Viewing to anime on Netflix has rocketed at almost 10 times the rate of the streamer’s total viewing numbers over the past three years.
A Media Partners Asia (MPA) report into anime shone a spotlight on audiences’ love for the genre on the U.S. streaming behemoth, which has anime hits like Blue Eye Samurai, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and the upcoming Bass X Machina,along with its live action adaptation of One Piece.
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According to MPA’s The Anime Economyreport, views to Japanese anime rose from 3.33 billion hours in the first half of 2023 to 4.64 billion during the first half of this year, up 39% against 4.5% for total viewing, and from 3.6% to 4.75% of all Netflix hours. These figures were taken from Netflix’s bi-annual What We Watchedreports.
When it comes to anime in Asia, MPA said Netflix now carries half the region’s anime across eight markets. And zooming in on the home of anime, Japan, the landscape is now a “two-horse race” between Netflix and Prime Video, which both have more than 40% of overall anime.
The genre has flown into the mainstream in recent years points at this year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival
MPA’s Anime Economyfound the genre to be in rude health, claiming it hits the highest monthly reach of any genre on Asian streaming, with 31–47% of premium VoD users across eight markets watching anime in any given month compared to a 26-34% average for the seven other main genres.
With YouTube also big into anime – it reaches 70 million monthly viewers in Japan, according to today’s report – the MPA now expects global anime spend to rise by around 10% per year to 2030 led by Asia (excluding Japan) and North America, “with growth concentrating among a handful of franchise owners, studio groups and platforms.”
“The next 24 months will determine how the financing of new anime is shared between global platforms and Japanese IP groups,” it added, pointing to main players like Aniplex, Sony, TOHO and Toei Animation. Sony, the report said, has built the only “end-to-end anime stack” across Crunchyroll, Aniplex, Sony Pictures and Sony Music.
“Anime’s scale is established; the question is where the next growth comes from and who captures it,” said MPA CEO Vivek Couto. “The catalysts are streaming pushing deeper into new markets globally, theatrical events on the scale ofInfinity Castle becoming repeatable, and games and merchandise carrying franchises well beyond the screen. The direction is toward ownership: platforms financing production directly, Japanese IP groups buying studios, and the two learning to work together.”
