70% of manga sales in Japan are now digital
Plus: McDonald's embraces anime identity; Crunchyroll adds more smart TV support; Disney doubles down on anime content; Machi Asobi event cancelled; and more
This is the weekly newsletter of Animenomics, covering the business of anime and manga. Today is Wednesday, February 28, 2024.
Situational awareness: Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock market index hit a record high last week after nearly 35 years, sparking nostalgia for the country’s bubble era.
Rewind: At the beginning of the current upward trend 10 years ago, The Wall Street Journal showed us how Japanese companies used anime mascots to encourage investing in stocks.
Manga market accelerates digital shift after pandemic
Japan’s domestic manga market grew for a sixth consecutive year last year, but at a much slower rate than before, according to the latest annual data published by the Research Institute for Publications.
Why it matters: A slowdown in print manga sales as COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions ended is suppressing the overall market even as digital manga grows.
By the numbers: Print and digital manga sales combined grew 2.5 percent in 2023 to nearly ¥694 billion (US$4.61 billion), with manga now taking up a 43.5-percent share in the entire publications market.
Print manga sales overall fell 8 percent year-over-year, while digital manga sales rose 7.8 percent, as reported by Animenomics last month.
Digital manga now account for 70 percent of all manga sales, doubling market share in just seven years.
Zoom in: Publishers are shifting the serialization of many manga titles to digital apps as manga magazine sales fell 8.2 percent.
Last week, Futabasha published the final issue of Monthly Action magazine, which serialized popular titles like Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid and Orange.
What we’re watching: Manga’s growth will undoubtedly come with more anime and television drama adaptations and more demand for writers.
Screen adaptations can especially put pressure on manga creators to sign unfavorable contracts, and avoiding a tragedy like the death of manga artist Hinako Ashihara is vital, a Nikkei editorial writes.
McDonald’s brings its anime restaurant identity to life
McDonald’s is the latest brand in the United States to lean into anime and manga aesthetics as it launches a tongue-in-cheek campaign under the WcDonald’s name, a nod to how the fast food chain is commonly referenced in works of anime.
Why it matters: Anime’s outsized influence on Gen Z culture in the United States is prompting consumer brands to embrace anime to win new customers.
McDonald’s isn’t the only fast food restaurant to use anime imagery. KFC commissioned an anime-style dating simulation game in 2019.
The details: As part of the campaign, WcDonald’s packaging for Chicken McNuggets and dipping sauce will be be available at retail locations.
McDonald’s partnered with anime studio Pierrot to create a four-episode anime series, with each episode doubling as a television commercial.
Packaging will also feature illustrations by manga artist and former DC Comics illustrator Acky Bright.
How it happened: Ad Age reports the campaign is an effort led by New York City-based creative agency Wieden+Kennedy, which has helped push a shift in the McDonald’s brand voice in recent years.
“We think about ourselves in a very self-deprecating way,” McDonald’s vice president of U.S. marketing Jennifer Healan told the Marketing Brew annual summit in 2022. “We actually have a little fun with ourselves, and there’s a sense of wit and charm to it as well.”
Last year, the agency helped create the fast food chain’s As Featured In Meals campaign that included the anime The Devil Is a Part-Timer!
Clippings: Crunchyroll launches on LG smart televisions
LG Electronics launched the Crunchyroll app on its smart television sets made in 2018 and beyond on Friday, just weeks after the app launched for Samsung smart televisions. (Press release)
As previously reported by Animenomics, Samsung Tizen Smart Hub and LG WebOS were the two most popular smart television operating systems that didn’t support Crunchyroll until last month.
Go deeper: The Verge interviews Crunchyroll president Rahul Purini on the merger with Funimation.
Webtoon app Kakao Piccoma, a subsidiary of the South Korean web service giant Kakao, was Japan’s highest-earning smartphone app service operator last year, earning more than ¥100 billion (US$665 million). (Aju Korea Daily)
Girls’ manga pioneer Moto Hagio was inducted as the first female manga artist member of the Japan Art Academy, the country’s highest-ranking official artistic organization. (Animation Business Journal)
Disney doubles down on anime and Korean content
“Time has validated our early belief that we would get the most value from focusing our resources on Korean live-action and Japanese anime. This is fairly well known in the industry now — these are the categories that are traveling.”
— Luke Kang, The Walt Disney Company president of Asia Pacific
Context: The Hollywood Reporter interviewed Kang this month about Disney’s streaming strategy in Asia Pacific.
Kang told THR’s Asia bureau chief Patrick Brzeski that Japanese content has the potential to become dominant again in Asia as it did 30 years ago, but labor shortage remains an issue.
“One of the things that happened in Korea was that as the industry grew and became more popular overseas, more young talent came in,” Kang said. “That hasn’t happened in Japan yet.”
Zoom out: Disney senior manager of English dubbing Reuben Lack signaled this month on X (or Twitter) that more anime titles are coming to both Disney+ and Hulu streaming platforms as he opened demo submissions for new dubbing talent.
Last year’s dystopian anime series Heavenly Delusion, which aired on Disney+ worldwide and on Hulu in the United States, was a hit among subscribers.
Machi Asobi cancellation questioned by anime industry
Tokushima Prefecture’s twice-yearly Machi Asobi (meaning urban entertainment) event is at risk of losing its status as one of western Japan’s largest events for fans of anime, manga, and video games after the cancellation of its spring edition.
Why it matters: Machi Asobi began 15 years ago with anime studio Ufotable as its primary organizer and has since become an iconic anime industry event.
The Anime Tourism Association has named Machi Asobi as one of 88 top sightseeing destinations for anime fans.
What’s happening: Under newly-elected governor Masazumi Gotoda, Tokushima Prefecture wants Machi Asobi’s organizer to be selected through formal bidding.
Studio Mausu, a voice recording and sound production studio, has been the event’s organizer since Ufotable dropped out in 2018 and is doing so under a voluntary contract.
The Yomiuri Shimbun reports that Gotoda balked at the event’s price tag, of which ¥80 million (US$530,000) is paid by the prefectural government, while another popular local event, the Awa Odori Festival, only costs the prefecture ¥10 million (US$66,000).
Yes, but: A report conducted by the prefecture itself in 2017 found that Machi Asobi delivers an economic impact of up to ¥730 million (US$4.9 million).
Machi Asobi’s most recent edition in October was attended by 43,000 people, but it has drawn as many as 80,000 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Between the lines: Manga industry executive Takeshi Kikuchi writes in a blog post that the event is popular precisely because it’s run by volunteers and that the change in bidding process will dilute the event’s unique character.
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