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Many anime studios in recent years have thrown in the towel despite having high levels of skill at their profession. It is repeatedly mentioned here that the reason animators are paid low is due to their abundance versus the demand, and that is certainly one reason of many. But another big reason is that it is strenuous work for which there really isn't that much pay out.

The NYTimes article flaunts a $24 billion market figure, but this figure would be the few big names (Naruto, One Piece, DBZ) and those series are making money off of physical product sales and licensing deals. The anime, at the end of the day, is not the product - it's just a commercial for the product. Every so often, studios experiment with original anime, sometimes sponsored by various other companies, but these rarely turn out to be financially fruitful and primarily end up again as advertisements or a test of some new technique or technology.