Anime is a thriving business, but it has grown even larger than anyone imagined. According to a report presented by the Association of Japanese Animations (AJA), Japan’s animation industry reached record highs in 2024, with a total market value of JPY 3.84 trillion ($25.25 billion). That’s a lot of cash.
A stronger-than-usual international surge has driven this, with the report showing that overseas revenue has accounted for 56% of 2024’s total sales (to the tune of $14.25 billion), while Japanese domestic revenues reached $10.97 billion, making up 44%. “The overseas market now far exceeds local revenues, and the gap will only widen,” said Masahiko Hasegawa, editor-in-chief of the AJA report. “Growth today includes bundled contracts that span theatrical, streaming, merchandising, and event rights — not just content distribution.“
“Anime is no longer just storytelling,” Hasegawa added. “It’s a full cultural economy — and that economy is rapidly going global.“
All the more impressive is that these record highs don’t even include some of the biggest successes of the last few months. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle was released this summer and grossed $670 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time. Another major success, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, was released in Japan in September and has been rolling out in more than 80 countries over the last month. It’s grossed $139 million worldwide. In short, you can expect the 2025 report to continue its upward trend.
Our own Steve Seigh caught Chainsaw Man in theaters, and was glad he did. “Almost without warning, the film explodes, becoming a relentless onslaught of violence, creativity, dynamic camerawork, bombastic animation, and excellence unlike anything else I’ve seen this year,” he wrote. “I kid you not, there is at least an hour’s worth of this movie that is, without question, one of the most impressive spans of animation I’ve ever seen. I felt like I was riding a roller coaster. Clearly, there’s a reason Sony denied me an at-home screener; they insisted I see the movie in theaters.” You can check out the rest of his review right here.
