In terms of numbers of TV productions, the anime business is burning on all cylinder. In terms of that translating to health of the studios producing all that anime, no so much. Public TV broadcaster NHK's Oikonomiya examined the industry found that one out of four anime studios is experiencing net losses.

After hovering around 20% in 2011-2014, the number of studios in the red broke 25% in 2015.

Looking at the difficulties for those working in the industry, the program went to the Tokyo Animator Dormitory for young artists and spoke to host Naoki Matayoshi. It reported that 80% of animators quit within their first three years, and average wages for an in-between animator come out to about 60,000yen ($540) a month. Animator Tetsuya Akutsu revealed he had once spent five hours on a frame for which he was paid 200yen (under $2).

via Otaku USA

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Scott Green is editor and reporter for anime and manga at geek entertainment site Ain't It Cool News. Follow him on Twitter at @aicnanime.