Sony bets on home-grown anime to fuel decades of future growth

Résumé détaillé

Sony bets on anime to drive future growth as it builds franchises, expands Crunchyroll and seeks more control of IP. Read more at straitstimes.com.

The first instalment of Demon Slayer’s Infinity Castle trilogy grossed about US$800 million worldwide in 2025.

TOKYO – From the Walkman and PlayStation to Spider-Man’s box office records, Sony Group has shown a knack for shaping global pop culture hits.

Now in the midst of a strategic transition, the company is pouring time and money into a home-grown genre with the potential to power growth for decades to come: anime.

After turning Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba into a global phenomenon, the company is working to seed or acquire the next anime blockbuster. Some 80 years into its history, Sony is determined to create franchises that will last about as long.

The US$28 billion (S$35 billion) anime industry is one of the fastest-growing genres of entertainment globally. For Sony, it is a key part of a broader shift away from relying on physical hardware like the PlayStation console and towards intellectual property (IP) and content.

Much as with beloved game characters transcending their original format, hit anime franchises become gold mines not only for viewership but also for merchandise, music and live experiences.

“With Demon Slayer, it is our intent to make this last 10 or 20, if not 50 to 100 years,” Atsuhiro Iwakami, president of Sony Music Entertainment Japan and chairman of Aniplex, Sony’s anime production company, said in an interview.

He points to Dragon Ball and One Piece, stories that have survived long enough to pass from parents to children and which Sony has rights to stream internationally. “We want to make sure we’re part of creating the type of franchise that can withstand decades.”

Tokyo-based Sony has turned anime into a scalable business in recent years, with acquisitions of services like Crunchyroll, now the world’s largest streaming platform dedicated to the genre.

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