http://robot-envy.com/2015/05/artist-interview-thomas-romain-of-satelight/ "We caught up with Thomas Romain(@Thomasintokyo), and he was kind enough to give us some time for an interview. For those of you who may not know, Thomas is a Tokyo-based French animation creator who graduated from Gobelins l’Ecole de l’Image in 2002. After having co-created the anime-inspired show Code Lyoko, he moved to Japan to co-direct the French-Japanese TV series Oban Star-racers (2006). His work caught the eyes of Shoji Kawamori who offered him to become a key member of Satelight, the animation studio. Together, they co-developed an original TV animated series, Basquash! (2009). From then, he formed a team of French creators to handle the design works of various titles including Aquarion EVOL, Bodacious Space Pirates, Croisée in a Foreign Labyrinth, AKB0048, Symphogear etc… More recently he designed the spaceships of Space Dandy which made his name widely known." "What motivated you to move to Japan? There are several reasons that brought me to this life-changing decision. First, I was really into japanese anime during the late 90’s. Such awesome shows like Cowboy Bebop or Evangelion completely blew my minds. Movies like Ghost in the shell or the Ghibli masterpieces too. At the same time, the shows produced in France were dull, and the quality very low. I couldn’t picture myself working in France, I wanted something more exciting for my career. I knew that it would be difficult, but you know, you only live once, so if you have a dream, just go for it. At least you should give it a try. That’s what I thought and eventually did." "What is your workspace like? http://robot-envy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/work-space.jpg" "You have been very adamant about the need for better conditions and pay for animators in Japan. Is there a need for new animators? Any insights to the problem? It was really a shock at first, when we heard about the working conditions and the salaries of the animation workers in Japan. Compared to the Europe or the USA, it is much harder to have a proper living while working as animator or any other animation production related staff. But the most surprising is that almost nobody complains about it. The studios have no other choice but to accept to work within the limited budgets allowed by their clients, so they cannot raise the salaries of the workers. And the animators are used to those conditions, from the moment they choose this path. It’s a job they do because they like it, not because of the money. I do not see the change coming. It is the same since the beginning of TV animation, in the 60’s. It’s sad to see all those very talented people living very modest lives. Most of the people cannot afford to travel or even to have kids. They are completely dedicated to animation. I mean, it’s good to be completely dedicated to your job it it’s that you like the most, but I think that they deserve better conditions to have better lives. After all, Japanese animation is so popular around the world, isn’t it weird that some of the workers earn less than the fleeters who flip burgers in fast food chains?"