After graduating from Tokyo Animator College, Yuko Matsui began working at a midscale animation production agency.

Two years later, she earns roughly ¥80,000 a month ( about 900 dollars), averaging 10 hours a day doing the grunt work of filling out “in-between cels,” drawings on transparent sheets used between key scenes to help create the illusion of motion.

Although she lives with her parents, she can’t save any money and has given up on paying her national pension fees. Still, the 22-year-old apprentice considers herself better off than some of her peers who say they have to endure frequent all-nighters with few days off.

“There were seven others I knew who graduated with me at the same time, but three of them have already given up and quit,” she said.

Matsui’s story is typical of what many aspiring animators must face in a trade where only the best survive in a shrinking job market.

Via JapanTimes

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