The anime industry is massive. But compared to what?
The industry is no longer the “small” industry it was back in the 20th century.
Since the 1990’s the industry’s exploded into international markets, grabbing the hearts of young fans everywhere.
And even though the anime industry is getting more “popular” everyday, 2 things stand out:
- The anime industry isn’t mainstream yet.
- And it’s still not as big as comparable industries.
Let’s focus on western, Hollywood films, the popularity of that industry, and compare the success of how things stand as of 2019. When compared to the anime industry itself…
How i’ll compare both industries:
- With sales statistics.
- By using Google Trends to see which is “searched” the most online.
- And similar methods.
Let’s get started.
Source: Google Trends
Anime Vs Hollywood Films Popularity:
1. Anime Vs Hollywood comparison with Google Trends (USA)
As you can see – the red line is anime. The blue line is hollywood.
Basically: according to Google Trends in the last 12 months, more people searched for anime than they did Hollywood in the USA!
So anime wins for popularity in this graph.
2. Anime Vs Hollywood comparison Google Trends (Worldwide)
As you can see – the worldwide chart is even better than “just” the USA.
Worldwide there are more people searching for anime than there are “Hollywood” in the last 12 months.
But this isn’t the full picture. So let’s keep digging.
3. Anime Vs Hollywood comparison since 2004 (worldwide)
You can clearly see that even since 2004, more people search for anime compared to Hollywood.
But now – it’s time to look at the BIGGER picture.
4. Anime vs Films comparison in last 12 months (USA)
As you can see – the gap between people in the USA searching for anime vs films is massive.
The red line is anime, the “films” line, which is synonymous with western films, is much smaller.
5. Anime vs Films comparison since 2004 (worldwide)
Even though anime dipped in 2009 on wards, it’s still ahead of “films” by a large margin globally.
Now here’s where things change
Now I’ll show you the comparison in popularity between the terms “anime”.
6. Anime Vs Movies comparison in last 12 months (USA)
Now things change dramatically.
“Movies” is another word that’s synonymous with western films and Hollywood.
When you compare anime vs
The difference is out of this world.
7. Anime Vs Movies comparison since 2004 (worldwide)
It’s not as bad as the “USA” only comparison, but still. The difference in how many people search for “anime is ridiculous.
This chart is since 2004, globally. And when compared this way, we can see the trend line for anime has barely moved upwards.
Anime Vs Hollywood sales statistics:
8. Hollywood films vs Anime comparison (Sales Statistics)
According to Deadline.com, the US film industry did 43 billion in 2017.
And according to Nippon.com, the anime industry did 200 billion yen (1.8 billion dollars) in 2017.
Looking at this you could say it’s an “unfair” comparison because Hollywood has been around… forever.
And they’ve raked in the
But these are the facts.
Anime as it stands does almost 5% of the US Film industry’s yearly sales.
When you consider how niche the anime industry is, on top of where it stands in terms of stability, it’s impressive the anime industry’s come this far.
It’s a guarantee we’ll see this number continue to rise within the next 10 years!
Related: 6 Things That Need To Happen In The Anime Industry (10 Years From Now)
Things to consider
Let’s not forget in 2016, the anime industry did 2.9 trillion yen (over 25 billion dollars) thanks to movies like Your Name.
But “in general” the anime industry still has more ground to cover to reach “Hollywood” status. Which will be unbelievable for an industry that’s so niche if it manages.
Takeaways:
- More people seem to search for anime online. The only time this isn’t true is when people search “movies” specifically.
- Even though anime seems to be more popular than Hollywood films online, it’s nowhere near as successful.
- The anime industry is niche. Hollywood is “broad” in comparison.
- When you consider how niche the anime industry is, what its accomplished so far is surprising.
The anime industry is making steady progress
As a niche industry it doesn’t need to be as big as Hollywood, but more
So things are looking good, and the future is bound to be even better.
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If you have anything to say, leave it in the comments.
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How The Anime Industry Has Grown Since 2004 To 2018
Why The Anime Industry Is Still In Its Startup Phase, And How It Got Here
