The producer Masuo Ueda, responsible for animes like Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Y Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya He spoke about the importance of having an industry entertainers union and the problems he had due to the lack of one.
This talk about JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable and Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya took place in the canal Youtube from Terumi Nishii, a famous anime character designer. In his speech, Ueda explained that the anime industry relies heavily on work freelance, which makes it difficult for them to organize collectively.
Talking about unionizing the anime industry is not something new, he mentioned that Toei Dōga (now Toei Animation) established a union, as did the defunct Mushi Productions that managed to have around 250 people, but that had to close due to the following economic crises.
The producer of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure it’s direct: ‘now it’s extremely impossible for modern anime (to have a union) or for animation studios to be so big that they can be sustainable on their own’. The latter has caused some studies (like A-1 Pictures and CloverWorks) work as subsidiaries of large companies. This situation makes it impossible for them to organize to unionize and demand better working conditions.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure producer mentions anime industry problems
In accordance with Ueda, the producer of Jojo’s Bizarre AdventureDue to the lack of labor standards offered by unions, anime studios have no control over the conditions in which they work. For example, in the production budget, the minimum wage that each animator must have is seldom prioritized, a point that has been pointed out by The New York Times repeatedly.
This same producer mentioned that even if an animation studio proposed a fair wage for its workers, it would not be difficult for large companies to find another team that was willing to work for the minimum wage.
The producer of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure remember that because of this, the Japan Animation Makers Association (JAniCA), created in 2007, has failed to promote the protection of workers against the interests of large companies.
There is still hope for the future
But not all is lost. Ueda singles out voice acting workers (seiyuus), as well as groups of Japanese screenwriters, as successful unionization cases. Thanks to these positive experiences, he argued that it might be more feasible for animation directors to demand better working conditions through union representatives. According to the director of Jojo’s Bizarre AdventureThose who could start these talks are animation directors and character designers who usually play an important role in productions and know first-hand the working conditions of their work team.
Hopefully the words of Ueda come to resonate with more animation studios, your place in the industry backs you up. He has not only worked on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, his career started in Nippon sunrise in 1979, then he worked for Aniplex in 2003. He became president and CEO of A-1 Pictures in 2010, and is now a representative and producer of Skyfall, LLC.
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