Comments on: “I’ve seen many colleagues die in their 50s” Black Lagoon director Sunao Katabuchi reflects on anime industry working conditions as Japan gets new dedicated insurance program

By: FOSTERSMAN

FOSTERSMAN — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 20:12:05 +0000

All developers deserve better working conditions + pay and benefits, the creative industry but especially the Japanese creative sector whether that be anime or the game industry need to do better.

If an industry wide governing body/Union were created that overseas workers rights and industry practices, they could have a quality assurance mark placed on all works which align themselves to this endeavor.

If this was successfully implemented it could allow us general public to purchase/support works which guarantees workers rights and those that do not feature the quality seal, we could potentially boycott.

By: Jimoyhu

Jimoyhu — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 11:52:28 +0000

In reply to Lorenzo. Well said and I completely agree. Japan's such a power house for international entertainment and that no doubt brings in a ludicrous amount of money for the industries there, with the notoriously aging workforce of Japan the workers need a safety net now more than ever. Their hard work is so appreciated.

By: Helman

Helman — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 05:40:14 +0000

It’s good to hear an actual good and improvement news from anime industry, not just doom and gloom like most media are spreading about. If this is about new protection for freelancers, it means that fulltime artists have already been fully covered by their respective companies, which are 2 steps forward. I hope improved work conditions in the industry leads to better quality output of the anime itself and improved skill from their workers

By: Lorenzo

Lorenzo — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 23:58:38 +0000

I am in 100% support of this. Work is work whether that is Freelance, Part Time or Full Time, as it stands Animators or usually the most underpaid and overworked in the industry, but the benefits and compensation need to catch up to the current reality of where things are at right now due to the rise of Studios taking on too many licenses.

Health and Wellness need to be looked into to create sustainability for the future rather than stagnation of a workforce that suffers worse conditions than full time employees do. Besides AI is a Force Multiplier to help enable creativity by getting rid of the repetitive workflows that take days or months to do into hours so workers can focus more on that end. It’s not meant to replace human creativity.