{"rewrite":{"id":"r_8b7902c346d8a23397040f36","clusterId":"c_c3777eee5a2a80d0504e1a0a","slug":"anime-viewership-on-netflix-grows-10-times-faster-than-other-content","model":"deepseek-v4-flash","headline":"Anime Viewership on Netflix Grows 10 Times Faster Than Other Content","summary":"Netflix's semi-annual data shows that anime viewership on the platform grew 11.3% in the first half of 2025, reaching approximately 4.4 billion hours watched. That rate of growth is ten times faster than all other media on Netflix, according to a report from Anime by the Numbers. However, the surge is not driven by Netflix's own exclusive titles or its produced anime. Of the top 25 most-watched anime series on Netflix in the first half of 2025, only five were exclusive to the platform outside of Asia, and Netflix is not listed as a producer for any of them. Less than 20% of total anime viewership came from titles carrying Netflix's branding. Instead, the most-watched anime were sub-licensed titles such as The Apothecary Diaries, Solo Leveling, Mashle, Fire Force, and Frieren: Beyond Journey's End. The biggest gainer was Anpanman, a children's franchise whose viewership jumped 4700% after Netflix acquired more than a dozen films previously on Hulu, though that growth was limited to Japan. Anime's dominance on Netflix is heavily concentrated in East Asia: in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Vietnam, anime appears on regional top lists more days than not, while only one anime series, Tougen Anki, reached the U.S. top 10 for a single day.","whyItMatters":"Netflix's anime growth is real but comes almost entirely from sub-licensed hits and East Asian viewership, not from the exclusive titles the company promotes as its global strategy.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eNetflix's own data reveals a gap between its marketing claims and actual viewing patterns. At Anime Expo in July, Netflix released a press release describing anime as 'fueling a new era of global storytelling,' but the company's semi-annual spreadsheet tells a different story. The most ascendant anime franchise on Netflix in the first half of 2025 was Anpanman, a children's show about a superhero with a red bean bun head, whose viewership exploded 4700% after Netflix added over a dozen films previously on Hulu. That growth was confined to Japan. Outside Asia, the top performers were titles licensed from other distributors: The Apothecary Diaries, Solo Leveling, Mashle, Fire Force, and Frieren: Beyond Journey's End all ranked in the top 20 despite their currently-airing seasons being unavailable on Netflix. TOHO International and Crunchyroll have used Netflix's larger subscriber base as a discovery funnel, keeping subsequent seasons exclusive to Crunchyroll. Of the top 25 anime series, only five were Netflix exclusives outside Asia, and Netflix is not a producer on any of them. Less than 20% of total anime viewership came from titles with Netflix's branding. The report notes that while Netflix says 50% of its audience watches anime, that figure is heavily weighted by East Asian viewership, where anime appears on regional top lists most days.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Netflix anime viewership grew 11.3% in H1 2025, 10x faster than other content. But less than 20% came from Netflix's own titles. The biggest winner? Anpanman, up 4700% in Japan.","twitterPost":"Anime is outgrowing the rest of Netflix 10-to-1, but almost none of that growth comes from Netflix's exclusive or produced anime. Sub-licensed hits like Solo Leveling and Frieren are doing the heavy lifting.","threadsPost":null,"newsletterBlurb":"Netflix's semi-annual data shows anime viewership growing 10 times faster than other content, but the surge is driven by sub-licensed hits and East Asian audiences, not the company's own exclusive titles. Less than 20% of anime viewing hours came from Netflix-branded shows.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Anime by the Numbers\",\"url\":\"https://animebythenumbers.substack.com/p/anime-is-outgrowing-the-rest-of-netflix\",\"title\":\"Anime is outgrowing the rest of Netflix viewership 10-to-1\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":6100,"outputTokens":925,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1780226292,"createdAt":"2026-05-31T11:11:13.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-05-31T11:14:05.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-05-31T11:14:05.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_c3777eee5a2a80d0504e1a0a","canonicalTitle":"Anime is outgrowing the rest of Netflix viewership 10-to-1","representativeArticleId":"a_9813796021790473f01fb657","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"industry\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"business","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2025-08-02T04:12:13.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2025-08-02T04:12:13.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-05-31T11:14:06.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Anime By The Numbers","url":"https://animebythenumbers.substack.com/p/anime-is-outgrowing-the-rest-of-netflix","title":"Anime is outgrowing the rest of Netflix viewership 10-to-1"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":[],"studios":[],"people":[],"type":"news","domain":"industry","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":["Anime viewership on Netflix grew 11.3% in the first half of 2025, reaching approximately 4.4 billion hours watched, a rate ten times faster than all other content on the platform.","Of the top 25 most-watched anime series on Netflix in the first half of 2025, only five were exclusive to the platform outside of Asia, and Netflix is not listed as a producer for any of them.","The biggest viewership gainer was Anpanman, a children's franchise whose viewership jumped 4700% after Netflix acquired over a dozen films previously on Hulu, though that growth was limited to Japan.","Anime's dominance on Netflix is concentrated in East Asia, where it appears on regional top lists most days, while only one anime series, Tougen Anki, reached the U.S. top 10 for a single day."]}