As 2025 comes to an end, it is time to look back on the year for Japan Anime News. The site officially launched in April 2024 as ORICON’s English language platform, and throughout 2025 we covered a wide range of anime news. Beyond the headlines themselves, the year also brought moments of both excitement and challenge on the operational side. Here is a brief look back at the past year.

Personal Highlights

Best Anime of 2025: Chi. Orb: On the Movements of the Earth

Among all the anime released this year, Chi. Orb: On the Movements of the Earth stood out as the most memorable. Even in its original manga form, the story delivered shocking twists that left a strong impression. The anime adaptation aired on NHK in Japan. As Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK benefits from stable funding, and its productions are consistently polished and high in quality.

The opening theme song “Kaiju” by Sakanaction perfectly matched the tone of the series and added to its impact. The show was filled with powerful lines and memorable moments, reached a proper conclusion, and will likely be remembered as a work that left a lasting mark on anime history.

Japan Anime News Highlights

■The Most Read Article: Godzilla x Lacoste Collaboration
One clear trend in Japan Anime News traffic is that collaborations between popular anime or IPs and global brands tend to generate strong page views. The most read article of 2025 covered the collaboration between Godzilla and Lacoste. This article attracted a particularly large amount of traffic from organic search.

LACOSTE x Godzilla Collaboration Launches in Japan on September 19, 2025

■Google Discover Performance: ONE PIECE and Baskin Robbins
Google Discover continues to be a major source of traffic for web media. In 2025, news related to One Piece played a significant role in driving Discover traffic. The top performing article in this category was the collaboration between One Piece and Baskin Robbins, followed by news about Netflix’s live action adaptation.

ONE PIECE × Baskin-Robbins Collaboration Debuts! Gum-Gum Fruit Ice Cream and Straw Hat Sundaes Arrive

■Most Buzzed Topic on Social Media
On social media, the article that generated the biggest buzz featured voice actress Marika Kono wearing a mini skirt Santa Claus cosplay. Readers clearly knew what they wanted to see.

■Operations and Team Structure
Shifting to a more practical topic, there were changes in the team structure during the year. From November onward, editor Tsuji began dedicating most of their time to other responsibilities. As a result, nearly all ORICON articles are currently translated and published by me, Shoji. I will continue to do my best.

During the summer, we were also joined by a university student intern, and it was a very meaningful and productive experience.

■Web Media Cannot Survive Without Revenue

Web media is not a charity. Without revenue, it simply cannot continue to operate.

This year, Japan Anime News itself faced the possibility of shutting down if monetization did not materialize. However, we were fortunate to receive a two month long tie up project with Kaiju No. 8: The Game. Thanks to that partnership, the site was able to survive. We are truly grateful.

At present, editor Tsuji has been urgently assigned to another project, which means we are not actively able to pursue advertising sales. Even so, we hope that in 2026 we can once again contribute to the promotion of major works through large scale tie ups. Honestly, thank you so much.

To everyone in the industry reading this, we are always open to tie up opportunities and are also looking for new partners who can provide news and information. Please feel free to reach out anytime. We would love to hear from you.

Kaiju No. 8 THE GAME Finally Launches — Protagonist VA Masaya Fukunishi Reveals the Game’s Unique Appeal

Anime Industry News Highlights

■Tatsuki Fujimoto Sparks a Movement Beyond Manga and Anime Fans

When Look Back, originally published as a one shot manga on Jump Plus, received a theatrical release, it became a surprise hit. The film went on to win the Japan Academy Film Prize for Best Animation. Riding this momentum, Chainsaw Man: The Reze Arc achieved an unexpected box office success, surpassing 10 billion yen in revenue, approximately 64.5 million dollars at an exchange rate of 1 USD to 155 JPY.

In addition, several of Fujimoto’s earlier short works have been adapted into anime, and a live action adaptation of Look Back is also planned. It is extremely rare for a manga artist to gain this level of recognition among the general public beyond dedicated manga and anime fans.

■Demon Slayer Infinity Castle Part 1 Becomes a Historic Hit

In July, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle Arc Part One was released in theaters and quickly became a historic success. The previous theatrical film not only resonated with audiences due to its content, but also played a major role as a form of mass entertainment during the COVID 19 pandemic, ultimately becoming the highest grossing film in Japanese cinema history.

Surpassing that record once seemed nearly impossible. However, the latest film came remarkably close to rewriting that historic benchmark.

■The Gundam GQuuuuuuX Phenomenon in Japan

While reactions overseas appeared relatively muted, Gundam GQuuuuuuX became a full scale social phenomenon within Japan. The series generated enormous buzz. Its story can be described as a parallel world take on the original Mobile Suit Gundam. In the original timeline, the Earth Federation emerges victorious, but in this alternate setting, the Principality of Zeon has won the war.

Longtime Gundam fans familiar with the original series eagerly speculated on future developments based on the backgrounds of returning characters, often explaining details to newer fans. At the same time, the introduction of entirely new characters created additional excitement. Few anime in recent years have generated this level of sustained discussion across social media platforms.

■Marriage of Popular Voice Actors Maaya Uchida and Kaito Ishikawa

While marriages between voice actors are not uncommon, the most notable announcement of the year involved Maaya Uchida and Kaito Ishikawa. Adding to the attention, Maaya Uchida’s younger brother, voice actor Yuma Uchida, is also married to voice actress Rina Hidaka, making the Uchida family a rare example of a household deeply rooted in the voice acting industry.

