It is not the first time that we have mentioned the fact that the salaries of animators in Japan are quite precarious if we compare them not only with other professions, but even with the average salary in the country. However, despite the constant criticism of this system, in the end the production companies do not do much to improve working conditions, especially now that they can choose to hire remote workers.
Many consider that remote work became the last nail in the coffin of the hopes of Japanese animators., and it is that if a Japanese does not want to work for the salary that the companies offer them, surely someone in China, South Korea or any other country will. Finally, this situation was again evidenced when the Twitter user “@hi_na_ta_0821“, who describes himself as a Japanese animator who worked for the studios ENGIshared the following update (now removed):
- «ENGI Studios, I didn’t receive that 1.67 million yen for my work and I haven’t been paid my salary for September, what’s going on? I probably can’t afford them anymore, but I try to keep my bills up to date. I will keep calling them».
In the photograph we can see that it is a payroll for work (The animators are generally not contract workers in the studio, but are hired externally and do not sign a contract to “be part of the company”). The animator in question reveals that he should have received 1,672,000 yen (about US$12,400) for his work, or so it is assumed.
It turns out that the payroll reveals what he should be paid, but according to the testimony of this entertainer, it is not what he actually received. The interesting thing is that, since the payroll was issued with this figure, the animator has to pay taxes on the entire amount, which makes his financial situation even more difficult.
The user ended up deleting the post, probably because the situation was eventually resolved. In fact, he had already reported this in another post: «This time I wasn’t sure whether to post it on Twitter, but I did it for insurance. I thought that if I didn’t push them so much, even if they didn’t have bad intentions, I would be forced to not pay taxes due to their mismanagement. I will delete it once resolved».
However, the fact that ENGI studios issue “unpaid payroll” has raised a lot of suspicion among Japanese fansespecially since studies they could be issuing payrolls of non-existent workers with the aim of tax evasion (By registering more salaries paid than they actually had, their earnings decrease and, consequently, the amount of taxes they must pay).
The studies ENGI They are recently created, in 2018, and have produced important projects such as Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai!, Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru., Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs and Full Dive: The Ultimate Next-Gen Full Dive RPG Is Even Shittier than Real Life!to name a few.
Of course, the situation attracted comments on the Japanese forums:
- «I never thought I would read criticism towards ENGI’s management».
- «Oh no, is this the beginning of the end for ENGI studies?».
- «This is the tragedy that Kantai Collection causes in its studies».
- «“Shinmai Renkinjutsushi no Tenpo Keiei” and “Keikenzumi na Kimi to, Keiken Zero na Ore ga, Otsukiai suru Hanashi.” They are ENGI projects, let’s hope nothing happens to them».
- «People want to work with a company that has some credibility».
- «If they don’t take you seriously when you call them, you can go to the Tax Agency and say: “My employer has sent me an incorrect proof of payment and they have not attended to me when I asked them to.” I assure you that the prosecutor will investigate the matter immediately».
- «How is it possible that ENGI is entrusted with the animation of “Gamera: Rebirth” in this state of affairs, with the anime of the ship without ideas and unpaid salaries?».
- «I don’t know if it’s true because only one person says it, but if it’s true, it means that the company could be fictitiously accounting for subcontracting costs by making false payrolls about unpaid wages and pretending that they are “paying wages”.».
- «It’s a bad deal, but with Kadokawa on their tail, they couldn’t risk a tax evasion move.».
Fountain: otakomu
The entry ENGI Studios Accused of Not Paying Full Salaries was first published on Kudasai.
