Found out my favorite anime from 2008 only had a $2 million budget

I was reading through some old production notes on a Sakuga blog last night, just looking for background on a fight scene from Gurren Lagann. Turned out that whole series was made for roughly 2 million dollars total, which is nothing compared to what shows cost today. The article mentioned that modern seasonal anime can run 8-12 million per 12 episodes, sometimes more. It really surprised me how much the industry has changed in terms of funding and expectations. I remember when that show first aired and everyone was blown away by the animation quality. Now I wonder if we put too much pressure on studios to spend big instead of working with constraints. Has anyone else stumbled across a budget figure that made you rethink how a show was made?

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mila_mitchell2mo ago

Wait, does that mean studios are worse with money now or inflation just hit that hard?

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paige8702mo ago

So are studios just blowing bigger budgets on flashy effects now, or is the cost of actually paying animators a living wage what's driving up the numbers?

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