Analysis Suggests Anime Provides More To Netflix Than Netflix Gives Back To Anime

In a recent report for Anime News Network, anime expert Miles Thomas Atherton gave readers an industry insider’s point of view on Netflix’s massive 2023 viewer data dump, released last December.

Atherton is a true authority when it comes to analyzing anime viewership data. He is the founder of anime promotion consulting firm White Box Entertainment, a former chief marketing officer at European anime distributor Anime Ltd., and he spent nearly 10 years working for Crunchyroll before that.

Here are five takeaways from Atherton’s article, which is well worth reading for anyone interested in anime and how audiences consume it.

1) Netflix’s Data Still Lacking

In examining the viewership numbers shared by Netflix last month, Atherton admits that, although this is the most detailed data shared by Netflix to date, it’s still vague enough to make definitive conclusions harder to draw than they would be with more precise data. In particular, he was frustrated by the lack of regional data, which would allow for far greater analysis. Viewing information was also provided for individual seasons of properties, meaning anyone interested would have to do a lot of math to know that the most-watched anime franchises on Netflix are Pokémon, One Piece, and Naruto. That said, there was still plenty to be gleaned from what Netflix did provide.

2) Netflix Is The Main Benefactor In Its Relationship With Anime

One of the most compelling arguments made in Atherton’s piece is that “Netflix is riding off of the success of anime rather than the other way around.” Atherton suggests that the Netflix-anime relationship is mostly one-sided, and the streamer reaps vast rewards from both its acquired and original anime content without having to do much marketing or promotion in return.

3) A Rising Tide

The Netflix-anime relationship is unbalanced because other anime platforms are doing the heavy lifting when it comes to promoting the medium. It’s a rising tide lifts all boats situation, where huge anime IPs have built up the art form over years and hundreds of episodes, creating an audience for anime content that Netflix can exploit without having to lay that foundation.

4) Neglected by Marketing

Backing up his claim, Atherton points out that despite anime’s incredible popularity on the platform, Netflix doesn’t promote anime titles with the zeal it does other animated and live-action content, even when it would cost the streamer nothing to do so. Atherton points out that when Netflix’s main social media pages posted about Scott Pilgrim Takes Off last year, it was the first time that the company had posted about an anime series from those channels since 2021. Of the five most-viewed anime franchises available on Netflix, none were mentioned on Netflix’s primary social media channels last year, but were instead relegated to the much less popular Netflix Geeked channels.

5) Anime Is Key To Netflix’s Expansion in Asia

As impressive as anime’s numbers are in the West, they’re overwhelming in Asian territories where Netflix still has low penetration. If Netflix is going to continue to grow, it must do so in Asia. With so much competition, Netflix saw its subscriber numbers stagnate and even drop in some of its traditional marketplaces. However, the company saw worldwide subscriber growth in early 2023, 80% of which came from Asia Pacific countries. Atherton dug deep into Netflix’s regional Top 10 sites for several Asian territories and concluded that two categories pulled in viewers more than any others: anime and Harry Potter. Given that trend, it feels safe to assume that Netflix will continue to focus on acquiring and producing anime as it expands its Asian footprint.