The Future Of Animation Has Never Been Darker, But One Event Gives Me Hope

Despite being one of the oldest cinematic mediums around, animation, as Guillermo del Toro once noted, is "perpetually on the brink of extinction." From labor malpractices leading to industry-wide changes via strikes to new technology changing animation forever every few decades and power-hungry, megalomaniac, and not-so-savvy studio heads failing to recognize the timeless appeal and success of the medium, animation is constantly under attack (even as it continues to save the box office over and over).

Whether in the U.S. (where big-time Hollywood players are shutting down in-house production in favor for outsourcing) or Japan (where AI is an actual, tangible threat already being adopted by major studios), it's a bleak time to be looking from the outside in on animation, let alone to actually be a part of the industry. In Japan, that's all on top of the well-known and long-documented crisis of crunch and employees being overworked to meet extremely tight deadlines (in addition to a general shortage of animators).

And yet, there is still reason to be optimistic, like when the tiny animated indie "Flow" won the Best Animated Feature Oscar earlier this year. Now, I've gotten newfound hope for the future of the medium (or, at the very least, a much-needed newfound salve) from watching the Crunchyroll Anime Awards live in Tokyo.

The Crunchyroll Anime Awards were first held in 2017, with the ceremony having moved from California to Japan in 2023. It celebrates any and all animated shows and movies produced primarily in Japan, including series like "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners" (which, having been created by Polish studio CD Projekt Red but animated and made in Japan, is eligible), regardless of whether Crunchyroll distributed them. This is important, as Crunchyroll hosting the awards is roughly the equivalent of having Netflix run the Emmys, but you can still nominate and vote for shows not distributed on the platform (like when the Netflix original "Devilman Crybaby" won Best Anime).

Despite some controversial wins during the ceremony, attending the awards and seeing actual animators being celebrated by both their peers and fans around the world came as a sharp relief for me in the face of the many issues plaguing the industry. Animation will always be at risk, but animators will persevere and keep drawing.

Most major award shows, in some form or another, prioritize big stars in their ceremonies, even if that means having to shorten speeches by indie filmmakers so an actor can joke about having unprotected sex with his wife (hi Kieran Culkin!) or to make room for endless skits. When it comes to animation, it's even worse, with entire productions being limited to just "best animated movie" or "best animated show" categories that award the producers or directors for the work of hundreds, if not thousands, of people across many different departments.

Art directors, background artists, and production designers rarely, if ever, get much public recognition, especially not at big awards events. Even when the Emmys celebrate the more technical categories, it relegates them to a separate show. There's also the "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation" award, but even that is little more than a vague bit of recognition that covers each and every individual aspect of animation.

This is not to say the Crunchyroll Anime Awards are perfect, as they also relegate plenty of technical awards (like Best Background Art or Best Character Design) to a mere announcement before the show. Still, it's the best we've got by far, and it was rather uplifting and heartwarming to witness the love for animation in the room when, for instance, Yuichio Fukushi accepted the award for Best Director on behalf of Keiichiro Saito for his work on the excellent fantasy anime "Frieren: Beyond Journey's End" with a big plushie of the titular character in his arms as his table loudly cheered. Throughout the ceremony, as directors, producers, and voice actors involved in less mainstream shows (like "Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines!") took the stage and got to receive praise from international fans and their peers, it made for a celebration of the medium at large.

Indeed, seeing the crowd go wild for Creepy Nuts as they played the hit song "Bling-Bang-Bang-Born" from the anime "Mashle: Magic and Muscles" like they were regular fans at a concert — or the shots of teary-eyed animators surprised and happy to see their work recognized and realize how much of a global impact it's had – gave me hope for the future of the medium in spite of its problems.

Anime is in trouble. Recently, celebrated legacy studio Toei Animation ("One Piece," "Dragon Ball") announced it would invest in AI to start using it in animation productions, threatening to ruin a beloved art-form with soulless imitations. There is also the continuous problem of crunch, tight deadlines, and overworking. Before attending the Crunchyroll Anime Awards, I got the opportunity to visit anime studio David Production ("JoJo's Bizarre Adventure," "Fire Force") and see the extremely hard work involved in bringing beloved titles to life. A representative from the studio also talked about the lengthy process of producing an anime and how a single episode of animation can take, on average, six months to make. (Bear in mind: Many of the more popular anime series come out with new seasons on a yearly basis.)

It's no wonder some studios can't take it, and we end up with situations like when "Attack on Titan" changed studios after three seasons and started using more CGI in its final season (as the show's creatives simply couldn't meet the impossible deadlines).

And yet, visiting David Production and seeing the stacks of paper filled with layouts and key frames for stunning action sequences, along with the beautiful art being drawn by hand (some on a computer, some on actual paper), was also a reminder that this is a special art form. Animation has been in trouble before, and things have changed drastically, whether during the shift to digital or the advent of streaming. Things are dire now, but seeing the work put into this medium by actual humans in the flesh, and then watching them receive praise from their peers and fans alike, renewed my hope that animation will be fine in the end.