Budgeting: An Animation Dilemma

By: Axel Rivas

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We are currently climbing up to the climax of many amazing media adaptations. If you are a fan of comics or manga, you are definitely hearing the hype of 2 shows that are releasing their very anticipated stories weekly: Jujutsu Kaisen and Invincible. Both shows feature intense fights, magical powers, and very in-depth, jaw-dropping storytelling. I highly recommend getting into these shows, even if you aren’t into anime or superheroes, and a graphic content advisory for Invincible, as it can be a bit over the top with its violent fight scenes; otherwise, it’s the peak of the mountain. But between the 2 fan-bases, there lies an argument questioning the budget of both shows and the quality of animation

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 has been acknowledged for its high-tier animation and visuals, and as it finally finished with Episode 12, “Sendai Colony”, it has a rating of 9.9/10 on IMDb. The budget per episode is $150k, which is for voice actors, animation, storyboarding, and advertising. Now, if we look at Invincible’s budget of 2.5 million dollars, and look at the quality they offer in the animation, you can tell that a big portion of the budget is going towards something else instead of the animation itself. One complaint from many fans is the unnecessary  A/B tier celebrities they hire to voice characters, and many think it’s unfair to the animation and to people who would love to work on the voicing team. Jujutsu Kaisen's original and dubbed versions both feature phenomenal voice actors, and its animation would make you think why more money was put into the show, but compared to Invincible, it just doesn’t make sense in plain sight. 

The truth is, both shows are narratively driven by different factors. Both shows have different art styles, and the focus of the shows' art directors is aimed at driving different narratives. Invincible relies on storytelling rather than visuals itself; Jujutsu Kaisen focuses on its fighting visuals to drive the story forward. These shows are dominating the fiction side of the internet, and it’s only getting started as both studios are ramping up their skills after constant criticism from the fans themselves.