If your Netflix queue has started featuring more anime titles lately, it is no coincidence. Japanese animation movies and television series, aimed at adults as well as children, are moving from niche to mainstream. This growth reflects a calculated strategic shift by Asian media companies, particularly Sony.
Behind the scenes, companies have been betting big on anime’s long-term commercial viability. Sony has been leading here, investing in the category and positioning it as the foundation of the group’s entertainment model.
At the centre of this strategy is Crunchyroll, the Japanese conglomerate’s US-based streaming platform. Unlike services such as Netflix or Disney+, where anime is one category among many, Crunchyroll has a narrower focus. It also hosts anime fan conventions, sells merchandise, licenses soundtracks and is capitalising on Sony’s intellectual property by creating anime adaptations of PlayStation games. Since acquiring Crunchyroll in 2021 for around $1.2bn, Sony’s paid subscriber base has more than tripled to over 17mn by March 2025, making it the largest of the niche streaming platforms.