the cost of production in JP

http://bayoab.info/live/old.php?panel=43

http://trainwreck.ggkthx.org/2008/08/20/changing-the-time-changing-the-show/

I got curious of the cost of production in Japan, googled it and found this... seemingly interesting source.

Japanese production is...... surprisingly.... cheap to me, for standards like Code Geass.

09:24:37 main characters 38000 yen... sub characters 100k, prop design 100k, art design, 100k, color planning 77k
09:26:12 story boarding 250k, director 250k, chief anim director 100k, animation coordination 200k, animation direction 400k
09:26:56 (most of these are per ep)
09:28:41 (typically 2-4 people on animation direction)
09:28:48 (makig a piece of that)
09:30:11 layout 600k (2k/cut, 300 cuts), keyframes 600k (ditto), tween frames 840k (210ea, 4000 frames), finish 798k (190 each, 4200 frames)
09:30:30 (running total is 4.899 mil so far)

average workday 10.2 hours, average of 25 days worked a month... 60 hr workweeks
09:31:48 outsourcing has reducied number of tween frame animators below keyframe animators)
09:32:10 average page per tweenframe is 186.9 as of 2005
09:32:12 (as per the union)
09:32:47 animators salary, under 1M, 26.8%, 1-2 mil, 19.8?, 2-3 mil, 18.6,
09:33:14 tweener's salary: under 1m: 73.7%, over 1 mil, 26.33%
09:34:25 production : animation check 80k, color coordination (70k), finishing inspection 70k, production assistants 300k, setting managment 60k, coordination desk 60k (all 1 month beside production assistants which are 2, the last two don't have a length)
09:36:34 filming: special effects (folded into overall filming budget... about 1 million yen), cg processing (100k), backgrounds & filming 1.050 mil each, line shot reserves
09:36:45 (also folded into filming budget)
09:37:40 composition: editing 200k, video lab 100k, sound 1.3 mil
09:37:44 (running total is 9.339 mil)
09:38:21 sound includes voice acting(?)
09:39:08 va's are paid per ep, no residuals...
09:39:18 a good portion will go to their management compay
09:41:26 goes up to 50k/60k, 1/3rd to the management company... 1/3rd to something else...
09:41:37 the sound includes sfx, music and other stuff
09:42:07 other expenses: misc 15k, op/ed 200k (5.2m/26 eps)
09:42:56 the music, op and ed usually is 1/2 the budget of the ep....
09:44:01 production expenses: 9.554 mil, production reserves 10% of budget (955.4k), total internal budget 10.5 mil...
09:44:08 expected profit 2.49mil

Even if they did say their episode cost runs up to (13 million yen=130K USD), that's still lower compare to what Nick spends on their ep to get similar quality. (I guess that's why people outsource) But if I look at it as yen, yeah, it's expensive for JPs to produce it in house.

their animators work 10 hours shifts on a 5 weeks time schedule... too. Looks like workaholic and crazy artists there is a norm. Their animators are most certainly... underpaid.