Watching a 24-minute anime episode takes less time than a lunch break. Making one takes hundreds of people, thousands of drawings and months of coordination. Understanding that process explains a lot of things fans often ask about: why some seasons are delayed, why a show can look wonderful one week and rough the next, and why people in the industry keep talking about pay. This guide walks through how an anime is made, who funds it and what animators are actually paid, using figures from industry reporting.
If you are more interested in the money side of the industry, our article on how the anime industry became a global business covers streaming, merchandise and investment. This piece is about the work itself.
Step One: The Idea and the Money
Most anime begins as something that already exists, such as a manga, a light novel or a game. A production committee then decides whether to turn it into a series. A production committee is a group of companies, often including publishers, TV or streaming partners, toy makers and music labels, that pool money to fund the project.
According to a report by SlashFilm, the committee hires an animation studio for a set fee and sets the budget the studio works within. If a project fails, the committee absorbs the cost and the studio is protected. If it succeeds, the committee keeps the royalties, and the studio and animators do not share in that income. This arrangement is one of the main reasons the industry’s pay structure is so often criticised.
Some studios are trying a different route. Anime News Network reports that MAPPA self-financed Chainsaw Man in 2022 and took on licensing and merchandising itself, while MAHO FILM has become a core member of production committees so that it can share in the revenue.
Step Two: Script, Storyboard and Animatic
Once the money is in place, writers adapt the source material into scripts. The script is then turned into a storyboard, a sequence of drawings that plans each scene, the camera angles and the timing. Voice actors record the dialogue, and that recording is laid over a rough version of the storyboard to create an animatic, a moving draft that shows how the episode will flow. Problems with pacing are much cheaper to fix at this stage than after the animation has been drawn.
Step Three: Key Animation and In-Betweening
The heart of the process is the drawing. SlashFilm’s description of the traditional workflow is a good starting point:
- Key animators (called genga in Japan) draw the important poses of each character in a scene and clean them up.
- In-betweeners (called douga) draw the frames between those poses so the movement looks smooth.
- Drawings are then inked, painted and photographed or composited into finished footage.
The report notes that this is a simplified view that leaves out many specialist roles, including background artists, colour designers, digital compositors, sound teams and editors. Today most studios work largely on computers rather than paper, but the order of work, from key poses to in-betweens to finishing, is still recognisable.
Why Quality Varies From Episode to Episode
Fans often notice that one episode looks spectacular while the next looks stiff. The cause is usually scheduling rather than lack of talent. A series might have a handful of big action scenes handed to the best key animators, while quieter episodes are produced faster and with less detail. When a deadline slips, studios sometimes delay a broadcast or add a recap episode to give the team time to catch up.
What Animators Are Paid
Pay is the most discussed issue in the industry, and it differs a lot between roles and employment types. The figures below come from two published reports, and they refer to different years, so compare them with care.
| Role or situation | Reported figure | Source and year |
| Average key animator (genga) salary | About $36,000 a year | Japan Animation Creators Association figure quoted by SlashFilm, 2019 |
| Average in-betweener (douga) salary | About $12,000 a year | Same source, 2019 |
| Entry-level studio salary | 200,000 to 240,000 yen a month ($1,293 to $1,552) | Anime News Network |
| Mean income, ages 20 to 24, including freelancers | 1,550,000 yen a year (about $10,019) | JAniCA survey, 2019, via Anime News Network |
| Example freelance pay per cut | 2,500 yen (about $15.71) | One producer quoted by Anime News Network |
Anime News Network adds some important context. Pay and conditions have improved markedly over the past five years, according to people it interviewed, and company employees are guaranteed at least Tokyo’s minimum wage of 1,226 yen per hour in 2025. Freelancers have no such floor, set their own rates and receive no employee benefits. At 2,500 yen per cut, one interviewee said a freelancer would need speed to earn a living wage.
How Long It Takes to Train an Animator
Animation is a craft that takes years to learn. One estimate reported by Anime News Network put it at three to five years to become halfway competent and about ten years to become fully competent, and fewer than half of trainees reach the level of a valuable asset to a studio.
Shorter series have changed training as well. Earlier shows ran for 50 or more episodes, which gave beginners repeated practice. On a 12-episode show a beginner may work on only two to four episodes. Studios are responding by hiring full-time staff and setting up their own training. Netflix, for example, funds a six-month scholarship programme at WIT Studio worth $8,400, according to SlashFilm.
Why Short Series Change Everything
The move from long-running series to 12-episode seasons has had effects that fans rarely see. Short seasons are easier to fund and schedule, and they suit streaming platforms that want a steady flow of new titles. For studios, though, each project is smaller, which makes it harder to keep a full team busy between productions. Anime News Network describes one studio of about 50 employees that balances subcontract work with in-house projects, because a 12-episode in-house series occupies it for one to two years and its fixed costs need a constant pipeline of work.
That pressure is one reason some studios take on subcontract work for others, and why a series you love may be animated by several studios working together on different episodes. When you see a long list of credited studios, it usually means the schedule was tight and the work was shared.
What Fans Can Do
- Watch legally. Official streaming and licensed purchases are what fund committees and studios.
- Support the home release or official merchandise of shows you love, since these revenue streams are what committees count when they decide on a second season.
- Read the credits. Key animation and episode directors are listed, and following the artists you like makes it easier to find more of their work.
- Be patient with delays. A pushed-back broadcast usually means the team is trying to protect the quality of the finished episode.
If you are choosing where to watch, our guide to the best anime streaming services in 2026 compares the major platforms, and you can find more behind-the-scenes explainers in our Entertainment category.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who pays for an anime to be made?
Usually a production committee of several companies, such as publishers, broadcasters, toy makers and music labels. Some studios now fund projects themselves to keep a share of the revenue.
What is key animation?
Key animation is the drawing of the most important poses in a movement. In-between animators then fill in the frames between those poses.
Do animators earn a good living?
It depends on the role and employment type. Reported averages are about $36,000 a year for key animators and about $12,000 for in-betweeners, and freelancers have less security than company employees. Conditions have improved in recent years according to industry interviews.
Why are anime seasons so short?
Shorter series fit streaming schedules and committee budgets, and they let studios release more titles. The trade-off is less training time for new animators.
Final Thoughts
An anime episode is the product of a long chain of decisions about money, schedules and craft. Knowing how the chain works makes it easier to understand delays, quality swings and pay debates, and it shows why supporting official releases matters. As studios experiment with self-funding and better training, the next few years may change how that chain works.
Sources used: SlashFilm, The Pay Controversy That Plagues The Japanese Anime Industry and Anime News Network, Is it Really Impossible to Make a Living as an Animator in Japan?.
