@animenomics.com
Animenomics shares insights on the business and market forces driving the anime and manga industries in Japan and around the world. 🗞️ Newsletter: https://news.animenomics.com/ 📧 Contact: editors@animenomics.com
Japan's anime rightsholders are shifting away from film distributors like Toho and Shochiku and building their own systems for distributing anime films domestically to retain a bigger share of box office earnings.
Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.
For @icv2.com's manga week coverage this year, I explain the numbers behind Japan's shrinking domestic manga market, plus their implications on Japanese publishers' and U.S. comics retailers' businesses for the year ahead.
Japan's domestic manga market shrank by 1.7% in 2025, the first decline in eight years, amid stalling digital sales growth and an accelerating tumble in print sales. Full-year sales were estimated at ¥693 billion (US$4.4 billion).
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TV Asahi plans to double its anime production capacity by 2030 as the commercial broadcaster best known for classic titles like Doraemon and Crayon Shin-chan seeks to transform into a business that focuses on IP creation.
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Sony Music Entertainment Japan has named Aniplex president Atsuhiro Iwakami as its incoming president and chief executive officer, a sign of the anime production planning company's growing influence in the Sony Music Group.
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Sales of counterfeit anime and other character products caused US$30 billion in estimated financial damages in 2025. It was the first measure of the impact of piracy on the market for Japanese entertainment merchandise.
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Japan sales of print manga volumes in 2025 saw their biggest drop since 2022. Digital manga also had its slowest growth rate on record in the second half, a sign that digital manga's growth is coming to an end sooner rather than later.
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Anime films' recent successes in North America are enticing Japanese film distributor Gaga to enter direct distribution of anime films in the region, starting with a movie from the mobile game "Umamusume: Pretty Derby".
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Japan's antitrust regulator is preparing guidelines to regulate how anime production committees, studios, and streamers negotiate and share information after an inquiry into labor practices in the industry highlighted structural issues.
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Link-U Technologies, which built digital manga platforms like Shueisha's MANGA Plus and Square Enix's Manga UP!, is pursuing AI-driven manga app development as the digital manga market undergoes a shift in Japan and abroad.
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Toho is elevating its United Kingdom subsidiary into a European regional headquarters, with the film distribution and production giant also buying Glasgow-based anime distributor @alltheanime.com from Embracer Group's Plaion Pictures.
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Japan's US$1.3 billion manga app market stands to benefit from a new law forcing Apple and Google to allow app developers to direct users to external stores in order to pay for purchases, bypassing app store fees that cut into revenue.
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Warner Bros. has spent the last 20 years investing in anime, including leading production committees for "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" and "Record of Ragnarok", but a possible sale of the company could impact its expansive anime portfolio.
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The Japan Times interviewed Animenomics editor @rhandjaja.bsky.social about the implications of the latest political spat between China and Japan on the anime industry.
Japan's user-generated web novel platforms have become a growing source of original stories to be adapted into manga, anime, and film, but their operators are contending with a rise in submitted works that are generated by AI.
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CyberAgent has designated the head of its anime and IP business division as the company's next chief executive officer, reflecting its shift from digital advertising as a core business to entertainment in the last five years.
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Kadokawa is writing down the financial value of its nearly ¥3 billion acquisition of anime studio Doga Kobo as the publisher moves to integrate back-office operations and improve profitability across its seven anime studio subsidiaries.
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Overseas revenues of Japan's anime industry saw the third consecutive year of double-digit growth in 2024, according to the Association of Japanese Animations, but there is concern at home that anime's domestic market is stagnating.
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Here is a link to the newsletter issue that contains the nominated story.
18th National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards FINALIST Online Content - Business, Tech/Design/Arts Screenshot of an Animenomics article titled "Tariff threats loom over U.S. anime merch imports" and a circular logo of the Los Angeles Press Club are included.
Animenomics has been named as a finalist in the Los Angeles Press Club's National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards.
We are nominated for a story published in February about how the end of de minimis duty exemptions affects imports of anime merchandise into the United States.
Japan's new conservative government under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has signaled new emphasis on supporting exports of the country's entertainment content, such as anime, manga, and video games.
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New York-based anime film distributor GKIDS, which was acquired by film giant Toho last year, plans to invest in more anime co-productions in order to further grow the North American anime market.
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Japan's wholesale trading conglomerates are paving the way for anime, manga, and video game companies to enter the retail merchandising market around the world thanks to their experience in overseas business development.
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Anime rightsholders frustrated with what they view as inadequate safeguards against unauthorized use of intellectual property have forced OpenAI to restrict Sora users' ability to generate videos of specific anime characters by name.
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Crunchyroll is reentering digital manga distribution in the United States and Canada with a new platform built by Japanese manga application development pioneer Link-U Group.
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Japanese amusement giant Genda is taking control of its North American business and consolidating 14 subsidiaries, showing confidence in local demand for entertainment experiences like Kiddleton claw machines with anime-themed prizes.
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Anime cafes are popping up throughout Southeast Asia, where anime fans say they view brands more favorably when anime-inspired products are offered.
Read this story by Jakarta-based correspondent Yohana Belinda.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle's first anime film opened in 49 territories last weekend and topped multiple box office charts worldwide, including in North America, with IMAX screens making significant contributions to ticket sales.
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This is up next!
twitch.tv/animelockdown
Animenomics: How the Anime Industry Works, Anime Lockdown, September 13, 2025, 2:30 p.m. ET (UTC−04:00), twitch.tv/animelockdown
Animenomics will present a current overview of how the anime industry works this Saturday, September 13, as part of @animelockdown.bsky.social programming on twitch.tv/animelockdown.
Join us to learn about anime studio financials, anime production committees, and more!