What Are The Best Career Paths For An Otaku?

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Doing what you love the most and earning from it is the biggest dream of people nowadays. But when you start telling others that you want to make money out of anime and games, you would probably get heckled or meet some raised eyebrows for what they thought to be a childish and reckless plan.

But times have changed, and those who have not heard of gamer vloggers must have slept for eons under their prehistoric rock. Many stories here and there have proven that an otaku could thrive and build an empire out of anime, games, and going geek.

Don't bother yourself about these detractors. Yes, we heard them before, but times have changed, and we all know that the geek niche is a profitable corner hardworking individual could tap into and be successful. For as long as you continue to hone your skills and you spent your time wisely, you'll become a successful otaku.

So, if you want to emancipate yourself from the traffic and toxic corporate work, try something you'll love. For anime lovers, manga readers, and gamers, take time to read as we uncover the unorthodox career path for otakus, which we believe would become the norm in the years to come.

Top career paths for an otaku

1. Animator

One who's responsible for making more generations of otaku, animators are essential to the anime industry. Thanks to their talent, we get to enjoy epic stories in the manga and anime. Animators also help develop a live film and a fantastic game, and through the years of amazing animation releases, we have to admit that we won't enjoy this world without them.

The average annual income of animators is around $9400 to $12000. Freelance workers may earn more than this amount if they accept many projects. To become one, start enhancing your talent by illustrating and eventually improve your skills by learning new software tools for animation.


2. A Professional Cosplayer

Cosplayer

A decade ago, people would dress up to look like an anime character for fun. But when social media and vlogging blossomed, cosplayers now make a hefty amount of money through streaming ads, commissions, and sponsorship.

Apart from getting hired by a brand for regular promotion, a professional cosplayer may do a variety of side businesses such as hosting, selling prints, Google AdSense, and Facebook gaming for those who cosplay and play games at the same time.

Other professional cosplayers have the talent to craft their costumes. The earlier generations had very limited resources that they were forced into some DIY projects before a con-con. Some of these guys realized that they could do business out of it, so they decided to put up a rental shop of wigs and anime costumes.


3. Custom Graphic Animator

One may need to complete a degree in multimedia, animation, art/design’ games design and development, and information technology to become a CG animator.  But if you're a self-made animator who taught yourself of the basics, tools to use, and professional techniques, you need to show your abilities so that you could land a freelance project.

An exclusively employed CG animator pockets around $22,000 every year. Freelancers may earn more depending on the workload that they're taking in. A CG artist creates 2D and 3D assets for a variety of platforms, and if you're up to the challenge, consider planning to make that career switch!


5. A Content Creator About Otaku Culture, Anime, and Gaming

Content streaming movies

Some geek personalities and anime websites earn thousands of dollars every month out of creating content and publishing them through their channels. Writing articles about anime, creating Facebook videos, and playing while live on cam may turn to a steady stream of income due to ads, fan contributions, and sponsors.

Some fan pages blog about anime merchandise and promote items from online shops and giant retail stores like Amazon. This money-making system is called affiliate marketing, where sites earn a percentage for every sold item purchased by their site visitor.


6. An Integral Part of the Anime Production Team

You might want to be a part of the film or series production team. The duties may revolve around originating program ideas, finding contributors, writing scripts, planning, ensuring safety, leading the crew, directing contributors and presenters, and working with an editor to assemble the creation of the final product in public. The job may be stressful, but it's worth it.

Usually, people who enter the industry begin as a production assistant. After they familiarized themselves with the ins and outs of the operation, they can try stepping up to become an episode or a series director, which earns around $30,000 annually.

Voice actors, on the other hand, acquire more significant sums of money, with many of them earning around $666,000 per year. So if you can mimic the silly voice of One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy or the typical perky noise a Shonen protagonist makes, maybe it's time to join your first audition.

 

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