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Paper short abstract

This paper analyzes the Trace Machine technology that reshaped Japanese animation production between the 1960s to the ‘90s. By effecting workflows, labour hierarchies, and drawing practices, this invention contributed to the establishment of stylistic conventions and production culture within anime.

Paper long abstract

The invention and widespread adoption of the Trace Machine in Japan fundamentally transformed both the stylistic and production cultures of Japanese animation from the early 1960s through the 1990s. Comparable to the introduction of Xerox-based copying processes in the United States, the Trace Machine constituted a significant technological shift that reconfigured animation workflows, labour organization, and visual style within the Japanese animation industry. Analyzing this earlier period of technological change offers a historically grounded perspective on how Japanese animation studios negotiated copying technologies and integrated them into production workflows.

Drawing on Renato Barilli’s theory of Technomorphism, which posits that artistic style materializes the logic of contemporary technologies (2012: 20), this study demonstrates how the material constraints and affordances of the Trace Machine became embedded in anime style and studio practices. As a Japanese counterpart to American Xerox-based animation copying technologies, the Trace Machine significantly altered the process of transferring drawings onto cels, increasing production speed, reducing costs, and reshaping animation style. For instance, during the production of Star of the Giants (1968), animators created darker, more consistent lines to ensure reliable cel transfer. This technical application contributed to the normalization of black linework, a visual feature now recognized in anime.

The adoption of the Trace Machine coincided with broader changes in studio organization and labour structures. Production workflows developed in the 1960s reinforced hierarchical divisions within studios, particularly in departments such as shiage, responsible for finishing. These tasks were increasingly outsourced to overseas contractors and assigned to part-time workers, illustrating how copying technology facilitated both industrial expansion and labour stratification (Lewis, 2018).

Drawing on archival research and qualitative interviews with industry practitioners and researchers, this paper reconstructs the role of the Trace Machine as a technology that reshaped production timelines, labour relations, and the stylization of anime. By foregrounding copying technology as a historical insight, the study demonstrates how technological change is contested, adapted, and ultimately aestheticized within Japanese creative industries. This historical perspective remains relevant to contemporary discussions of technological disruption, including debates concerning artificial intelligence in the anime industry.