Why Anime Studios Struggle Financially (Even When Their Shows Are Global Hits)

Industry analysts report that some of the most globally successful anime franchises — including Demon Slayer, Attack on Titan, and Jujutsu Kaisen — have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from box office receipts, merchandise, and streaming licensing. Yet, public sources indicate that the studios most closely associated with animating these series have continued to operate on tight margins or encountered financial strain.

Take Demon Slayer as a case in point. The franchise’s theatrical releases have reportedly brought in record-breaking box office totals in Japan and overseas, and related merchandise and home video sales have been substantial. Yet Studio Ufotable, the animation house behind the series, is not generally described in industry reporting as having captured the same level of financial upside as the franchise itself. Rather, analysts note that the structure of the anime business means that the lion’s share of licensing and merchandising revenue flows to the production committee and rights holders, not the studio that animated the series.

Similarly, Attack on Titan and Jujutsu Kaisen have been commercial successes on a global scale. Industry trade outlets and financial data observers have highlighted the significant value of international streaming rights, home media, and tie-in products generated by these properties. According to Teikoku Databank data on corporate performance in the Japanese entertainment sector, studios such as MAPPA — which animated several recent high-profile series — have faced ongoing cost pressures and uneven profitability, despite working on culturally prominent titles.

This apparent contradiction — where a franchise earns vast sums in the marketplace but the studio that animated it does not necessarily reap equivalent financial rewards — is a recurring pattern in anime production. It reflects how revenue is allocated across multiple stakeholders in the industry, not just the creative teams or animation houses.

In the sections that follow, we will unpack how these financial flows work, why studios often end up in tight financial positions, and how this dynamic affects the people who actually produce the work fans love.

Why fans think anime studios are rich (and why they are wrong)

Public sources indicate that when an anime becomes a global hit, the numbers attached to it are impossible to ignore. Box office figures are published in trade press. Blu-ray and DVD sales are tracked weekly in Japan. Streaming platforms announce licensing deals. Merchandise fills store shelves. From the outside, it looks as if the studio that animated the show must be making enormous amounts of money.

Industry analysts note that this perception is understandable but misleading. What fans usually see are franchise-level revenues, not studio-level earnings. When a movie like Demon Slayer: Mugen Train breaks box office records, or when Attack on Titan dominates global streaming charts, the reported figures reflect how much the property earned, not how much the animation studio received.

According to production committee disclosures and reporting by Japanese business outlets, most major anime projects are financed and owned by a consortium of companies. These typically include:

• the manga publisher or original rights holder
• a television network
• a music label
• a toy or merchandise company
• and increasingly, a streaming platform

The animation studio is usually hired to produce the show under a contract. Production committee contracts typically give studios a fixed production fee rather than a share of long-term revenue. That fee is based on the project’s budget and schedule, not on whether the anime later becomes a global hit.

This is why public sources often show a disconnect between how much an anime franchise earns and how much the studio benefits. A series can generate hundreds of millions of dollars in ticket sales, merchandise, and international licensing, while the studio that animated it may only see the pre-agreed production payment it was contracted to receive.

In other words, fans are looking at the wrong balance sheet. They are seeing the success of the IP and assuming it belongs to the studio, when in reality it belongs to the companies that financed and legally own the property.

Anime studios do not own the anime they create

This is where most of the confusion begins.

Industry analysts report that the majority of modern anime is produced under what is known as the production committee system. Under this model, several companies pool money to finance a project. Each company joins for a reason. A publisher wants to promote a manga. A TV network wants advertising slots. A music label wants soundtrack sales. A toy company wants character goods. A streaming platform wants global rights.

Together, they form a legal entity that owns the anime.

The studio does not.

Production committee contracts typically give the animation studio a production role, not an ownership stake. The studio agrees to deliver a certain number of episodes at a set quality level and within a fixed schedule. In return, it receives a fee. That fee covers staff salaries, equipment, subcontractors, and overhead. It does not include long-term participation in the franchise’s success.

Public sources indicate that this structure was designed to reduce risk for investors. If the anime fails, the losses are shared. If it succeeds, the profits flow back to the committee members who financed it. The studio, however, does not automatically share in that upside.

This is why so many hit anime leave studios financially unchanged.

A show can sell out theaters.
It can dominate streaming charts.
It can move mountains of merchandise.

Yet the studio that animated it still receives only what was written in the contract at the start.

Some studios do manage to secure better terms. Industry observers point out that long-established studios with strong reputations sometimes negotiate partial ownership or committee seats. This gives them a small slice of licensing or merchandise revenue. But these arrangements remain the exception, not the rule.

For most studios, the production committee model means one thing. They are paid to create. Others are paid to own.

