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The ongoing rise of anime in the pop culture sphere has brought with it some interesting changes to the industry. Not only is the anime industry more diverse than it ever has been before, but it is quickly becoming apparent that the overseas anime market is eclipsing the Japanese market. Now, an industry report is showing that not only is global anime consumption growing faster than the Japanese market, that trend isn't expected to change in the coming years.

The Association of Japanese Animations (AJA) released its annual Anime Industry Report for 2025 last week, and it confirms a few things that we already knew. For example, it reveals that the anime market size grew by nearly 115% year-on-year, reaching a value of around $24.5 billion. This is officially the largest that the anime industry has ever been, having doubled in size in the past decade.

Once again, the overseas anime market grew by a faster rate than the domestic Japanese market, having increased by around 126% over the previous year. The report specifically cites global streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+, and Crunchyroll. Currently, international anime markets account for around 56.5% of the total industry value. The scale of the gap is actually astounding when you compare the numbers; in 2025, the international anime market was worth around $3.18 billion more than the Japanese market. In 2024, that gap was a “mere” $624 million. According to the AJA, that gap is expected to increase over the next several years.

This helps explain how Sony keeps trying to position themselves as the dominant force in the anime industry, with multiple studios and the largest dedicated anime streaming service falling under their corporate umbrella. While the temptation to cater to international fans is likely strong among anime studios, industry icons like Hideaki Anno want to keep the inherent Japanese feel to the industry going strong.

Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included... 

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