End of an Era? Anime Industry In Crisis!

Date: 2005 January 02 15:44

Posted by Joe

The Otaku News Crew are still in holiday mode, which explains our rather relaxed coverage recently (I am aware that a few of the crew have had far too much eggnog and mulled wine over this holiday season). This doesn't mean that the news stops however.

As if it was timed to coincide with Sky Cinema's UK Screenings of Spirited Away the alert folks over at AnimeUKNews.net have discovered that The Telegraph Arts Section has a very interesting article on the future of anime, Hayao Miyazaki's future retirement (Princess Mononoke was supposed to be his last film, as was Spirited Away) and how little an animator in the Japanese animation industry earns.

It explains that animators start as passionate otaku wanting to be part of the industry of their childhood dreams and by the time they are thirty or so realise that most supermarket clerks earn more than them so as a result decide to leave for a better paid job. It then goes on to mention the danger of foreign influences leading to anime it loosing it's appeal and it's soul.

The article has quotes from anime expert, translator and writer Jonathan Clements.

An another interesting part of the article is the bullet point at the end stating that Howl's Moving Castle will be released in the UK in the autumn. The Otaku News Crew look forward to this and will bring you more news on the subject when avaible. ^_-