Crunchyroll accelerates anime investments
Plus: Aniplex reassesses overseas anime marketing approach; AnimeJapan consolidates again at Tokyo Big Sight; Japan's manga apps outperform e-book apps; and more
This is the weekly newsletter of Animenomics, covering the business of anime and manga. Today is Wednesday, September 18, 2024.
In case you missed it: North American news outlet Anime News Network plans to hire a freelance contributor to resurrect its long-running Answerman column focusing on topics within the anime and manga industry.
Crunchyroll investments in production committees soar
Crunchyroll accelerated investments in anime production committees in the two years after its 2021 acquisition by Sony Pictures Entertainment, according to a new analysis of publicly available anime production data.
Why it matters: Committee participation grants Crunchyroll a share of an anime production’s earnings and helps the platform secure licensing agreements at a time when global competition for anime content is rising.
By the numbers: A study published last month at Tokyo’s Comic Market 104 found that Crunchyroll invested in at least 62 anime productions airing in 2022 and 2023.
This is nearly one-fifth of the 321 late night anime titles that aired over that time period, the report’s author, anime columnist Fuyuki Kurohara, found.
Only publishing giant Kadokawa and satellite anime broadcaster AT-X invested in more anime productions than Crunchyroll.
Between 2019 and 2021, Crunchyroll only invested in 21 anime productions out of the more than 400 programs that aired over that period.
Zoom out: Chinese streaming video platform Bilibili also more than doubled its anime production committee participation from nine to 21.
The study only looks at anime productions aired on Japanese television and doesn’t include titles made exclusively for streaming platforms like Netflix.
Where things stand: Crunchyroll president Rahul Purini told the Financial Times this month that the platform releases almost 200 titles a year, which means anime productions it didn’t invest in still make up most of the platform’s content.
Crunchyroll has previously been invited to join committees because it tipped off partners on titles suitable for anime adaptation, like it did with The Rising of the Shield Hero and Solo Leveling.
What we’re watching: Whether Crunchyroll’s investments will shift the company away from its original revenue-sharing business model as it evolves from being a distributor to a producer.
Aniplex markets anime globally, builds business locally
Aniplex expects more localized business strategies as anime grows overseas, even as Sony Music’s anime planning and production subsidiary moves toward a global approach in marketing.
Driving the story: Senior vice president for international business development Kumiko Honma told the Cocotame web magazine that Aniplex is reassessing its approach to anime news embargoes.
“Up until now, after an information embargo is lifted in Japan, word would slowly spread by mouth, with people saying, ‘It seems this information has come out in Japan,’ but this has a totally different impact,” Honma said.
Why it matters: News of anime production details travels faster than ever today in the age of social media, and Aniplex wants fans to receive news about its anime titles directly from the company.
What’s happening: Aniplex last week held its fifth Aniplex Online Fest, an effort to reach overseas anime fans directly that began during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although in-person anime events have since returned, Honma said Aniplex chose to concentrate new announcements in a single online event to increase enthusiasm.
Aniplex also worked with Sony Music Solutions, a sister company, to provide real-time, machine-translated English subtitles.
What’s next: Aniplex wants to negotiate more merchandise agreements with local manufacturers in various countries to expand the reach of its anime properties.
Honma acknowledges that there are hardcore anime fans who want items that can only be obtained in Japan.
“I think it’s efficient to export high-priced products such as figurines from Japan, but in order to reach a wider audience, it’s important to manufacture them locally or license them out to local companies to make merchandise,” she explained.
Clippings: AnimeJapan brings back business attendees
AnimeJapan’s business days in 2025 will be held at Tokyo Big Sight for the first time in six years. The annual anime industry trade fair held its business section this year in a separate venue in downtown Tokyo. (Animation Business Journal)
This year’s edition of AnimeJapan in March drew 110 exhibiting companies, the largest number ever.
Anime’s availability on streaming platforms like Netflix fueled the popularity of stage theater adaptations of anime and manga titles in the theater industry of the United Kingdom. (The Asahi Shimbun)
Sony Music is reclaiming full control of Zepp Hall Network, a chain of concert halls in Japan and Asia that often hosts J-pop and anisong concerts, seven years after the Cool Japan Fund invested in it as a joint venture partner. (TokyoHive)
Japanese advertising giant Dentsu is launching a multimillion-dollar initiative to support content creators on the Roblox virtual platform, matching them with manga and anime IP holders like Kodansha. (VentureBeat)
Tokyo-based Abracadabra pivoted from video game localization to selling anime voice acting and cosplay experience packages as Japan sees an increasing number of foreign tourists interested in anime and manga. (The Nikkei MJ)
Female fans drive popularity surge of ‘Blue Lock’ media
“Before the anime aired, the original Blue Lock manga had a slightly higher proportion of male readers, but after the anime aired, the male-to-female ratio became about half and half, and when it came to purchasing merchandise, the proportion of female customers was extremely high.”
— Yusei Matsumoto, Kodansha rights media licensing manager
Context: Matsumoto and his licensing colleague, Daigo Iwasaki, told C-Station that female fans of the Blue Lock soccer manga and anime have been the driver behind the title’s success as a mixed media property.
When Kodansha organized a collaboration event between Blue Lock and the Japan Professional Football League in 2023, the Japan National Stadium saw more female visitors than usual.
Earlier this year, mobile app analytics provider Sensor Tower also found that the Blue Lock Project: World Champion mobile game has a very high percentage of female players compared to other soccer-themed mobile games.
How it happened: Writing for the Real Sound web magazine, anime columnist Kota Mukaihara credits Blue Lock’s emphasis on a broad slate of characters and stylish art for helping attract female fans, as they did with boys’ manga properties The Prince of Tennis and Kuroko’s Basketball.
Manga apps flourish as digital manga dominates Japan
Digital manga dominates the landscape for e-book mobile applications in Japan, according to a new survey by App Ape, an analytics service by app development startup Fuller.
Why it matters: Sales of digital manga account for 90 percent of Japan’s digital publishing market, according to annual industry data compiled by the Research Institute for Publications
By the numbers: Among the top 60 manga and e-book reading apps by monthly active users in Japan, two-thirds specifically publish manga content.
Japanese users on average spend 9.7 minutes a day reading a manga or e-book app, though the amount of time varies by age group.
Readers aged 30–39 spend the most amount of time reading digital manga, an average of 12.7 minutes a day, while teens read for an average of 9.3 minutes.
Users open up manga and e-book reading apps an average of 2.5 times a day.
Zoom in: Kakao Piccoma’s Piccoma app ranks first in monthly active users among digital manga apps in the survey, which collected data from 500,000 Android devices.
The list of top five digital manga apps includes Kodansha’s Magazine Pocket, Amutus’s Mecha Comic, Line Corporation’s LINE Manga, and Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+.
Mecha Comic’s strong readership despite being the only top 15 digital manga app to have launched after 2020 reinforces why Blackstone acquired Amutus parent Infocom earlier this year for ¥260 billion (US$1.66 billion).
Of note: Among the top 40 digital manga apps listed by App Ape, Shogakukan’s Detective Conan official app is the only one that publishes content from a single manga property.
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Sony's chief executive Kenichiro Yoshida recently told the FT that "Sony is betting on a multibillion-dollar push into producing more original content, as part of a “creation shift” the Japanese tech giant houses will win it a greater share of the $3tn entertainment industry."
(Article here: https://www.ft.com/content/307f7a2e-a755-4f6e-badc-9bc119f185df)
How are they going to do that. As your Crunchyroll story suggests, they are investing heavily in co-productions by buying into committees. Traditionally! Crunchyroll would invest 40% of the anime production budget in exchange for the exclusive distribution rights of that content into the 200 territories they cover. generally! They exclude Japan, China, Korea. This does not give Sony "ownership" over the IP. Most anime are adapted works from either manga or light novels. Very little output is adapted from videogames, which is weird because Sony actually owns a lot of cool videogame IP and has had a lot of success in this space recently thanks to The Last Of Us adaptation for HBO.
Sony does not own a manga publisher, and even if it did, it wouldn't own the individual manga copyright as these sit with the original author and/or their estate. So! My question is this. How the heck are they going to own more IP in the anime space? Sure! They can own hundreds of original anime IP that no-one likes or watches. But! As we all know. This is not where the value lies.