Despite the many challenges facing the industry, common wisdom says that anime has never been bigger. New research, however, highlights a strange duality at the industry's heart; though anime is seeing record profits, the studios responsible are still struggling.
According to a survey of 2024 anime conducted by Teikoku Databank , anime became a $2.45 billion industry in 2024, an all-time record and 4% more than 2023. Despite this staggering success, however, 20.9% of anime companies experienced a decline in revenue compared to the previous year, while 41.8% remained flat, meaning only 37.2% of anime producers increased their revenue in 2024 compared to 2023.
Unfortunately, the bad news for anime studios doesn't stop there. Despite anime studios themselves seeing record revenues, actu