Creator Reward Pool
How Oshi's Creator Reward Pool directly compensates individual animators, directors, and production staff — and why the anime industry needs it.
The Creator Reward Pool is Oshi's system for ensuring the individual creators behind an anime — directors, animators, designers, writers — receive ongoing compensation and recognition beyond their standard production fees.
This is the first program of its kind in anime.
Why this exists
Anime is a global industry worth billions. But the people who actually make it — the animators drawing thousands of frames, the directors shaping every scene, the designers creating characters that millions of fans love — often don't share in that success.
Here's how it typically works: a production committee funds an anime. The animation studio receives a production fee to make it. Within that budget, individual creators are paid for their work, usually on a per-cut or per-episode basis. When the anime airs and becomes a hit, the production committee members benefit from streaming deals, merchandise licensing, and distribution revenue. The studio may receive additional fees. But the individual animator who drew the key scene everyone screenshots? The episode director who made that one episode everyone talks about? They were paid months ago and moved on to the next project.
That's the standard model. It's how most anime you've watched was made.
It also means the industry is fragile. Studios operate on thin margins. When a studio struggles or closes, the creators who built its legacy are the first to feel it. The craft survives because talented people keep choosing to do this work despite the economics.
Oshi exists to change that equation.
What the Creator Reward Pool does
For GATE 2, Oshi has established a Creator Reward Pool funded by a portion of campaign contributions. It works on two levels:
A minimum bonus for every eligible creator. Regardless of how the anime performs, every verified creator in an eligible role receives direct compensation from the campaign. This is guaranteed from the moment fans participate.
Ongoing distributions tied to the anime's success. Beyond the minimum, creators receive additional distributions based on streaming and licensing milestones for up to five years after the anime's premiere. The better the anime does, the more creators receive.
This means the people who made the anime share in its long-term success — not just the companies that funded it.
Who receives distributions
Individual creators who work on GATE 2 in eligible roles receive distributions directly. This isn't a payment to a studio or production company. Each eligible creator creates a personal creator account on Oshi and is verified before receiving any distributions.
Eligible roles for GATE 2
Director
Assistant Director
Episode Directors
Animation Directors
Key Animators
Lead Script Writer
Character Designer
Line Producers
These are the people whose craft defines what GATE 2 looks and feels like. The Creator Reward Pool ensures their work is recognized not just during production, but for years after.
How fans make this possible
The Creator Reward Pool is funded by a portion of campaign contributions. That means every fan who participates is directly supporting the creators behind the anime.
This isn't charity. It's a structural choice: Oshi believes the people who make anime should share in its success, and fans are the ones who make that possible.
The more the community grows, the larger the Creator Reward Pool becomes. More participants means more recognition for creators — not just for GATE 2, but as proof that this model works for the entire industry.
What makes this different
[GRAPHIC: Traditional model vs Oshi model — side by side comparison]
Traditional anime production: Creators are paid during production. When the anime becomes a hit, revenue flows to production committee members. Individual creators don't participate in the upside.
With the Creator Reward Pool: Creators are paid during production AND receive ongoing distributions tied to the anime's performance. For up to five years. Directly to them, not their studio.
No other anime platform, streaming service, or production model does this. Crunchyroll doesn't do it. Funimation didn't do it. Studio contracts don't include it. The Creator Reward Pool is the first system that connects fan participation to individual creator compensation in anime.
Why this matters beyond GATE 2
GATE 2 is the first anime to use the Creator Reward Pool. But the goal is bigger than one project.
If this model proves that fans will show up to directly support the people who make anime — not just consume the finished product — it changes the conversation for every future production. Studios can point to it. Creators can ask for it. Fans can expect it.
Oshi is building this as infrastructure, not a one-time gesture. Every future campaign on the platform can include a Creator Reward Pool, creating a new standard where the people who pour their craft into anime are recognized for years, not forgotten after delivery.
The anime industry has always run on passion. The Creator Reward Pool is designed to make sure that passion is rewarded.
Transparency
Creator Reward Pool distributions will be tracked on the Oshi platform. Fans will be able to see how the pool grows as the community expands and as the anime reaches audiences worldwide.
We believe fans who support creators deserve to see that their participation made a difference.
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