Matt Schley
October 24, 2016 
The Boy and the Beast was a big hit with casual fans in 2015.For folks interested in the business of anime, the release of the Association of Japanese Animation’s yearly industry report is something akin to Christmas. A dry, numbers-filled Christmas.
Still, for industry geeks, there are always one or two fascinating facts to be had in the report, and this year is no exception.
At a talk covering the report on October 21, several industry experts got together to talk shop and discussed the report’s findings. The main takeaway: on the whole, 2015 was a good year for anime. Total sales increased 112% versus 2014, continuing the historic climb in profits that started in 2013.
Some other interesting points:
Sales to Chinese streaming outlets went up 178.7%, showing a big increase for that particular segment of the export market.
Casual viewers (what Meiji University anime researcher Ryusuke Hikawa calls “light users”) have increased, meaning what we’re seeing now is less of anime boom than a spreading out of the medium to people who haven’t been fans until now.
Finally, in slightly more alarming news, members of the talk discussed whether anime, with its huge amount of shows per season, is reaching a capacity crisis.
There you have it: the industry in a nutshell, 2015. Only 364 days until the next report…
A year with no Ghibli. Blue represents Ghibli, while orange is the rest of the industry.Source: Anime Anime
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