Animator Says Anime Today Must Have Film-Level Quality, but There Aren’t Enough Animators

The shortage of animators in the anime industry has been one of the biggest challenges for studios aiming to produce long seasons. According to Kyoko Kotani, an animator known for her work on Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury and My Hero Academia, the lack of skilled professionals prevents the continuous production of series.

Animator Says Anime Today Must Have Film-Level Quality, but There Aren’t Enough Animators

Kotani recently explained on Twitter that, despite animators’ willingness to work on new projects, the high demand for film-level quality and the limited number of specialists make it difficult to produce two consecutive seasons.

“This has been happening for quite some time now, but it is difficult to produce and air two consecutive seasons of a TV [anime] series because production requires a high level of quality, comparable to that of films, while there is a shortage of professional staff in all sections compared to the total number of anime being produced. Even if you secure staff for a year, you can only make one season.”

She also highlighted that the situation has worsened compared to ten years ago. In the past, it was common for animators to work long hours, including overnight and on weekends. Today, the demand for professionals specialized in layouts and key animation is so intense that studios often hire amateur artists from the internet.

“It’s not that they don’t have manpower, but rather that they are particularly short on animators who can do layouts and draw key animations (this is the first step in creating commercial anime, so the project can’t move forward before it’s done). So, they reach out to amateurs on the Internet, such as Twitter, to outsource the work.

Of course, this often is not at a level that can be used for airing, so the animation director and director redo all of the drawings and exposure sheets. It is very time-consuming.”

Despite the challenges, Kotani acknowledges the efforts of production teams to keep the workflow going. The rotation between directors and key animators, along with the implementation of faster processes, has helped the industry continue delivering high-quality anime to the audience.

To be clear, Kotani does not blame fans for the demand for high-quality animation. According to her, the expectation arose due to various factors. While there is a shortage of professional animators, Kotani states that the constant rotation between animation directors and directors helps keep anime production going.

She also praises production teams that contact key animators as soon as the storyboards are finished—further speeding up the production process.

via Twitter