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Recently, renowned Japanese animation director Seiji Mizushima expressed concern that there are too many new anime releases. He pointed out that although the animation industry’s economic scale continues to expand with the increase in the number of works, talent cultivation is difficult to match this expansion speed.
Therefore, he even expressed that even if he loses his job as a result, he feels that the amount of animation works should be reduced by half.
Let’s take a closer look at Mizushima Seiji’s viewpoint.
With the increase of late night animations, the overall number of animated works is also constantly increasing. However, why is this growth so rapid? At first, I was grateful because it meant I could direct more works, including original animations. But soon, I realized that talent cultivation in the industry was completely unable to keep up with such a growth rate, which led to an imbalance in balance
Mizushima Seiji, who has directed classic works such as “The Alchemist of Steel,” “Mobile Suit Gundam 00,” and “Paradise Chase,” recentlyXThe publication of his views sparked widespread discussion.
He believes that having too many works has become a problem.
Seiji Mizushima, who was responsible for the production of the recent D4DJ anime series, bluntly criticized the excessive nature of the animation works. Many anime enthusiasts share his viewpoint. The number of 75 new works in the upcoming autumn of 2024 is truly unimaginable, a situation that was difficult to foresee 10 years ago.
Late night animation flourished in the late 1990s, rising with advantages such as less exclusion from other programs, lower screening costs, more relaxed standards, and widespread use of video recorders. Currently, about 60% to 70% of each season’s new anime belongs to this type. For example, there will be 75 new episodes in the upcoming season, of which 52 are late night animations.
As shown in the figure, from the mid-1990s to recent years, the number of late night animations has increased from 15 to 30 per season to 30 to 45 per season, and now it exceeds 50 per season.
Although data shows that with the increase in the number of new anime series, the scale of Japan’s animation industry has indeed continued to expand, Mizushima Seiji proposed that the speed of talent cultivation in animation cannot match the speed of the increase in new anime series. This led to the emergence of some poorly produced and low rated works, which made him question the significance of so many works every season.
In fact, as early as 2018, Mizushima Seiji expressed similar concerns and proposed a significant reduction in the number of animated works. He holds a grudge against animators, believing that their salaries are too low, working conditions are harsh, and they have not benefited from the expansion of the market.
Even if the number of animations is reduced by half, it doesn’t matter. Some directors produce two works in one season, which is really too much. The phenomenon of oversupply is obvious. The audience can’t possibly catch up with all the works, and the production team also faces the dilemma of talent shortage. So why still produce so many works? It’s better to focus on carefully crafting a single work(June 25th, 2018)
How many anime series do you plan to follow in the upcoming autumn season? Do you also feel that the number of new works is too large?