by On the 28th, the Japan Animation Association held an online seminar for “Anime Industry Report 2022” online. In response to the “Netflix Shock,” which saw the number of subscribers decrease, he reported the peak of anime distribution media. In addition, he said that “the revenue window that supports the anime industry has also come to this point and is beginning to show signs of change.”
This was held to commemorate the publication of the 14th “Anime Industry Report” this year, and the book responded to a questionnaire. It is a compilation of anime industry information based on data provided by anime studios, Pia, entertainment news agencies, etc.
In the report, even in the corona crisis, “From the survey, we can read that demand for anime is solid. But, on the other hand, the ‘Netflix shock’ (the first-ever decline in membership) from January to March of this year has driven growth since the middle of 2010.
There are also signs that we may be seeing a peak in distribution media,” he said, adding, “The profit window that supports the anime industry has also come to this point and is starting to show signs of change. Or, I hope to see that lifeline,” he said with all his strength. At the seminar, he explained that the anime industry market was “2,742.2 billion yen, up 113.3% year-on-year, returning to the growth trend before the corona crisis”.
The anime industry market, which had continued to grow for ten consecutive years from 2010 to 2019, was 96.5% compared to the previous year in 2020 due to the corona disaster. Still, with the pandemic 2021, which continues, there will be a significant increase of 113.3% from the previous year to 2.7422 trillion yen.
This is 9.0% of the last record of 2,514.5 billion yen in 2019. He emphasized the market’s recovery with a record high of over 1%, saying, “There is enough to make you think that the impact of Corona has ended in just one year.” However, the anime industry market in 2021, expected to return to the growth trend before the corona crisis, said, “In addition to the domestic market with the declining birthrate and aging population, the overseas market seems to be losing the momentum it had in the mid-2010s. Given the premonition that distribution peaks are likely to be seen, future trends will likely attract more attention.”
The keywords “distribution, commercialization, and overseas” drove an all-time high in 2021. In addition, the anime industry has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Still, the main reason for the decline in sales is that the recording was carried forward due to schedule delays, etc. “Continuing from last year, the number of projects production sites continues, and production costs are rising. As a result, earnings will likely improve.” reported the voice.
However, “I can see that Japanese animation is still supported by solid demand. However, it is becoming clear that the market will grow and the areas will decline, and the trend will be compared with the previous year in all windows. Therefore, we need to compare it with 2019, not 2020, when there was an increase in sales.”
Regarding anime distribution, he reported, “From January to March in 2022, Netflix experienced a shock that could be called a “Netflix shock,” in which the number of members decreased for the first time in the past ten years.
The market reacted strongly to the release, and Netflix’s stock price fell by 35% in one day. In response to this, in the questionnaire this year, “There are signs of a slump in Netflix,” and “There is a possibility that investment in anime such as Netflix is declining,” regarding the future of distribution, which was not seen until last year.
There were multiple concerns written, such as ‘There is a shadow on the business of the distribution company, which is mainly SVOD,'” said the voice from the site. “After the mid-1980s, rental video stores sprung up like bamboo shoots after the rain and peaked over almost 20 years. So from November 2022, Netflix will start a low-price plan with advertisements.
In the July-September period of 2022, although the number of users increased by 2.41 million compared to the end of June, sales fell below the previous quarter. I can’t help but feel that the limit of growth is approaching,” he said, worried about the future. He continued, “I wrote that ‘distribution media has become the center of video media,’ but to maintain and grow radically, distribution media will depend on whether hits can be released from distribution media in the future.
As I mentioned in the TV item, there are only a few hit works from distribution media, and most of them are secondary uses. Also, about three people use (contract) distribution media. Hence, we expected that the competition to acquire users within the distribution media industry, including foreign companies such as Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, and domestic companies such as Abema, would intensify.
