How Crunchyroll became a global anime streaming empire | BBC News

Crunchyroll: The Anime Empire

Key Concepts: Anime streaming, licensing, global market, content acquisition, in-house production, merchandise, theatrical releases, competition with Netflix, fandom.

1. Introduction: Anime's Global Rise and Crunchyroll's Dominance

• Anime is a rapidly growing entertainment sector.
• Crunchyroll is a leading streaming platform for anime, boasting 17 million subscribers across 200 countries.
• Crunchyroll's mission is to bring Japanese anime to a global audience.
• The potential market size is estimated at 1.5 billion anime viewers or anime-curious fans outside of China and Japan.

2. Crunchyroll's Business Model: Streaming, Licensing, and Dubbing

• Crunchyroll operates like other streaming services, combining in-house programs with licensed content.
• The majority of content is licensed from Japanese creative partners (producers, creators, artists).
• Crunchyroll subtitles content into multiple languages within an hour of the Japanese broadcast.
• They also dub content into approximately 10 different languages.

3. Case Study: Solo Leveling - A Hit Anime

• Solo Leveling is an anime that incorporates video game elements, particularly "leveling up."
• Its appeal lies in its relatability to fans familiar with gaming trends and themes.
• Solo Leveling was a number one show on the platform in most regions.
• Season 2 broke all records.

4. Competition: Netflix and the Anime Market

• The growth of anime has attracted other streaming services like Netflix.
• The overseas anime market has surpassed the domestic Japanese market.
• Crunchyroll airs approximately 75% of all anime titles aired in Japan.
• Netflix's Delicious in Dungeon is an example of a popular anime they licensed.
• Crunchyroll aims to secure exclusive rights to as much content as possible.
• The competition for anime licenses is compared to football clubs signing players.

5. Beyond Streaming: Movies, Merchandise, and Fandom

• Crunchyroll is involved in theatrical releases of anime films.
• Anime giants are behind half the top 20 anime films in US box office history.
• Examples include the Demon Slayer films.
• Demon Slayer: Mugen Train surpassed Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away as the most successful anime film ever, holding the title for over 20 years.
• Crunchyroll caters to the anime lifestyle by offering merchandise, figures, and games based on popular anime.

6. Notable Quotes

• "Crunchyroll is a media and entertainment company focused on bringing Japanese anime to audiences worldwide."
• "Majority of our content we license from creative partners in Japan so producers creators artists in Japan create shows we subtitle them into many languages within an hour after Japanese broadcast and then we also dub it into about 10 different languages right now"
• "For all of these fans that have grown up in games that know all the trends and themes when they see them within a narrative story it is attractive"
• "For our fans this is a lifestyle if they want to collect merchandise or figures play a game that's based on their favorite anime show watch a movie with friends and family on a big screen we make all of that available"

7. Technical Terms and Concepts

• Anime: Japanese animation.
• Licensing: Acquiring the rights to distribute content.
• Subtitling: Adding translated text to video content.
• Dubbing: Replacing the original audio with a translated version.
• Fandom: A community of fans dedicated to a particular interest.

8. Synthesis/Conclusion

Crunchyroll has established itself as a dominant force in the global anime market by focusing on rapid subtitling and dubbing, strategic licensing, and catering to the broader anime lifestyle through merchandise and theatrical releases. While facing increasing competition from streaming giants like Netflix, Crunchyroll continues to strive for exclusive content and maintain its position as a central hub for anime fans worldwide.