COVID-19 Halts Anime Industry’s Growth For The First Time In A Decade

The Affiliation of Japanese Animations (AJA) revealed the Anime Business Report 2021 (English model) on March 26, 2022, which famous that the expansion of Japan’s anime business market had seen a decline for the primary time in ten years because of the results of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response to the report, which compiles information from the yr 2020, the anime business market reached a complete of two.426 trillion yen (roughly USD19.6 billion) within the yr 2020, which is round 88.4 billion yen, or 3.5 p.c, much less from the earlier yr.

Although the market declined in 2020, the Anime Business Report 2021 famous that the demand for anime had truly gone up. In response to the survey carried out, the variety of titles and the studios which might be producing these titles have gone up, with the expansion of streaming business taking part in a component on this rise in demand.

The rise in demand can be rising the manufacturing prices. Whereas the studios anticipated the earnings to extend together with the rise in calls for, the report famous that the earnings had been truly reducing.

The report additional famous that the earnings and revenues of the anime business had been primarily affected on account of delays, regardless of a robust demand for the content material. The shortage of latest titles tended to lower revenues not simply from the home market, but in addition from streaming and different segments.

“A lot of the titles had their schedules delayed. We had been unable to arrange for subsequent yr’s titles, so these schedules had been delayed as effectively,” a remark from the survey carried out by AJA mentioned.

The lack of 3.5 p.c means that the anime business was not overly affected by the pandemic. Nonetheless, the injury was solely mitigated because of the success of Demon Slayer: Mugen Prepare film and the expansion in streaming and worldwide segments of the anime business.

The worldwide phase, which makes up half of the market share of the anime business, recorded a revenue of 1.239 trillion yen, rising 3.2 p.c from the earlier yr. The earnings from worldwide markets in 2020 overtook that of the home market, whose earnings dipped to 1.186 trillion yen, falling 9.7 p.c from the earlier yr.

The expansion was seen not simply in revenues, but in addition within the variety of titles that had been licensed internationally, which went as much as 16,361 in 2020 from 3,822 in 2019. United States led the pack with 474 contracts signed, adopted by Canada and South Korea who had 450 and 334 contracts signed. The AJA survey came upon that 28 corporations in Japan at present had signed worldwide contracts, for licensing their titles, up from 16 within the earlier yr.

Whereas earlier traits had urged that the worldwide market would overtake the home markets, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic made the predictions come true.

2020 additionally noticed a decline within the revenues from TV anime, a mainstay in home Japanese anime business market. Alternatively, there was a steep rise within the revenues generated from home anime streaming, reaching 93.5 billion yen, a 35.8 p.c enhance.

The change has been attributed to the rise in keep at dwelling crowd, because of the pandemic. Nonetheless, the report states that there could possibly be a rise within the TV anime phase as soon as the impact of pandemic wears off.

Whereas the home anime streaming phase reported a big income enhance, the anime manufacturing corporations themselves earned much less from the streaming phase. It noticed a drop of 11.6 p.c, incomes 19.1 billion yen in 2020.

The streaming phase had already left behind the house video phase of the anime business in 2018 itself.

The merchandise phase, which made up 25 p.c of the business’s market share, additionally recorded a lack of simply 0.8 p.c, protecting the general decline of the business in verify.

The anime film business was anticipated to be the worst hit of all of the segments of the anime business market on account of pandemic shutting down theatres and limitations put in place for giant gatherings of individuals. However the unprecedent efficiency of Demon Slayer: Mugen Prepare film made 2020 the third highest grossing yr within the historical past because it earned 61.7 billion yen.

2019 had recorded the very best gross income in historical past of anime film business, because it earned 69.1 billion yen that yr.

Supply: AJA Anime Business Report 2021.