Anime Is Rapidly Growing on Netflix with Staggering Viewing Numbers

Streaming services have spent recent years exploring every possible avenue to keep subscribers engaged, testing various genres, formats, and international content in search of the next big hit. Among these efforts, one genre has been quietly gaining significant traction.

Netflix has increasingly embraced Japanese animation, expanding its offerings with popular titles like ‘Blue Eye Samurai’ and ‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners,’ along with its live-action adaptation of ‘One Piece’ and the anticipated ‘Bass X Machina.’ This strategic investment seems to be yielding results that may even surprise the platform’s executives.

A recent report from Media Partners Asia (MPA), titled “The Anime Economy,” indicates that anime viewership on Netflix has surged at nearly ten times the rate of the platform’s overall viewing over the last three years. The report reveals that Japanese anime viewing hours jumped from 3.33 billion in the first half of 2023 to 4.64 billion in the same period this year, marking a 39% increase, while Netflix’s total viewing grew by just 4.5% during that time.

This growth has significantly altered anime’s presence within Netflix’s library. The genre’s share of total viewing hours on the platform rose from 3.6% to 4.75% over the same three years, a seemingly small increase that actually reflects a substantial growth trajectory compared to other content.

Looking at the wider Asian streaming market, the MPA report found that anime has the highest monthly reach of any genre in the region, with between 31% and 47% of premium video-on-demand users across eight markets watching anime each month, compared to an average of 26% to 34% for the other seven main genres tracked. In Japan, this figure is even higher, with 45% to 59% of premium VoD users engaging with anime monthly.

Within Japan, the competitive landscape has narrowed significantly. The report describes the market as essentially a “two-horse race” between Netflix and Prime Video, both of which command over 40% of the overall anime viewership share. YouTube also remains a strong contender, reaching an estimated 70 million monthly viewers in Japan alone, according to the report.

MPA projects that global anime spending will grow by approximately 10% annually through 2030, primarily driven by markets in Asia outside Japan and North America. The report notes that this growth will likely concentrate among a smaller group of franchise owners, studio groups, and platforms, rather than being evenly distributed across the industry.

Vivek Couto, MPA’s CEO and executive director, emphasized the report’s findings as a pivotal moment for the industry’s perspective on anime’s future. “Anime’s scale is established; the question is where the next growth comes from and who captures it,” Couto stated in comments included in the Variety coverage of the report. He highlighted streaming’s expansion into new global markets, repeatable theatrical events like ‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle,’ and games and merchandise that extend franchises beyond the screen as key drivers of future growth.

The report also pointed out Sony, which owns Crunchyroll, Aniplex, Sony Pictures, and Sony Music, as the only company currently operating what MPA refers to as an “end-to-end anime stack,” encompassing production, distribution, and monetization under one roof. This positioning could be crucial as more platforms and Japanese IP groups shift towards owning franchises outright instead of merely licensing them.

What was once viewed as a niche category has undeniably established itself as a significant driver of streaming engagement, and Netflix’s figures highlight this transformation. With ongoing investment from major platforms and increasing international demand, anime’s momentum shows no signs of slowing down.

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