Streaming and covid-19 have entrenched anime’s global popularity

AT FIRST CRITICS doubted that “Demon Slayer: Mugen Train”, which hit American cinemas in April, could replicate the success it achieved in its Japanese home market. The animated feature is set in early-20th-century Japan, an unrelatable era for non-Japanese viewers. Defying the odds, the film raked in $19.5m during its opening weekend, breaking America’s box-office record for a foreign-language debut.

For most of its history “anime” was little-known outside Japan. “Astro Boy”, a TV series from 1963 that sparked the first anime boom, and subsequent hits like “Doraemon” and “Gundam”, were watched mostly by otaku (geeks). Nerdy connotations limited their appeal at home. Titles that made it to the West from the 1970s also catered to niche audiences.

Now, gushes Muto Takashi, who runs Dentsu Japanimation Studio, “anime is no longer a subculture; it is a major culture.” In 2019 anime-related revenues from TV, streaming and gaming rights, live entertainment, cinema tickets and merchandise sales hit ¥2.5trn ($24bn). Just under half came from abroad, where the anime market has almost quintupled in size over the past decade. Figures for the pandemic year are scarce but are almost certainly higher. Netflix says that over 100m households around the world streamed at least one of its anime titles in 2020, 50...