This is your weekly Animenomics briefing, covering the business of anime and manga. Today is Wednesday, November 11, 2026.
In case you missed it: GKIDS began distributing Godzilla Minus Zero in theaters in the United States and Canada last week, with Anime Limited doing the same in the United Kingdom, as Japanese film giant Toho transforms both anime distribution companies into vehicles for distributing Japanese films more broadly.
Fuji TV sees windfall from ‘Chiikawa’ anime successes
Japanese broadcaster Fuji Television reported a 73 percent jump in anime-related net sales year-over-year for the three months ending in September, thanks to a windfall from the summer box office success of the Chiikawa anime film.
Why it matters: A rosy mid-year earnings report last week, driven by gains in Fuji TV parent company Fuji Media’s content business that includes anime, is breathing new life into a turnaround effort happening at the commercial broadcaster.
By the numbers: Fuji TV reported ¥4.5 billion (US$28 million) in anime-related net sales for the six months ending in September, up 38 percent from the same period last year.
In addition to Chiikawa’s domestic success, Fuji TV also saw continued strength in international rights sales of catalog anime titles like Assassination Classroom and Urusei Yatsura.
How it happened: Fuji TV airs 90-second anime episodes of Chiikawa on its flagship morning program Mezamashi TV, building up a national audience for what was then just an online comic strip—albeit a viral one—when broadcast began in 2022.
Chiikawa’s popularity led Fuji TV to create character merchandise and pop-up shops and boosted viewership of Mezamashi TV, which has added 60 minutes of airtime since April 2025.
An anime film treatment, Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island, has earned ¥18.7 billion (US$118 million) in Japan since opening in July and has also charted in neighboring markets like Taiwan and South Korea.
The bigger picture: As previously reported by Animenomics, Japanese commercial broadcasters are increasingly turning to character-based shorts as a way to continue investing in anime amid crowded programming slots.
Fuji TV is also building on Chiikawa’s success, adding a second mascot character property called Puppet Sunsun last year to the Mezamashi TV line-up.
Comic C’moA outage disrupts digital manga distribution
Full service restoration at Japanese digital manga platforms Comic C’moA and Renta! remain out of sight nearly four weeks after operators of both platforms reported data breaches in a recent wave of cyberattacks on Japanese companies.
Why it matters: Both platforms play important roles in Japan’s ecosystem for digital manga distribution, and their absence is forcing small and midsize manga publishers to seek alternative ways to distribute new manga releases.
Comic C’moA is one of Japan’s largest digital manga and e-book platforms with 40 million monthly active users, and Renta! is the country’s oldest digital manga service.
Zoom in: Animenomics counted at least two dozen manga labels directing readers and followers on social media to alternative platforms to buy newly released manga volumes.
Editors of Shueisha’s Margaret magazine, which specializes in girls’ manga, have directed readers to Webtoon Entertainment-owned LINE Manga and eBookJapan, as well as Blackstone-owned Mecha Comic.
Other platforms that have been identified as replacement distribution services include Amazon Japan’s Kindle, Beaglee-owned Manga Kingdom, DMM.com’s DMM Books, and WWWave Corporation’s ComicFesta.
Renta! operator Papyless said on Tuesday that its service disruption will result in ¥2.4 billion (US$15 million) in lost revenue and a ¥500 million (US$3.1 million) reduction in operating income.
What we’re watching: Whether the disruptions will affect October manga publishing data, which won’t be reported by the Research Institute for Publications for another two weeks.
Long-term disruptions to digital manga distribution could push publishers to set up their own digital platforms, and reader frustration could grow if they’re forced to break up their digital bookshelves to multiple platforms.
Because of the reach of a platform like Comic C’moA, some manga artists are also concerned with loss of royalty payments from lost digital sales.
Clippings: Toei Animation content sales fall in China
Toei Animation content sales in Asia fell sharply year-over-year in the three months ended in September “following a periodic review of the terms of distribution contracts in China”. (Earnings presentation)
Between the lines: Beijing-based streaming giant iQiyi had long been Toei Animation’s streaming partner in China and parts of Asia, with their relationship stretching back more than a decade.
Bandai Namco acquired a 42 percent stake in Vietnam’s Pops Entertainment, which distributes anime and webtoon licenses and organizes social media promotion across Southeast Asia. (Press release)
As previously reported by Animenomics, Pops Entertainment had been aiming for a listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2027.
CyberAgent has acquired an undisclosed stake in anime studio MAPPA as the two companies look to partner on anime production and planning, gaming, merchandising, and events. (Press release)
Santa Monica, Calif.-based Jakks Pacific is partnering with collectibles distributor Alliance Entertainment to expand distribution of anime and virtual YouTuber products and merchandise across North America. (Press release)
The Japan Foundation, a cultural promotion organization backed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is developing a mobile app with artificial intelligence features to help anime and manga fans learn the Japanese language. (Nikkei Asia)
Akira Toriyama’s former work studio in Aichi Prefecture is being demolished after the late manga artist’s production company moved its operation to Tokyo over the summer. (The Mainichi)
Shueisha’s Manga Plus to inherit Manga Million content
“Currently, Manga Plus focuses primarily on titles from the Shonen Jump label. However, if it were to incorporate a collection totaling nearly a million pages, including girls’ manga, the value of the service would surely increase.”
— Shuhei Hosono, Manga Plus editor-in-chief at Shueisha
Context: Hosono told Nikkei Entertainment!’s Ayako Hirashima that Shueisha plans to migrate new translated content currently published in its Manga Million digital manga service, launched in August to celebrate the publisher’s 100th anniversary, into Manga Plus when the former ends its operation.
What’s at stake: Incorporating Manga Million’s 1 million translated pages across 400 titles will allow Manga Plus to reverse declining readership following the conclusion of blockbuster series Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man.
By the numbers: As of early October, two months after launch, Manga Million had reached a cumulative 3.97 million users, with the most number of users coming from China, South Korea, and Taiwan.
In August, Manga Plus reached 4 million monthly active users, with a 70:30 male-to-female ratio.
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