Anime’s rise in popularity is only growing with each passing year, as the medium seemingly isn’t slowing down any time soon. One of the biggest North American studios that has been able to capitalize on the uptick is Sony Pictures, which just so happens to own the anime streaming service Crunchyroll. In a recent report, Sony announced that they have been seeing massive success thanks in part to Crunchyroll and their recent anime releases. Unfortunately, a fairly big caveat surrounds Sony’s recent good news, as it seems the gains from the anime industry aren’t quite enough to overcome other entertainment hurdles.
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In a recent report from outlet Deadline, Sony’s premiere anime streaming service, Crunchyroll, saw some major success in 2025. Specifically, the number of subscribers is 21 million, up from 17 million in 2024. Thanks to Sony distributing Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, the studio also reaped the benefits from Tanjiro and the Hashira’s recent theatrical outing. To date, the latest film focusing on the Demon Slayer Corps pulled in over $354 million, making it the biggest anime film of all time. Unfortunately, Sony Pictures ran into some issues for 2025 due to the shuttering of its virtual effects unit, Pixomondo. The report also notes that overall lower revenues from theatrical outings outside of anime contributed to the flat outlook of the previous fiscal year. Sales were “flat” with a little under $10 billion made over the year.
Crunchyroll in The Streaming World
While Crunchyroll might be one of the biggest anime-centric streaming services around, the Sony streaming service still has major competition within the medium. Earlier this year, it was revealed that the majority of anime watchers consume shows and movies via Netflix, which makes sense when you consider the platform’s subscriber count. Even with over 21 million subscribers, this is a small percentage when it comes to the hundreds of millions that Netflix currently has. Netflix might not focus exclusively on anime, but the streaming service has waded its toes into the anime streaming wars via housing classic and original properties. With recent releases like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run and Sakamoto Days, it’s a fight to the finish for anime streamers.
Crunchyroll has found a niche for itself when it comes to theatrical outings, as the platform has been releasing old and new classics to North American theaters. In years past, imagining an anime film from Japan having a theatrical run in the West seemed impossible, but nowadays, it seems as though most popular movies are at least getting a few nights in the spotlight. The streaming service has also been creating unique one-night events, “Crunchyroll Anime Nights Sneak Peek,” to highlight upcoming anime arrivals on the platform. While this year won’t see the release of another Demon Slayer film to the silver screen, Crunchyroll is looking to expand on its anime domination in theaters all the same.
What do you think of Crunchyroll’s big accomplishments in the last fiscal year? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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