Japanese anime, once a small niche in the entertainment industry, is going global. Popular series such as One Piece, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man have been gaining fans outside of their home country and boosting sales for their makers and anime streaming services. Artificial intelligence is about to give the industry a further boost.
Sony is one of the biggest beneficiaries of a growing global audience for such series. The Japanese conglomerate’s anime streaming service Crunchyroll is one of the biggest platforms, having racked up more than 130mn registered users across more than 200 countries around the world. The US, Brazil and Germany are among its biggest markets. Entertainment company Aniplex, also part of the Sony Group, a leader in anime video and music production, has also been growing outside of Japan.
