My Hero Academia Paved the Way for Anime's Recent Boom, Says Toho CEO

Decades ago, anime was seen as a niche interest by the world at large, but that is no longer the case. Whether in Japan or America, anime is seen as a major contender in the entertainment world. From film to television, series like Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen have become huge hits. And in a recent interview, the CEO of Toho admitted they credit My Hero Academia with revitalizing anime's global surge.

The admission came from VIPO as the publication spoke with Hiroyasu Matsuoka, the CEO of Toho. It was there the exec admitted the company really struggled to find a global foothold, but My Hero Academia shifted all of that.

"Back then, I was in charge of overseas development at the time, and global distribution companies began to talk with me daily for negotiations. They desperately wanted to get their hands on My Hero Academia. We noticed distributors were raising their offers even when their previous ones were still under review. Plus, rival companies were also entering the market and driving up the price further with impressive numbers."

Continuing, Matsuoka said the bidding war behind My Hero Academia helped Toho view its anime licensing strategies differently. "[My Hero Academia] helped us recognize the potential for anime to succeed overseas, so we began to focus on expanding our business overseas. Of course, we needed to still address the domestic market, so given how motivated we were about expanding anime overseas, we didn't miss out the current anime boom. We already had built a network, so we were able to oversee titles such as Jujutsu Kaisen, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, and The Apothecary Diaries."

As you can imagine, Toho is doing pretty well these days. Anime interest is surging globally thanks to streaming, and manga is rising just the same in sales. From Dragon Ball to My Hero Academia, the industries have welcomed their share of game changers over the years. So now, all eyes are on the future as anime committees hunt for the next big thing. Hits like Solo Leveling are on the rise, and there are other big shows like Kaiju No. 8 stirring buzz online. 

What do you think about this My Hero Academia update? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!