Riuva : Research Institute for Unicultural Visual Arts

21 Responses to “13 Questions Everyone Always Wanted to Ask About Anime Staff!”  

1. 1 Kurogane 125 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 2:14 am

   I’d really like to reply to that but it’s such a pain. I think I’ll just post the answer up later, if I have the time to do it.

2. 2 Zeroblade 163 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 2:16 am

   What happened to the 13th question?

3. 3 tj_han 1442 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 2:22 am

   There are 13 questions. Look carefully lol.

4. 4 TheBigN 75 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 2:26 am

   For 5, it would make sense that the seiyuu are also representatives of who they work for. Wouldn’t you want to have them look as aesthetically pleasing? For those who care that is.

5. 5 Spiritsnare 6 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 2:34 am

   There are 13 questions. Look carefully lol.

   I see what you did thar.

6. 6 DiGiKerot 57 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 3:11 am

   >> 2. When people claim they have been working on a series for X number of years, what exactly do they do to the series during that time frame?

   It takes a lot of planning to produce a show (or at least a good one), it’s not unknown for it to take a couple of months just to write and storyboard a single episode if they want to get Kyo-Ani anal about it.

   In between this, the chances are whoever has come up with this concept for a show has had to work on other titles to keep themselves in food, and obviously all the time they are doing character designs, art or episode directing and key-animating on someone else show is time they are not planning their own production.

   More realistically, there’s things like getting sponsors onboard and the like. You have to have so much you can show them, which you may end up having to change if they don’t like it, which may mean you have to go back and renegotiate with other sponsors until you have enough happy people to get the show in production.

   >> 3. How long before an episode’s air date is it fully completed and voiced?

   From what I’ve gather from interviews and the like, it varies massively. Typically, the early episodes of a series will have a fair time difference between completion and airing, and the gap will get progressively shorter as the show goes on unless they insert a lot of recap episodes.

   >> 5. Why are there no hideously ugly seiyuu?

   There’s quite a few, actually. I think Moyism did a post on the My-HiME seiyuu quite a while back, and they certainly weren’t all lookers.

   >> 6. How long does it take to produce one episode of anime?

   It varies. Again, earlier episodes tend to take longer due to them having more time to plan and storyboard it, and the fact that they’ll be doing to stock animation they end up overusing later in the series at this point ^^;

   >> 9. Who draws all those anime-accurate posters found in magazines like Megami, featuring the anime characters in risque-positions sometimes showing nipples?

   Normally either the design or key animation staff for a show. Character designer Hisayuki actually did a lot of the My-HiME and ZHiME ones, for example (in his case it’s obvious, though, because he actually signs them).

   >> 12. Do the staff of the anime studios actually actively participate in fan discussions online, beyond the infamous “2chan are anus” comments?

   Some Sunrise staff have been known to drop spoilers for their shows on Internet forums.

7. 7 Lainforce 10 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 3:22 am

   >>> 9. Who draws all those anime-accurate posters found in magazines like Megami, featuring the anime characters in risque-positions sometimes showing nipples?

   I’d like to know that one, too!

   http://mystic.valesti.net/pictures/megami_may2007_04.jpg

8. 8 Orochi 27 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 6:51 am

   Answer :-

   5.There are a total of about 1300 Seiyuus im Japan. (http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm58865)
   They just pick the good looking ones for the job. And do a bit of makeup on those selected to make them look better for photo shoots. Even famous ones can have their ugly moments. (http://komica0.dreamhosters.com/41/src/1177489113996.jpg)

   10.They are paid to do the job, so shaddup.

9. 9 Beowulf Lee 4 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 8:12 am

   >>># Why are there no hideously ugly seiyuu?

   Depends on your standards as there are some pretty homely seiyuu. (ie, IMO, Shana’s seiyuu)

10. 10 tik 67 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 8:47 am

    >> 1. What exactly is the workscope of the various positions in an anime studio? Namely, what’s the difference between the producer, director, series coordinator and other really ambiguous terms?

    If I’m not wrong, producers doesn’t really take part in the production of the series, they are there to handle all the liaising jobs like talking to TV station about airing time, looking for sponsors etc, like what our Gurren ex-producer has been doing?

    By series coordinator, do you mean シリーズ構成? If it is than if I’m not wrong once again, she is more or less in charge of the “flow” of the story, eg which events should occur first in the story etc.

    But I can’t be sure if my answers are accurate haha…

11. 11 tik 67 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 8:59 am

    like how the シリーズ構成 of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu was credited to 涼宮ハルヒと愉快な仲間たち (Suzumiya Haruhi and her merry friends)
    http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱#.E3.82.B9.E3.82.BF.E3.83.83.E3.83.95

12. 12 tj_han 1442 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 12:09 pm

    Btw, Digi, thanks for the answers. But Moy posted unflattering pictures of the seiyuu. He chose bad screencaps on purpose. If you look at the seiyuu mags, they all look like idols. But it is photoshop.

    tik: That sounds like half a day’s work lol, deciding which events come first.

