万花筒 2009-07-31&08-02 日本动漫境况堪忧

Line by line, page by page, Nobuki Mitani has been eking¹ out a living for six years.

"Every day I work about 10 to 12 hours", says the 27-year-old animator, "often we work on Saturday and if it's busy we work Sunday, too."

Japanese animation² is a more than 2-billion-dollar-a-year industry, but for those who painstakingly³ draw each figure, the in-between animators, it's anything but lucrative⁴. Nobuki is paid by the page or cel, each worth about 2 dollars. All told, he makes less than 1,000 dollars a month. This is home, one room, no shower, no air-conditioning. Nobuki says he avoids drinking water so as not to sweat and he is not the only one feeling the heat.

Since its peak in 2006, animation earnings⁵ have dropped off. Industry expert Yasuo Yamaguchi says the recession has caught advertising⁶. That's meant less money for new programs. Even worse is Internet piracy⁷.

"The spread of free Internet downloading is having a deadly effect", he says.

Toei Animation Studio has produced some of Japan's best-known TV shows and movies. It's here they are hand drawn⁸, digitalized and colored. Though much of what they produce is for kids, the work is strictly⁹ for grown-ups.

"If you're thinking of doing this job just because you love drawing", says this animator, "that is a hobby. You'd better think of doing something else."

So what do you do if you are a talented young artist, but you haven't yet figured out how to make a living from it? Well, one option is to come here, the Tokyo Animator School, basically, a vocational school for those who wanna work in the animation industry.

These students are learning both key and in-between animation. Some will become relatively¹⁰ well-off key animators. Most will get low paid in-between work.

"Because there are always people quitting," says the school's director, "there are always hirings."

Nobuki says he's often thought of quitting. Marriage and a family are out of the question with what he earns. But for now, he'll keep at it. If there's anything the job's taught him, it's patience.

Morgan Neill, CNN, Tokyo.

1 eking   

v.（靠节省用量）使…的供应持久( eke的现在分词 )；节约使用；竭力维持生计；勉强度日

参考例句：

• He was eking out an existence on a few francs a day. 他每天就靠几法郎勉强度日。 来自辞典例句
• She is eking out her income by working in the evenings. 她在晚上工作以增加收入。 来自辞典例句

2 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

3 painstakingly   

adv. 费力地 苦心地

参考例句：

• Every aspect of the original has been closely studied and painstakingly reconstructed. 原作的每一细节都经过了仔细研究，费尽苦心才得以重现。
• The cause they contrived so painstakingly also ended in failure. 他们惨淡经营的事业也以失败而告终。

4 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

5 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

6 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

7 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

8 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

9 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

10 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。