Toei(东映) Animation Studio has produced some of Japan's best-known TV shows and movies. It's here they are hand drawn, digitalized and colored. Though much of what they produce is for kids, the work is strictly for grown-ups.
"If you're thinking of doing this job just because you love drawing", says this animator, "that is a hobby, you'd better think of doing something else".
So what do you do if you are a talented young artist, but you haven't yet figured out how to make a living from it? Well, one option is to come here, the Tokyo Animator School, basically, a vocational school for those who wanna work in the animation industry.
These students are learning both key and in-between animation. Some will become relatively well-off key animators, most will get low paid in-between work.
"Because there are always people quitting," says the school's director, "they are always hiring."
Nobuki says he's often thought of quitting. Marriage and a family are out of the question with what he earns. But for now, he'll keep at it. If there's anything the job's taught him, it's patience.
Morgan Neill, cnn, Tokyo.