May is proving to be a thrilling time for animation enthusiasts, with Crunchyroll’s “Ani-May” celebrations offering fans exciting opportunities and industry leaders highlighting the global surge of anime.
Ani-May kicks off with savings and collectables
As part of Crunchyroll’s Ani-May project, fans looking to expand their collections can take advantage of current promotions. As a partner in the celebration, Zavvi has launched its ANI-MAY event, featuring significant savings on anime boxsets, Steelbooks, and Blu-rays.
Meanwhile, Crunchyroll itself offers a free Ani-May pin for customers who purchase £75 or more on in-stock merchandise at the Crunchyroll store. This annual celebration, spearheaded by Crunchyroll, underscores the growing demand for physical anime media, with price drops across major franchises available on their site.
Crunchyroll discusses anime’s expanding universe at Cannes
Underscoring anime’s rising prominence, Mitchel Berger, Senior Vice President, Global Commerce, Crunchyroll, recently participated in a significant discussion at the Cannes International Film Festival. During the “Animation Day x Streamers Forum | From Streaming to the Big Screen – How Anime Is Driving Cinema,” presented by Crunchyroll, Berger shed light on the medium’s explosive growth and its profound connection with audiences, particularly the younger generation.
Berger emphasised that anime is not merely a genre, but a versatile medium for storytelling. He said:
A lot of folks look at anime as a genre, and it’s not. It’s a medium. It’s a way of telling stories. There’s anything you want within it… And, anime is a fandom built around the community and the belonging it brings — not a single IP. That passion and sense of identity is what makes it truly special.”
The Virtuous Circle of Anime Growth
The Crunchyroll executive described a “wonderful virtuous circle” fueling anime’s expansion.
Our partners in Japan, our licensors, are creating amazing content over and over again. And, we’re growing the fan base, and then you have shows like Demon Slayer or Solo Leveling, which are incredibly high quality and really resonate with the fan base. It feeds the existing fan base, but also brings new fans in. And as the market grows, we create even more content. So it’s this wonderful virtuous circle of content: creating fans, fans creating other fans, and that fandom creating content. And we love that, and that’s what’s driven the growth over the last few years.
Berger also highlighted the inclusive nature of the anime community.
There’s no gatekeeping in anime. The community wants to bring people in, to share the love — and that spirit of inclusion is core to what makes this fandom thrive.”
Anime as a lifestyle and generational phenomenon
Crunchyroll views anime fandom as a “lifestyle,” aiming to meet fans across various platforms, including streaming, theatrical releases, games, merchandise, and events. Berger explained:
We look at this fandom as a lifestyle. Whether it’s streaming, theatrical, games, merchandise, or events — we want to be where the fans are.”
The statistics speak volumes about its reach.
In the United States, 42% of Gen Z and Alpha watch anime every week — that’s a higher percentage than those who watch the NFL… It was eye-opening for me to see how much anime resonates with younger audiences — how integral it is to their identity and who they are…. We’re also now seeing parents who grew up with Dragon Ball or Sailor Moon sharing anime with their kids. It’s becoming generational.”
Hit series like Demon Slayer play a crucial role in this ecosystem.
A show like Demon Slayer feeds the existing fan base, brings in new fans, and drives the creation of more content. It’s a virtuous circle. It was a cultural validation moment — when fans saw Demon Slayer break box office records, it confirmed that anime belonged on the global stage.”
Global Expansion and Theatrical Success
Crunchyroll is committed to making anime an even larger part of global pop culture. With over 15 million subscribers to its premium streaming service, which boasts the world’s largest dedicated library of subbed and dubbed anime, the company is a major force. Its theatrical distribution arm has also seen remarkable success, releasing ten of the top anime films outside of Asia and being behind ten of the Top 20 best-performing anime films in U.S. box office history. Titles like Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train, Suzume, JUJUTSU KAISEN 0, and Dragon Ball Super: SUPER HERO exemplify this success.
Looking ahead, Berger mentioned the upcoming release of Infinity Castle (referring to Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Hashira Training Arc, which leads into the Infinity Castle Arc). Mitchel told the Cannes audience;
Infinity Castle will launch in Japan in July, with most of the world rolling out around September 12 — give or take a week — in partnership with Sony Pictures. Being part of the Sony family has accelerated our ability to grow and reach fans. Our work with Sony Pictures and Aniplex on projects like Infinity Castle has been game-changing.”
The Future is Bright and Global
Later this year, fans can anticipate Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle, the first film in an epic trilogy depicting the final battle of the popular series. It will premiere in cinemas in Japan on July 18th and globally starting in August.
Crunchyroll sees immense potential for growth in markets like India, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. As Mitchel Berger concluded:
Anime resonates globally — and it’s only just beginning to scale.”