13. 13 tiny Red Man 149 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 1:40 pm

    1) What exactly is the workscope of the various positions in an anime studio? Namely, what’s the difference between the producer, director, series coordinator and other really ambiguous terms?

    For this, I THINK!! that the director is the most useless..the producers have to ability to crush the balls of him(as told by my lecturers)..Producers are the one who find sponsors, and director directs the anime episode.
    As for the series coordinator, no idea…and really ambiguous term? they do the rest of the animation from designing the characters to the BG and animating and Colouring them. and compositors that composite out the final product that we dl every single day….
    What is the percentage of anime work outsourced to overseas studios in China and Korea?

    I tink its half of the animation. Typically, the anime studios do the key frame..then they export the key frames to China to have them do the in betweens. As for colouring, i tink its back to Japan to do it using softwares such as toonboon or toonz…using other compositing softwares, they added their effects and seiyuus into it…

    (acutally, I can’t be sure if my answers are accurate too..haha….its wat most of my lects and what i think)

14. 14 Seth 78 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 2:50 pm

    Actually there are 14 questions.

    5. I’ve noticed a lot of otherwise cute Japanese girls have nasty teeth. I suspect this is related to how the culture used to think tooth rot was hot (I’m not kidding) and women would blacken their teeth to look “attractive”.

15. 15 CMWilly 2 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 2:56 pm

    1. What exactly is the workscope of the various positions in an anime studio? Namely, what’s the difference between the producer, director, series coordinator and other really ambiguous terms?

    There are a bunch or different types of producers, but the main ones usually deal with the overall of the production like budge and publicity. Like digi and others have said they deal with sponsors and such, but also deal witht he actual network executives that broadcast the show.
    The director is in charge of the creative aspect of the show. Whatever they say creavtively, usually goes in Japan.
    Series coordinator is probably like a production coordinator. They are the internal information hub of the studio, they usually deal with schedules and deadlines for the many departments of the production. Making sure things flow during production.
    MMM….if you’ve ever seen “conte” on the credits its the storyboard artist.

    4. When you look at the works of certain famous staff, you notice that there are years where he seems to be doing absolutely nothing. How do these people feed themselves when not doing work?
    They could be spending time developing a show or just doing minor freelance animation for other studios. Sometimes they are staffed at the studio and could just be sitting there thinking while getting paid!

    7. How much does it take to produce one episode of anime?
    It varies as well. I remember one episode of FLCL cost around $100,000 at the time it first came out. Where as some go for about $200,000 to $350,000 if I’m not mistaken. Then theres the case of OVA’s where I’ve heard of it going for $1million per ep!

    8. What is the percentage of anime work outsourced to overseas studios in China and Korea?
    Most to all of the inbetweens are done in Korea and China. Most of the time the key animation is done in-house then shipped to korea for the rest of the job. Sometimes the scenes come back to Japan for compositing, but most of the ink and painting of the actual animation is outsourced. As for BG’s they’re mostly done in-house too, from what I saw. Sometimes Japanese studios will also outsource to other Japanese studios for animation.

    11. Staff of bad anime such as Xenosaga the Animation, do they actually believe what they produce is good and will be well-received?
    No, for the higher-ups. Probably for the employees. A gig is a gig, it’ll put food on the table and a roof over your head. =)

    12. Do the staff of the anime studios actually actively participate in fan discussions online, beyond the infamous “2chan are anus” comments?
    Probably…but I think most of them just watch and read silently. In a dark room. In the corner. In a fetal position fearing 2ch.

    I hope that answers some questions!

16. 16 Jun.L 2 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 7:02 pm

    6)
    1 show = 24 minutes (depends)
    1 minute = 60 second
    1 second = 25 frames
    1 frame = 1 drawing
    1 drawing = *insert time*

    compile them up and you get your answer : D

    did i mention you need to send front and back between the animator and art director to check mistakes before animating the anime?

    lol.. i know this stuffs cause my lecturer told me, he used to do “ONE PIECE” zomg old series.. lol.. yeah im in design >_>

17. 17 tj_han 1442 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 7:11 pm

    Many thanks for the useful responses!

    Seth: Surely you jest? Lol. I actually think it’s because orthodontics are less common in Japan, they just don’t really mind the crooked teeth.

18. 18 Ashram 29 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 8:27 pm

    When I went to school in Japan in 2000, I don’t think I ever saw anyone with braces on. There didn’t appear to be any stigma about it, so I saw tons of people with snaggle teeth.