And that difference explains almost everything that follows.

How anime studios actually get paid

Industry analysts report that most animation studios operate under fixed-fee production contracts. These agreements define how much a studio will receive for delivering a full season, a movie, or a set number of episodes. The payment is typically based on estimated production costs, rather than the anime’s eventual success.

This means a studio can work on what becomes one of the most talked-about releases of 2025 anime culture and still receive exactly the same amount of money it would have earned if the show had quietly disappeared after a single cour. The contract does not change when the audience grows.

Public sources indicate that these production fees are often tight. They must cover salaries, freelance animators, studio rent, equipment, and outsourcing costs. If schedules slip or scenes need to be redrawn, the extra work is usually absorbed by the studio, not paid for by the committee.

This is why even technically demanding projects, such as the ones often discussed in features like Solo leveling explained from webtoon to anime adaptation, place enormous financial pressure on studios. Turning a popular digital comic into a polished television series requires large teams, long hours, and expensive post-production. Yet the studio’s compensation remains fixed.

Production committee contracts typically give no automatic bonuses for success. If an anime explodes in popularity, sells millions of volumes, or spawns global fandom debates like gojo vs sukuna: who wins, that attention increases the value of the IP. It does not necessarily increase the studio’s income.

Some studios manage to negotiate better deals. They might receive a small stake in the committee or a limited share of licensing revenue. But industry reporting suggests that most studios still rely primarily on their production fees to survive. When a project goes over budget, they take the hit. When it becomes a hit, others take most of the reward.

This payment structure explains why studios are often busy but rarely wealthy. They are constantly producing content that fuels billion-dollar franchises, yet their own balance sheets remain fragile.

Where all the money really goes

Public sources indicate that once an anime becomes a hit, its revenue begins to flow through many different channels. There is box office income from films. There are streaming licenses sold by region. Blu-ray and DVD sales still matter in Japan. Then there is merchandise, which in many cases earns more over time than the show itself.

Industry analysts report that most of this money is collected by the companies that sit on the production committee. These are usually the publisher, the distributor, a music label, and one or more merchandising partners. Each of them invested in the project up front. Each of them owns a piece of the rights. They are the ones who receive the majority of the downstream revenue.

This is why a franchise can grow into something much larger than the anime that started it. A successful series might spawn novels, mobile games, stage plays, or even coffee shop collaborations. Much like how readers searching for lesser-known manga that deserve more attention often end up discovering stories that later become valuable long-term properties.

The studio, by contrast, rarely sees this income. Its payment was negotiated before the first episode ever aired. Once the show is delivered, the studio has usually already been paid in full. The merchandise that fills store shelves, the streaming deals that keep the series visible, and the overseas licenses that spread it worldwide all benefit the IP owners first.

Even slower-paced genres follow this same economic logic. Calm, healing series that later become famous for their soothing, slice-of-life atmosphere still generate music sales, home video revenue, and licensing fees. Those earnings, again, flow mainly to the rights holders rather than to the studio that animated them.

This structure explains why studios often feel disconnected from the long-term success of the work they create. They help build the property, but they do not control the river of money that comes after.

Why animators are overworked and underpaid

Industry analysts report that the financial pressure placed on studios flows straight down to the people doing the work. When a studio’s income is limited to a fixed production fee, every extra hour of animation, every redraw, and every schedule delay eats into its already thin margins. The easiest place to cut costs is labor.

Public sources indicate that a large part of anime production now relies on freelance and subcontracted animators. Many are paid per cut or per frame rather than on a stable salary. When deadlines tighten, they often work longer hours without proportional increases in pay. This system keeps studios afloat in the short term but creates a workforce that lives with constant financial uncertainty.

According to Teikoku Databank data and reporting by Japanese business outlets, many smaller and mid-sized studios operate with very narrow profit margins. They have limited cash reserves. When a project runs over budget, the studio absorbs the loss. That pressure trickles down. Animators are asked to do more with less time and less pay.

Outsourcing has become another survival strategy. Studios increasingly send parts of production to teams in South Korea, China, or Southeast Asia, where labor is cheaper. This keeps costs down, but it also fragments the creative process and places even more strain on domestic animators who must manage and correct the outsourced work.

From the outside, anime looks like a booming global industry. Inside the studio, it often feels like a race to keep the lights on. The people drawing the characters and animating the scenes carry much of that burden, even when the shows they work on become international hits.

Why Netflix and Crunchyroll did not fix the problem

When global streaming platforms entered the anime business, many people assumed the financial struggles of studios would finally ease. After all, Netflix, Crunchyroll, and other services were willing to spend large sums to secure exclusive titles and international rights. Budgets increased. Production schedules became more predictable. In some cases, studios even received money before a single episode was finished.

