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Kodansha will start localizing and publishing manga in India this autumn in a joint venture with Dai Nippon Printing, aiming to reduce piracy by printing in the country to keep costs and manga retail prices low. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Kodansha sets up manga publishing in India

Plus: Disney+ adds more anime episodes in France; Japan considers abolishing Cool Japan Fund; Talent agency seeks AI transformation in voice actor work; and more

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Crunchyroll invested in more anime production committees than any other company, Japanese or otherwise, in 2024–2025, allowing it to secure streaming rights without needing to bid, plus earn a share of anime production profits. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Crunchyroll ramps up production committee participation

Plus: British-turned-Japanese children's literature series gets anime; Activist investor seeks Kadokawa CEO removal; Manga sales slip at Japan's book distributors; and more

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Anime studios specializing in 3D CG are finding it harder to ignore AI in their production workflow as San Francisco-based Autodesk moves to quickly embed AI tools in 3D animation software like 3ds Max and Maya. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

AI tools enter CG anime production workflows

Plus: Shin-Ei Animation looks to YouTube for IP development; Anti-piracy group hardens stance on generative AI; Magazine for essay manga ends print run; and more

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Rising printing costs in Japan have pushed the average price of a manga volume up by 24% since 2020, and war in Iran is now driving up the cost of naphtha, a key petroleum product used in making ink and manga's glossy dust jackets. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Iran war sends price shock in manga industry

Plus: Streaming video service U-NEXT acquires anime studio GoHands; Itochu invests in San Francisco character licensing agency; Betting on Crunchyroll Anime Awards; and more

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Indonesia has a growing comics scene, but locally made comics hold just 10 percent of the domestic market, and creators are struggling to get readers to care amid a sea of manga from Japan. Read this story by Jakarta-based correspondent Yohana Belinda.

Indonesian comics grow, but market struggles

Indonesia has a comics scene of its own, but getting local readers to care amid a sea of manga from Japan is the real fight

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Growing scrutiny of anime's production committee system by regulators is generating renewed interest among the public and Japanese news media in anime studios that are building alternative business models to retain ownership over works. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Public interest in anime production committees grows

Plus: Genda stumbles in North America arcade expansion; Crunchyroll subscription growth accelerates; Toho takes control of IP promotion; and more

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Crunchyroll has more than 21 million paid subscribers worldwide as of March, Sony reported in its year-end earnings presentation today. The streaming platform started its paid subscription service in 2009 after it struck its first anime licensing deal with TV Tokyo.

Area chart showing the growth in the number of paying customers on Crunchyroll's anime subscription video on demand platform and its legacy predecessors from 2009 to 2026. Prior to 2022, the area chart is split into two separate categories for the legacy Funimation platform and the legacy Crunchyroll platform. As of March 2026, Crunchyroll has more than 21 million paid subscribers worldwide. Chart was created by Animenomics, with data sourced from Crunchyroll and Sony Group investor relations materials.

Japan's largest fashion trade show, Fashion World Tokyo, will create an IP × Fashion Zone on its show floor space as anime collaborations with fashion and cosmetics brands targeting Gen Z and Millennial consumers continue to increase. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Tokyo fashion expo welcomes anime apparel

Plus: Anime rightsholders sidestep licensing agents; Studio chairman advocates for fewer anime; Cosmetics firm retracts AI anime from advertising; and more

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Adidas is the latest company choosing to leverage independently made anime-style imagery to promote its products versus licensing properties from Japan's anime rightsholders, an approach that's increasingly viable for global legacy brands. Read this feature story by editor Richardson Handjaja.

Adidas tries out a sports–anime crossover

Collaboration with Hong Kong fashion brand Clot introduces anime-style visuals to create brand narrative for new product collection

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Kadokawa has formed a new subsidiary to oversee its manga retail operations in the United States, two and a half years after the publisher launched a marketing push in North America and began opening a chain of Manga Spot stores. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Kadokawa commits to U.S. manga retail venture

Plus: Broadcasters experiment with merchandise-driven short anime projects; 'Gundam' film raises Guns N' Roses profile; Gov't seeks to avoid overregulation in anime; and more

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Bandai Namco and Plott, a Tokyo-based startup that produces short anime for YouTube, will test whether the format can be used to launch new shonen media mix properties that will grow into a new merchandising engine. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Bandai Namco ventures into short anime IPs

Plus: Yoyogi Animation evolves into integrated anime talent incubator; Bushiroad secures bank loans for IP development; Media Do bets on print manga overseas; and more

