North American Anime Business Sees Double-Digit Growth and Global Expansion in 2025
The sustained growth in North America is now a structural driver for the entire anime industry, with Japanese studios and publishers explicitly prioritizing international markets over domestic ones.
Reporting from 1 sources: Anime By The Numbers.
The North American anime market experienced significant growth in 2025, driven by streaming platform gains and theatrical releases. Netflix reported that 50% of its global audience watches anime, while Crunchyroll saw double-digit subscriber growth. Disney also began acknowledging the medium in English-speaking markets. The box office record for an anime film in North America, held for 27 years by Pokémon, was broken by Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle (Part 1). The article identifies several key trends. Anime has been declared mainstream for the seventh year, with major publications covering its popularity. The audience is multigenerational: millennials watch at rates only slightly below Gen Z, and Gen Alpha is also participating. Exit polls showed 69% of Demon Slayer's audience was under 25, while Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc had a larger share over 35. Overseas sales have eclipsed domestic Japanese sales in the anime business, according to the Association of Japanese Animations. Japanese companies like Toei Animation, Bandai Namco, and Kadokawa have prioritized international expansion. TOHO Global was cited as the most compelling actor in the North American market in 2025.
The article, published by Anime By The Numbers, examines business-side trends behind the headlines of 2025. It notes that the COVID-era boom tripled the number of regular anime watchers, but motivations differed by generation: millennials often returned to comfort favorites, while Gen Z discovered new series like Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer. The author argues that anime's popularity was understated for the previous two decades, with 10% of American millennials regularly watching Toonami around 2000. The R-rating of both Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man films did not significantly block attendance among 13-17 year olds. On the business side, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hosted representatives from the anime world in late 2025 to highlight its economic and diplomatic importance, offering funds for global expansion. Dentsu announced a global rollout of Dentsu Anime Solutions with initiatives in the U.S. and Southeast Asia. The article is the first of a planned series, with part 2 expected to cover additional topics.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- Anime By The Numbers 2025’s Biggest Trends in the North American Anime Business (Part 1)