences quoted in this article are all from the mouths of the current first-line people or critics in the industry.

(The author of this article: Yuyoshi Inada, editor of "Film Xunbao", author of the book "The Law of "Daily Animation" Popularity")