How Anime is Made

Note: This is not my video. This video belongs to Danny Choo, and I am only sharing this for everyone to see.

Looking at this video, I have been extremely impressed with what I have seen from JC Staff. The amount of work and effort that anime production studios has to go through is almost overwhelming. Not to mention that there is so many other things involved in the production of an anime that is not shown in the video that makes it even more time-consuming and stressful. After watching this video, I honestly now have an appreciation for how much it takes to produce even a regular TV anime. Even though some anime may be bad shows, it still makes me appreciate the work put into them. It must have taken a lot of dedication and teamwork between the staff, even if a lot of anime are indeed outsourced to other countries for production.

In the video, producer Ohashi-san then also talks about the production of anime today compared to before. He says the production of anime nowadays involve more usage of computers and digital technologies. Before, many things that could not be done digitally on computers can be achieved now with newer digital technologies, so they are now doing more things digitally. However, there are some things that are either easier or can only be achieved by hand. So, anime today is created through both digital and physical means, depending on which is easier or faster for which type of work. I do agree with that, however what I found interesting was that while modern animation has been produced using more technology now, the technology used is quite outdated. The computers look quite dated, and software such as Paint Man looks like an older software. Not to mention they still use tape, but that is kind of understandable. Kind of.

For myself, I’m quite happy because not only have I learned about the production of anime, or at least get a sense of how it’s like, but also because now I can appreciate and enjoy anime more now because I have an understanding of how it’s made and the passion put into it by the people who make anime. The downside to having technology increase the efficiency of anime production is that while more anime can be made more efficiently, it does put more stress on production studios. Still, the next time I watch a great anime, I will be able to understand how the anime came to be and be impressed at not only the quality of the final product, but also the hard work needed to achieve such an impressive piece of art and storytelling.