19. 19 Xstacy02 33 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 10:50 pm

    1. The producer handles the administrative matters, like securing sponsors, broadcast times, etc. The director directs the series, and has the final say to all matters related to the show, e.g. character design, script, storyboard, etc. The series coordinator decides what story to include and what to omit. The series coordinator can often be found in the ending credits as the scriptwriter as well. Two ambiguous terms that most anime fans are unable to discern would be 制作　and 製作. The fact that both are pronounced as ’seisaku’ and refer to ‘production’ only adds to the confusion. In the earlier years of anime, both terms are used interchangeably, whereas nowadays, 制作 refers to the animation production (e.g. key animation, coloring, BG, etc) while 製作 refers to the production of the series as a ‘product’, which includes ensuring that the animation gets made and sponsors are secured. Furthermore, art director refers ONLY to the background and has nothing to do with the animation at all, while color setters (iro shitei) set the colour scheme and the tone to fit the show (dark, gothic, sugary sweet?). Do note that an anime production studio is separated into two sections - sakuga (drawing) and bijutsu (art/BG) - both are mutually exclusive.

    2. It depends what they do. Are they the director, the producers, or just the lowly animators toiling away? It would be interesting to note that some of the in-betweeners to get ‘upgraded’ to key animators along the production of a very long series (Bleach, Naruto, etc…).

    3. It varies, but the episode needs to be done by hook or by crook BEFORE the broadcast. It was mentioned that the last episode of Cowboy Bebop was made in time and delivered to the broadcaster (WOWOW) in 2000 just hours before the scheduled broadcast. I believe that as a result, some anime gets crappily done (although the studio improved them for DVD release) like the infamous Yashigani episode (Lost Universe episode 4), Musashi Gun-doh and Crescent Love (especially episode 3).

    4. I wouldn’t know for sure, but if they are famous enough, I’m sure there would be hordes of people coming after him to get him to be an animator in their show. While not doing anything, I guess they would be providing illustrations to anime character magazines like Megami, or other stuff, like providing freelance animation services to advertisers?.

    5. Anything is possible with make-up. The seiyuu you see is probably dolled up specially for the fan event(s), and no seiyuu would be seen in a horrendous state there. After the event is a different story altogether…

    6. About three months. However, studios produce several episodes concurrently within the duration such that they do not fall behind schedule.

    7. Simply put, if we set the price of an anime DVD as 4800 yen (S$60), and the sales target is 10000 copies, simple math tells us that the budget would be 48 million yen(S$600,000), and that includes everything from animators’ to the producers’ salaries.

    8. Traditionally, animation has always been outsourced to smaller Japanese companies, but foreign companies are increasingly competing for jobs. My observation tells me that on average more than 50% of inbetweening and coloring is outsourced, followed by 30% outsourcing of background, and 20% (and increasing) outsourcing of key animation. Some studios outsource far more than others. For example, Madhouse and GONZO outsource much of the lower animation work to Korean firms like DR Movie, Kyung Kang ANIA, Seung Bo Yeang Hang and Chinese firms like RIC, Feng Huang Dong Hua (Phoenix Animation), etc. In fact, some episodes are totally done in Korea, like Tenjou Tenge, some episodes of Death Note, and Saiunkoku Monogatari (all from Madhouse) where even the animation supervisor (sakuga kantoku) is Korean as well. Toei has outsourced virtually all of its in-betweening, coloring and background to Toei Animation Phillipines(TAP, aka EEI-Toei) and now TAP has 6-8 key animators too. Other firms outsource moderately (but increasingly) like Pierrot, Studio Deen, and JC Staff. Firms that do not outsource very much tend to be doing high-budget shows, e.g. Production I.G. and Kyoto Animation. As these places become increasingly expensive, production may be outsourced to other countries such as Indonesia (BJCF - Bintang Jenaka Cartoon Films which did part of Lost Universe, Cowboy Bebop movie, and Prince of Tennis) and Vietnam, where backgrounds for Negima? and Reideen (2007) have been made.

    9. The character designers themselves usually draw these posters. Usually the people involved in the settings, e.g. color settings and art design will color and do the background respectively. That’s why the pictures often look excellent and ‘anime-accurate’. Hence, one can notice that character designers often double up as (sou-sakuga kanyoku) chief animation supervisor, which checks the accuracy of the faces.

    10. and 11. I doubt they care. They would still earn the same, regardless of how well received is the anime or otherwise. Especially with scarce and low-paying jobs…

    12. God knows…the people in the anime industry work long hours, up to 10 hours daily (6 days a week), and they would probably be too drained to respond to crappy 2ch flamings. Although some do, and even culminate in a recent case where some guy from Gainax resigned due to the ‘drama’ in 2ch regarding the ‘dismal’ quality of Guren Lagaan episode 4.

    13. Nobody truly knows. It takes one animator (or rather anime-tor) to know one.

20. 20 DrmChsr0 191 comments Apr 30th, 2007 at 11:33 pm

    LOL I see what you did thar.

21. 21 mochi 3 comments May 1st, 2007 at 1:12 am

    1. You may want to check out episode 10 of Paranoia Agent (Mellow Maromi) since it gives a brief description
    of several of the positions at an anime studio. Hopefully the attrition rate is not as high at real studios.

Do not use any < and > for your own sake. It will end the comment there and then. Also, there is an automatic IQ filter which weeds out comments made by those who accidentally got transported from the stone age.

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