Netflix is diving deeper into anime after revealing a major shift in viewer habits. More than 50% of its global users now watch anime, totaling over 150 million households — triple the amount from just five years ago.
The streamer made the announcement at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, according to The Hollywood Reporter, where it also previewed new titles and teased several upcoming releases.
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New titles revealed at Anime Expo
Among the announcements was “Sakamoto Days,” which dominated Netflix’s Global Top 10 list for 10 weeks. According to Variety, the title charted in 54 countries, including France, Argentina and South Korea.
Another buzzy addition is “My Melody & Kuromi,” premiering July 24. Based on Sanrio’s iconic characters, first introduced as part of the Hello Kitty universe, the show follows two shop owners teaming up to save their hometown. My Melody debuted in 1975, while Kuromi joined as her mischievous rival in 2005.
Netflix is also collaborating with animation studio TRIGGER and game developer CD PROJEKT RED for a sequel to “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners,” which won Crunchyroll’s 2023 Anime of the Year.
Other upcoming titles teased at the event include “Record of Ragnarok III,” “Blue Eye Samurai,” and “The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity.”
A genre once niche becomes mainstream
For years, Crunchyroll was the dominant streaming hub for anime, but it didn’t always reach a global audience. That has started to shift.
A 2025 study from Dentsu found that 48% of global anime viewers now watch on Netflix. In the U.S. alone, 63% of people say they watch anime through the platform.
Netflix’s internal data, as shared at Anime Expo, backs that up. Not only are more than 150 million subscribers watching anime, but the genre was viewed more than 1 billion times globally in 2024.
But it’s not just Netflix. Dentsu’s data also reveals 32% of anime viewers watch on Disney+ and 29% watch on Prime Video. According to the data, the majority of viewers who engage with anime content tend to be younger.
In a 2017 article from The Verge, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer at the time said $8 billion would go toward producing 30 new anime series and 80 new original films slated for 2018.
The early investment could be paying off. A 2023 report from Parrot Analytics found Netflix earned about $2.07 billion from anime, compared to Crunchyroll’s $1.16 billion revenue that year.
Dubbed anime dominates viewership
The Hollywood Reporter notes that 33 anime titles appeared on Netflix’s Global Top 10 (Non-English) rankings in 2024. However, 80–90% of viewers opted to watch the shows dubbed, meaning the original Japanese audio was replaced with another language, typically English.
