In my last spring at the University of the Arts London (UAL), I poured all my energy into a race against time – to catch final spring at the University of the Arts London (UAL), I poured all my energy into a race against time. To catch the last train of school recruitment for domestic game companies, I started a three-month job-the last train of school recruitment for domestic game companies, I started a three-month job-hunting battle. This metamorphosis from idealism to rational cognition not only reshaped my career perception but also uncovered the cruel laws of survival in the game animation industry.

In order to start my job in August, I prepared my portfolio and CV during April. In my portfolio, I focused on my four previous 2D animation works and added some 2D animation and stop-motion exercises that I completed during my time at UAL. I also expanded on some Live2D exercises. As for my CV, I listed on it that I am familiar with AE/PR/CSP/TVPaint and other software. And described my three internships in detail.

So I submitted my CV and portfolio to Miha Games in April. After two weeks of hard waiting, I still didn’t make it through Miha Games’ school recruitment. So I did some research on Miha Games’ recruitment requirements. According to Miha Tour’s 2023 recruitment data, the hiring rate of candidates with experience in animation creation, engine-oriented work, and training background in Japanese animation studios was 67% higher than the average. So, candidates should present the company’s main game style creation in the portfolio, highlighting the ‘technical implementation capabilities’, showing the complete closed-loop ability from design to implementation. But this is exactly what I did not show in my portfolio and CV.

And Miha Tour Company’s animation positions as well as very saturated, so the demand for students majoring in animation is not very large, because I found in the research after that Miha Tour Company’s ‘Genshin Impact’, ‘Honkai: Star Rail’ and other games of 2D animation CG and character animation are another animation film and television company, Big Firebird Studios, contracted to produce on behalf of the company. This discovery completely reversed my strategic direction. By backtracking the list of animation production for ‘Genshin Impact’, I was able to pinpoint its long-term collaborator, Great Firebird Culture. This animation company, established in Guangzhou, not only undertook the production of the opening CG of Honkai: Star Rail, but is also the royal supplier for several secondary games such as Girls’ Frontier and Beyblade Line. So I’ve decided to try my hand at submitting my CV to this big Firebird studio again in July. This time, I will continue to improve my CV and portfolio to be well prepared.