In the anime community,Crunchyrollis the universal go-to streaming service that always delivers on the latest and most highly anticipated shows. Having been in operation long before other streaming giants, it’s often touted as the number one site to visit for beginner and veteran anime fans alike.
As anime has steadily broken out into the mainstream, companies have quickly realized that there is potential in investing in this particular goldmine. Between the numerous new eyes now looking towards each various project set to release, pop-up conventions to foster communities, and the astounding plethora of merchandise to market on, the streaming wars are only just ramping up.
Streaming Juggernauts are Coming for the Anime Industry
Directly Competing Against Crunchyroll for IP Rights and Exclusives
In a recentsurvey by Dentsu on Variety, 8,600 people from 10 different countries were interviewed to gauge anime relevance and what streaming sites the average consumer uses. WhereasNetflix pulled in approximately 48% of those consumers, Disney+ followed behind at 32% and Prime Video at 29%.
When specifically looking at U.S. consumers, the study found that 31% of the trial size watched anime at least once a week, which rounded out to be one in every three viewers. Gen Z and Millennials make up a large portion of those numbers at 50%.
Given anime’s wide scope and depth of various genres, there’s a grand appeal to both older and especially younger generations when they are looking for something to watch. After experiencing burnout from recent Hollywood trends, anime quickly began making its rounds in the last decade, proving to be a viable industry for streaming companies to get involved with.
63%
46%
36%
26%
China’s iQiyi
25%
However, what this study failed to mention is one of the largest streaming companies that has been in direct competition withNetflix since the sudden change: Crunchyroll. While it remains largely fascinating that mainstream sites are now gunning for the same audience, Crunchyroll has been the go-to destination for anime fans for years.
The Streaming Wars Cannot be Surveyed Without Considering Crunchyroll’s Influence
Crunchyroll Performed Its Own Study on Anime’s Growth Only a Year Prior
While the Dentsu study did reveal some fascinating revelations about how the streaming wars are progressing among mainstream services, it missed out on delving into how Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ are fairing against Crunchyroll themselves. The company has done just as much to be in fans' ill favor bygenerating AI translations for subtitles, so how does it fare now?
Now the anime isn’t exclusively relegated to Crunchyroll, it would have been an intriguing insight to see if companies like Netflix are actually managing to steal some of the viewership from the main source. As anime continues to grow, companies everywhere seem to want to compete for the next big IP that’ll generate the most traffic.
Crunchyroll’s study examines how influential anime has become in comparison to other current trending interests like celebrities and sports, while also diving into what is appealing to anime fans when considering new series.
Another greatstudy to gaugeCrunchyrolland anime’s influenceon modern-day audiences is the one the company did itself alongside the National Research Group. It examines how influential anime has become in comparison to other current trending interests like celebrities and sports, while also diving into what is appealing to anime fans when considering new series.
By asking 29,000 general entertainment consumers, researchers were able to categorize many revelations likehow anime competed in the mainstream alongside iconic figures like Keanu Reeves, Beyonce, and LeBron James. While these studies tackled different scopes, both reveal that anime is quickly becoming the spot to be, serving fans all the better for more options in terms of accessibility.
Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is a North American-based streaming service owned by Sony that focuses largely on Japanese anime but also covers several East Asian drama series. The service is available in several countries and has a small catalog of self-created and published series, with most of its content licensed with partners overseas.
Netflix
Netflix is a global streaming service offering on-demand access to movies, TV shows, documentaries, and original content. Founded in 1997 as a DVD rental service, it transitioned to streaming in 2007 and now operates in over 190 countries.
