On August 12, 2022, one of Japan’s national newspapers, The Nikkei, which focuses on economic news, reported some concerning data about anime studios in Japan.
The Nikkei reported that in the fiscal year 2021, 39.8% of anime studios in Japan were in the red, 0.9% worse than the preceding year. 23% of the studios reported revenue loss and only 36.3% noted an increase.
The Nikkei’s report was based on the information researched by Teikoku Databank, the largest domestic credit rating agency in Japan.
Further industry statistics from Teikoku Databank
According to Teikoku Databank’s database, the anime industry struck a record high in 2019 but the total revenues have dropped since 2020. The survey result for FY2021 will mark 2 consecutive years of revenue decrease for the industry.
From 2010 to 2019, the anime industry had a trend of growth, but it was hit by the effects of the pandemic starting in 2020. The pandemic caused delays and even suspensions of production. 2021 continued in a similar fashion, with production deadlines being pushed back along with the release dates.
Additionally, the number of released anime titles decreased, leading to a loss of work and profit for many.
Potential for bounceback
With the pandemic restriction easing in Japan, the industry is expected to bounce back. However, Teikoku Databank notes that it is unlikely that the industry will see the numbers have been achieved in 2019, marking the possibility that the domestic anime production market has peaked.
Additionally, in FY2021, 22% of Japanese anime studios stated that they worked with foreign companies (such as foreign streaming services). While Chinese companies were the majority of their partners, the number of Japanese studios working with American corporations (such as Netflix or Amazon) has doubled since FY2020. Teikoku Databank notes that with the drastic increase in trade with American companies, Japanese studios are becoming more dependent on them. It will be interesting to see how much this percentage will be and the effect of foreign partnerships on anime output in FY2022.
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