Industry analysts report that this shift did improve cash flow in the short term. A guaranteed licensing deal gives a studio the ability to pay staff, book subcontractors, and plan production without worrying about immediate bankruptcy. For many studios, streaming money kept projects alive that might otherwise never have been made.

However, public sources indicate that most streaming contracts still follow the same basic logic as the traditional production committee system. The platform pays an upfront fee in exchange for distribution rights, often on a global scale. That fee is not tied to how popular the show becomes later. If the anime turns into a worldwide hit, the platform and the rights holders benefit most from subscriber growth, long-term licensing, and brand value.

Production committee contracts typically give studios no automatic share of this ongoing revenue. Once the episodes are delivered and the licensing fee is paid, the studio’s role is financially complete. The show may continue to attract new viewers for years, but the studio’s income from that project usually does not grow with it.

This is why streaming has not fundamentally changed the economic position of most anime studios. It has made production more stable, but it has not given studios ownership or control. They still create the product. Others still own the future.

Case study: Why Ufotable gained stability while MAPPA stayed under pressure

Industry analysts often point to the contrast between Ufotable and MAPPA to explain how contract position, not popularity, determines a studio’s financial health.

Ufotable, which animated Demon Slayer, is widely regarded as one of the more stable studios in the industry. Public sources indicate that this stability comes from long-term relationships with powerful partners like Aniplex and a reputation for delivering high-quality work on carefully selected projects. This allows Ufotable to negotiate better production terms and, in some cases, limited participation in the production committee. It does not own the franchise outright, but it is closer to the revenue stream than most studios.

MAPPA’s situation looks very different. The studio has animated some of the most talked-about series of the last decade, including Jujutsu Kaisen and later seasons of Attack on Titan. These shows generate enormous attention, drive debates about everything from fight choreography to who is the most iconic red-haired hero in anime, and fuel a constant stream of fan engagement. Yet industry reporting suggests that MAPPA operates on tight margins, in part because it takes on many high-risk projects without holding meaningful ownership stakes.

MAPPA produces a large number of shows across multiple seasons and formats, keeping staff and freelancers busy year-round. This keeps revenue flowing, but it also increases exposure to cost overruns and burnout.

Ufotable, by contrast, limits how much it produces at once. This protects quality and keeps costs under control. It also strengthens its negotiating position with publishers, music labels, and distributors, many of whom have long histories in Japan’s broader creative industries. Those relationships mirror how some of the most influential figures in Japanese art and culture have built careers through long-term partnerships rather than constant output.

This case study shows that success in anime is not just about animating popular stories. It is about where a studio sits in the financial structure that surrounds those stories.

Is the anime industry actually changing?

Industry analysts report that the global anime market keeps growing as streaming platforms push Japanese animation to audiences worldwide. Companies track the expansion of the global anime industry and show steady revenue growth driven by international licensing and digital distribution.

Yet studios do not feel that growth. Reporting on why animation studios struggle despite record industry revenue shows that most production houses still operate on thin margins. They stay busy, but they do not become wealthy.

The production committee system continues to control how money flows. Publishers, broadcasters, and merchandise companies own the rights. Studios produce the animation and collect a fixed fee. Streaming platforms now pay more upfront, but analysis of how Netflix licenses anime worldwide shows that these deals still leave studios without ownership or long-term revenue.

Some studios have started to push back. Coverage of new co-production models in modern anime shows studios working directly with global partners and negotiating small ownership stakes. These deals give them more control, but they remain rare.

The industry is changing. The power structure is not. Until studios secure ownership or revenue participation, most will remain financially fragile, even as anime continues to grow worldwide.

Anime is booming, but studios are still trapped

Anime has never been more popular. Streaming platforms push it into every region. Movies break box-office records. Merchandise fills shelves worldwide. From the outside, the industry looks healthier than ever.

Inside the production pipeline, a different reality persists.

Industry analysts report that the companies that finance and own anime still capture most of its long-term value. Production committees control intellectual property. Publishers, broadcasters, and merchandise partners collect the bulk of licensing and franchise revenue. Studios animate the work and receive fixed fees that rarely grow with success.

This structure explains why so many studios feel stuck. They produce hit after hit, yet their financial position changes little. Rising demand only increases workloads. It does not guarantee stability. Animators feel the strain first, but studios themselves carry it too.

Some cracks have started to appear. A few studios now negotiate for committee seats. Others work directly with global partners. These shifts show that change is possible. But they remain the exception.

For now, the anime industry still rewards ownership far more than creation. Until that balance shifts, studios will continue to bring the world unforgettable stories while struggling to secure their own future.