What's it like as an animator in Japan?

[http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_md2nl78AcW1qanw3wo1_1280.gif|390x278px|Animation by Bahi JD, via http://bahijd.tumblr.com] Animation by Bahi JD, via http://bahijd.tumblr.com

Would you like to know more about the actual job of animation in Japan?

There's an amazing Community on Google+ called Japanese animation from the inside. Several of its members (like Bahi JD and Eddie Mehong) are animators who are working on current anime series or have worked on recent anime projects (Basquash, Kids on the Slope, Macross Frontier, The Woman Called Fujiko Mine). They answer questions about their experiences working in the anime industry.

A few interesting revelations:

Most animators are freelancers working from home. As such, meetings are often the only time you get a chance to actually see your co-workers, so folks like Shoji Kawamori often use meetings more as chances to chat with friends than anything else.

Animators usually follow directors or projects, rather than studios. Some are more tied to a favorite studio, but if you want to work on a Shinichiro Watanabe show, you can find a way to work at whatever studio he's working for on that show.

Your reputation quickly establishes which kinds of shots for which you're most suitable. Shots aren't assigned from on high as much as they're collaboratively distributed according to skill. (This is a textbook Japanese business approach, incidentally.)

Beginners typically work 12-16 hours a day to learn the ropes. Established animators work 8-12 hours a day. Because all animators are freelancers, you can choose your hours, but you compete with many animators producing high quantity and high quality animation.'' ''

A 13- to 26-episode TV series will be animated in 6 to 9 months.

The industry is small enough that you'll usually see animators you worked with on past projects in future ones. It's a pretty chummy industry in that way.

Overall, the animators actually working in the industry write quite positively about their experiences. It sounds similar to Silicon Valley tech companies or movie making: you may put in a lot of hours, but if it's your passion, you'll enjoy yourself.