According to a recent report by financial research firm Teikoku Databank, eight anime production companies exited the market between January and September this year. We summarize.
Studio closures continue to rise
Teikoku Databank data shows that two studios were forced to close due to bankruptcy, while six others went out of business independently. This means that the number of closures could rise for the third time in a row this year (2023: eight, 2024: ten) and possibly reach the level of 2018, when 16 companies were eliminated – eight of them in the first nine months.
It is worth mentioning that around half of the affected studios are so-called “main contractors” or “gross contractors” – i.e. those who are able to accept and execute production orders directly. The rest are smaller “special studios” that mostly function as subcontractors.
The best-known cases in the first category in recent years have included EKACHI EPILKA (“Demon Lord, Retry!” and “Crossing Time”), Studio 5 Inc. (“Exception”, “Make My Day” and 3DCGI’s work on “Heavenly Delusions”) and Cloud Hearts (“The New Gate” and the troubled “Whisper Me a Love Song”).
Costs exceed sales
Despite the ever-growing anime market and increasing demand abroad, production companies repeatedly find themselves in a situation where they have a lot to do but do not make any profits, as the equally increasing production and labor costs significantly exceed the sales growth in the industry.
Of course, the hardest hit in this context are small and medium-sized studios without stable sources of income such as their own intellectual property (IP). In a survey by Teikoku Databank, 60 percent of prime contractors said their performance had deteriorated in the 2024 financial year. In some cases, earnings have also fallen significantly due to the weak yen.
As expected, the result is delays in production. Some anime titles that have been postponed from the current year to 2026 include “Go for It, Nakamura!”, “The Barbarian’s Bride” and “Witch Hat Atelier.”
It is therefore no surprise that industry experts have long been calling for the anime industry to be reformed to counteract this negative trend. Although the Japanese government is already making initial efforts, these are still viewed with skepticism in many places.