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Permanent, full-time employment arrangements are growing at Japanese anime studios, over a decade of labor surveys found, challenging an oft-repeated narrative that the anime industry relies mostly on freelance animators. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Anime employment shifts to full-time positions

Plus: Consumption tax reform sees limited anime labor impact; Toho posts record sales and net profit; Bandai Namco launches 'The Idolmaster' English marketing; and more

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Attendance at the annual AnimeJapan trade exhibition reached a new record this year as anime viewership continues to grow worldwide, but it's unclear whether the event can keep its momentum amid a planned move to Osaka for 2027–2028. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

AnimeJapan sets records as anime fervor grows

Plus: Ministry raises subsidies for high-risk anime projects; Activist investor buys up shares in Kadokawa; and more

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In 2025, online content piracy cost Japan's entertainment industry a staggering ¥5.7 trillion (US$36 billion) in lost revenue, a crisis driven by limits on access to manga, anime, and other media. Read this story by Jakarta-based correspondent Yohana Belinda.

Access limits fuel manga piracy worldwide

Legions of readers are just a click away from pirated manga, fueling a global black market that shows no signs of slowing

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Japan's small and medium anime merchandise retailers, facing stagnation at home due to a declining population, are turning to cross-border e-commerce providers like Beenos to reach new customers abroad. Read this story by Animenomics editor Richardson Handjaja.

Cross-border e-commerce fills gap in overseas anime market

Japan's top proxy purchasing service provider helps small and medium anime merchandise sellers reach overseas customers

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Original anime films are incubators of new talent, but rising production costs and changing audience viewing behavior are tipping the anime film market toward franchise films and making original productions riskier for investors. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Original anime films feel the box office pinch

Plus: Kadokawa ramps up in-house manga translations; Webtoon Entertainment discloses creator revenue share; Japan invests in Saudi manga artist pipeline; and more

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Japan's anime home video sales and rentals plummeted 31 percent in 2025 to ¥18.7 billion (US$118 million), one of the steepest declines on record, amid an accelerating shift in domestic anime consumption to streaming video. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Anime home video sales plummet in streaming shift

Plus: Osaka broadcaster plans US$50m anime investment; Kadokawa recruits light novel writers abroad; Digital restoration revitalizes popular folklore anime; and more

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Richardson Handjaja @rhandjaja.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Japan's anime rightsholders are shifting away from film distributors like Toho and Shochiku and building their own systems for distributing anime films domestically to retain a bigger share of box office earnings. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Anime producers ramp up domestic direct film distribution

Plus: Media Do buys LA-based manga publisher Seven Seas; Twin Engine acquires anime studio Nut; CyberAgent finds success in 'Jujutsu Kaisen' game; and more

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For @icv2.com's manga week coverage this year, I explain the numbers behind Japan's shrinking domestic manga market, plus their implications on Japanese publishers' and U.S. comics retailers' businesses for the year ahead.

Manga Week: Japan Manga Market Struggles as Digital Sales Stall

Column by Richardson Handjaja

icv2.com

Japan's domestic manga market shrank by 1.7% in 2025, the first decline in eight years, amid stalling digital sales growth and an accelerating tumble in print sales. Full-year sales were estimated at ¥693 billion (US$4.4 billion). Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Japan manga market shrinks as digital sales stall

Plus: Netflix takes anime film to cinemas; Kinokuniya USA scouts new store locations; Digital manga market shifts to non-paying readers; Ibaraki recruits anime studios; and more

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TV Asahi plans to double its anime production capacity by 2030 as the commercial broadcaster best known for classic titles like Doraemon and Crayon Shin-chan seeks to transform into a business that focuses on IP creation. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

TV Asahi aims to double anime production

Plus: Anime creators slam ByteDance's AI video generator; Licensing veteran named Aniplex president; TO Books eyes North American expansion; and more

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Sony Music Entertainment Japan has named Aniplex president Atsuhiro Iwakami as its incoming president and chief executive officer, a sign of the anime production planning company's growing influence in the Sony Music Group. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Aniplex chief appointed next Sony Music CEO

Plus: Andreessen Horowitz leads anime AI companion investment; Toho is Fuji Media's largest shareholder again; Bandai Namco sees record 'Gundam' sales; and more

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Sales of counterfeit anime and other character products caused US$30 billion in estimated financial damages in 2025. It was the first measure of the impact of piracy on the market for Japanese entertainment merchandise. Read this and more headlines in this week's business briefing.

Counterfeit anime merchandise cause US$30b in damages

Plus: AI startup to speed up anime merchandise approvals; Aniplex acquires Egg Firm anime production planning company; Permanent ‘Sailor Moon’ stage musical to debut; and more

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