Animators are famously underpaid. Wages can be below minimum wage, with 20-hour shifts common ("karoshi" – death by overwork). Many young animators live in net cafe cubes. While the executives make millions, the hands drawing the frames are in poverty. This is an open secret that the global fanbase struggles to reconcile.
If you have ever tried to watch a Japanese drama or buy a Blu-ray of an anime movie, you have encountered a frustrating paradox: Japan creates global content but distributes it like the internet was invented yesterday. Animators are famously underpaid