At one point, Yuasa highlights Mizusaki’s ink-stained hands covered in cuts and bandages. Even with reduced, manageable workloads, we still see the physical toll of what it takes to even accomplish three minutes of animation. This episode and its follow-up, “Hold That Machete Tight,” recreate the kind of high-pressure environment that has become the norm for professional animators, right down to a morbid joke where Kanamori finds Asakusa sleeping under a table in order to emulate the habits of her overworked role models. With just 55 days to work, they already have to cut their animation down from five to three minutes, as the latter would require 3,600 drawings and sleepless nights for two months. Mizusaki protests that she wants to take the time to make something good, but the unfortunate reality is that the anime industry is one burdened by high demand and little time. In the series’ third episode “Let’s Accomplish Something!”, the girls have to produce an animated short to prove the worth of their newly established “Studio Eizouken” to the student council, on a very tight deadline. The show follows a group of high school girls who make their own anime: the erratic lifelong enthusiast Asakusa, the rich young model and aspiring animator Mizusaki, and the more practical, acid-tongued Kanamori are positioned as analogues for the director, animator, and producer. Masaaki Yuasa and Science Saru’s latest anime Keep Your Hands off Eizouken!, which is streaming now on Crunchyroll, captures the joy of animation as well as an occupational struggle from the perspective of the animators. Some studies reveal productions with an average of 230 working hours a month. But while those numbers are up, the industry is still relatively unhealthy, with reportedly low wages, a shortage of artists, and long hours. Between streaming-service simulcasts, digital distribution, and a more open, international market, the medium is earning more money every year.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |