Japanese amusement giant Genda is taking control of its North American business and consolidating 14 subsidiaries, showing confidence in local demand for entertainment experiences like Kiddleton claw machines with anime-themed prizes. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Anime cafes are popping up throughout Southeast Asia, where anime fans say they view brands more favorably when anime-inspired products are offered. Read this story by Jakarta-based correspondent Yohana Belinda.

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle's first anime film opened in 49 territories last weekend and topped multiple box office charts worldwide, including in North America, with IMAX screens making significant contributions to ticket sales. Read this headline and more in this week's business briefing.

This is up next! twitch.tv/animelockdown

Animenomics will present a current overview of how the anime industry works this Saturday, September 13, as part of @animelockdown.bsky.social programming on twitch.tv/animelockdown. Join us to learn about anime studio financials, anime production committees, and more!

A senior executive at TMS Entertainment has urged Netflix to share more details on viewer demographics amid efforts by anime producers seeking to reclaim control of marketing efforts for their titles from global streaming platforms. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Light novel and manga publisher Overlap will offer 40% of its holding company shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange beginning in October, a sign of optimism in the market for Japan's digital-first light novels and their anime adaptations. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Manga's rapid global growth in recent years has been driven almost entirely by rising demand for physical deluxe edition releases rather than digital manga, says an advisor to manga licensing broker Tuttle-Mori Agency. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Japanese anime studios' average annual revenue edged up last year, but a persistent labor shortage is creating a mixed fiscal picture. Large studios sensitive to higher production costs are seeing lower profits compared to 2023. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

One year after WEBTOON Entertainment's IPO on Nasdaq, the digital comics company controlled by South Korean internet giant Naver is accelerating investment in its English platform to counter decline a decline in global readership. Read our interview with WEBTOON executives.

Delta Air Lines will add Crunchyroll as a content partner on its Delta Sync in-flight entertainment system, making the streamer's anime library available to up to 120 million members of the carrier's SkyMiles frequent flyer program. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

New York-based @qubicpictures.bsky.social is shifting how it finances international anime co-productions as streaming platforms like Netflix reduce direct financing of anime projects and shift to a traditional licensing model. Read part two of our interview with CEO Justin Leach.

AlphaPolis has acquired all shares in "Re:Zero" anime studio White Fox in a deal that allows the digital manga and web novel publisher to diversify operations and transform itself into an IP production company. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

New York-based @qubicpictures.bsky.social is ensuring the voices of anime studios and creators are heard as the entry of global streaming video platforms into Japan since 2015 prompted renewed interest in international anime co-productions. Read part one of our interview with CEO Justin Leach.

Sony will invest about ¥68 billion (US$463 million) in Bandai Namco, acquiring a 2.5% stake in the toys, anime, and gaming giant and potentially giving Sony access to distribute high-value IPs like Bandai Namco's iconic Gundam property. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Japanese broadcasting group TBS has tapped former TV Tokyo anime chief Yukio Kawasaki—who brokered the 2009 deal that allowed Crunchyroll to pivot from pirated anime streaming—to lead its new anime and IP production business. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Anime Expo organizer Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation is weighing a possible move of the convention from downtown Los Angeles as turnstile attendance numbers show signs of reaching capacity. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

While launching Manga Mirai in the U.S., NTT Docomo recognized that many manga readers still collect physical copies, but Japanese distributors are looking to the country as a promising market for digital manga as domestic growth slows. Read our interview on their outlook on global manga markets.

Animenomics is partnering with @bijuku-official.bsky.social to produce podcast content at Anime Expo this week. Consider supporting our work to help cover costs, and we'll reach out to feature your brand, work, or story during the event.

The success of this year's anime releases funded by CyberAgent like Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can't Sing bodes well for the future of one of Japan's top digital advertising firms. Read our interview discussing CyberAgent's anime IP strategy and the challenges of global anime marketing.

A US$10 million pledge made by Singapore-based Kasagi Labo last year to fund co-productions of Japanese-style animation represents Southeast Asia's growing influence on productions of global anime. Read this story by Jakarta-based correspondent Yohana Belinda.

Bushiroad has increased its year-end operating profit expectation by 38.3% on better-than-expected sales revenue, especially in its flagship trading card game unit, signaling continued growth in anime trading cards and card games. Read this headline and more in this week's business briefing.

AlphaPolis is seeking potential merger and acquisition deals with anime companies as the digital manga and web novel publisher plans to increase investment share in anime production committees it participates in. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Animenomics is entering into a strategic partnership with Curation Entertainment Partners to bring more expansive stories about the global anime, manga, and webcomics market on different online platforms like @bijuku-official.bsky.social.

Many Japanese entertainment companies that report full-year earnings results in May like Kadokawa, Bandai Namco, Avex, and Nippon TV saw markets abroad push their anime business revenues to new heights in the 2024 fiscal year. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Publishing giant Kadokawa will acquire a controlling stake in Milan-based Italian comics, manga, and light novel publisher Edizioni BD, accelerating Kadokawa's European expansion after a joint venture in France was announced last year. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Sony's year-end earnings presentation yesterday announced that @crunchyroll.com's anime SVOD service has surpassed 17 million paying subscribers. Here's what that subscription growth over time looks like.

Japan's anime companies lack urgency in expanding into the Middle East and risk lagging behind competitors from other content-producing countries like South Korea, China, and the United States, says a Saudi IP production studio CEO. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Proposed U.S. tariffs and restrictions on films made abroad don't impact Japan yet, but they risk escalating a trade war that could drag in all entertainment-related services, harming content-exporting countries like Japan. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Toei elevated its anime development office into an IP and anime department earlier this month, signaling that the film production and distribution giant plans to invest in more anime films outside of ones by affiliate Toei Animation. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Star Wars film and television production company Lucasfilm is once again leaning on Japanese anime talent to help expand the space opera franchise's story universe, reaffirming Japan's growing importance to the Star Wars franchise. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Toho will carve out 30% of revenue and 40% of operating profit from its film business to create a new IP and anime business pillar, reinforcing the growing importance of Godzilla and anime IPs to the company's financials. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

The United States ranks among the top regions for anime license contracts, but a deepening trade war with the rest of the world could push Japan's anime companies to shift growth efforts to emerging markets with fewer trade barriers. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Media Do has sold its stake in anime and manga fan community website MyAnimeList to Tokyo-based blockchain startup Gaudiy, divesting from the platform of 19.5 million users that it acquired from DeNA in 2019 for US$10.7 million. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Animenomics will present two panels about the anime and manga business at Anime Detour at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis this weekend.

Business activity and consumer enthusiasm for anime at AnimeJapan hit new peaks this year. One company making its surprising debut last week is Yanmar, a heavy machinery manufacturer that brought a farm tractor to the exhibition venue. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Amazon Prime Video seeks international hits based on popular anime and manga IPs as the streaming service aims for a global expansion and tries to catch up to peers that already have exclusive anime agreements. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Gross merchandise value of anime-related purchases made by overseas customers and tracked by proxy purchasing service Buyee jumped 46% year-over-year in 2024, signaling significant unmet demand overseas for anime merchandise. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Akihabara has long been the premier destination for fans of Japanese anime and video games, but visitors exiting the area's train station now are more likely to encounter advertising for Chinese video game titles like 'Genshin Impact'. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Kadokawa's Indonesian joint venture with local publishing conglomerate Kompas Gramedia is set to translate more Japanese manga and light novel titles, eventually venturing beyond publishing and into merchandising. Read this story by Jakarta-based correspondent Yohana Belinda.

Anime labor advocacy group @nafca-official.bsky.social has asked Japan's government to regulate use of generative AI in anime translations to protect creators' intellectual property rights amid a push to quadruple entertainment exports. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Sumitomo will take joint control of Shueisha-backed anime distributor REMOW after the trading conglomerate made a strategic investment in the business in December, following a split with Crunchyroll as an investment partner in 2023. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Japan outsources much of toy and anime merchandise manufacturing to China. New tariffs and an end to duty exemptions on these Chinese-made goods by the United States could drive up the cost of American fans' cross-border purchases. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Bandai Namco will spend ¥600 billion (US$3.9 billion) over the next three years on anime, video games, and capital investments in toy manufacturing and retail, escalating the competition to identify next gen IPs for the global market. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Japanese startup DouDoujin will launch a digital manga platform in February for comic artists worldwide to submit and monetize their work after piloting the service with Indonesian artists. Read this story by Jakarta-based correspondent Yohana Belinda.

Digital manga contributed 94 percent of Japan's e-book market growth in 2024. Sales revenue from digital manga is now double its magnitude from the year before the COVID-19 pandemic. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Super! A&G+ is Japan's largest Internet radio station for fans of anime, video games, and voice actors. Its impending closure is stoking fears about the future of the anime radio genre that began in the 1970s. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Sony is developing software that can convert real-world objects and environments into highly detailed 3D computer graphics models using a 2D camera, aiding film, anime, and video game development. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Animator advocacy group @nafca-official.bsky.social is pushing back against a producers' association's response to a United Nations human rights report that warns of poor working conditions in the anime industry. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Sony Group will pay nearly ¥50 billion (US$320 million) to raise its stake in Kadokawa, distribute the media publisher's anime, light novel, and manga titles, and gain a seat on its board of directors. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.