Voice Actors Maaya Uchida & Kaito Ishikawa Announce Marriage: “We Will Grow as Human Beings and as Performers with a Sense of Responsibility”

■Is AI an Enemy or an Ally of the Anime Industry?
Advances in AI technology have the potential to dramatically reshape the anime and manga industries. At the same time, generative AI has raised serious concerns among creators, rights holders, and fans alike. The widespread generation of Studio Ghibli style illustrations suggests that some AI companies perceive Japan as a country less likely to push back strongly against such practices.

On the other hand, there are also ambitious efforts to incorporate AI directly into anime production. Japan’s anime industry has long been associated with excessive workloads, and there is hope that thoughtful use of AI could help alleviate some of these structural problems.

■Harsh Working Conditions in Japan’s Anime Industry: Profits Without Sustainability
Japanese market research firm Teikoku Databank released a report on bankruptcies and business closures within the anime industry. While the overall market reached a record high of 362.1 billion yen, approximately 60 percent of animation studios reported worsening financial performance.

To cope with excessive workloads, some production tasks have been outsourced overseas. However, the weak yen has driven up costs and further squeezed profits. Major studios that own their own intellectual property are still able to secure a certain level of income, but small and mid sized studios without IP assets face serious financial instability.

This is a structural issue that extends to the manga industry as well. Anime and manga, once considered niche otaku culture, have historically been sustained by creators driven by passion. The legendary output and pace of manga artist Osamu Tezuka make this clear.

Passion is essential for creating great works, but working conditions that are too severe will prevent the next generation of animators from emerging. Meanwhile, the quality of Chinese animation continues to rise, and Saudi Arabia is aggressively entering the animation space with substantial financial backing. Japan remains an animation powerhouse, but continuing on the current path is not sustainable.

[Editor’s Picks] Too Many Anime? Broadcast Delays Become an "Unusual Situation" as Six TV Series Are Postponed and One Canceled

■Challenges for Original Animated Feature Films

Original animated films faced significant difficulties in 2025. Studio 4°C’s Chao, P.A.WORKS’ Dive in Wonderland, and Mamoru Hosoda’s Scarlet all struggled at the box office. In the case of Scarlet, there was little positive word of mouth, making its underperformance particularly notable.

As with startups, once a director delivers an outstanding hit, companies are more willing to join production committees and funding becomes easier to secure. However, this setback likely caused serious damage to the Mamoru Hosoda brand.

In Japan, the importance of screenwriting once again became a major topic of discussion. In Hosoda’s earlier works such as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars, the screenplay was written by Satoko Okudera. In 2025, Okudera demonstrated her strength as a screenwriter with the live action film Kokuho, the highest grossing Japanese film of the year. She successfully condensed a lengthy original novel into a three hour runtime and delivered an exceptional script.

She has also won numerous awards for the television drama Saiai in 2021. Looking back, it was a surprising personal discovery that she also wrote the screenplay for School Ghost Stories in 1995, a work that left a strong impression on me as a child.

■When Different Staff Make All the Difference

Beyond screenwriting, 2025 was a year in which audiences were repeatedly reminded of how crucial production staff are to the final quality of visual works.

1. Chainsaw Man Recap Compilation

Although Chainsaw Man became a major hit this year, the first anime season aired in 2022 suffered from disastrously low sales of physical media, commonly referred to in Japan as “discs,” meaning DVDs and Blu rays.

As part of the promotion for Chainsaw Man: The Reze Arc, the first season was reconstructed into a roughly three hour compilation film under the direction of Tatsuya Yoshihara. This version featured revised direction, adjusted dialogue, and newly recorded lines, showing a clear level of care and effort.

The reception was extremely positive, generating significant buzz on social media ahead of the theatrical release of the Reze Arc.

2.One Punch Man Season 3

The evaluation of One Punch Man Season 3 was relatively subdued. The exceptionally high quality of Season 1 inevitably invited comparison, which worked against the new season. While it initially seemed that budgetary constraints might explain the early episodes, the issue felt less about drawing quality and more about awkward pacing between cuts.

Scene transitions lacked a seamless flow, at times giving the impression that something had been skipped, with characters appearing to move suddenly between shots. It is easy to imagine that the production team faced difficult circumstances.

■Directional Challenges Seen in Wandance

Motion capture has become increasingly common in anime production, especially for works that place a strong emphasis on movement. In Medalist, which focuses on figure skating, real skaters performed the motion capture, resulting in an outstanding animation.

However, this approach did not suit Wandance, a series centered on high energy freestyle dance. Motion capture was not well matched to expressing dance battles. The movements appeared overly smooth, making it harder to convey sharpness and impact. Combining dynamic movement with visual effects powerful enough to convey intensity also proved challenging.

For those interested, the original manga is highly recommended for fully experiencing the raw power of the dance scenes.

■In Memoriam

Several notable figures from the anime and voice acting world passed away in 2025. Tomo Sakurai, known for voicing Milene Jenius in Macross 7 and many other characters, passed away.

Others who were lost include Tomomichi Nishimura, known for roles such as Coach Anzai in Slam Dunk; Ryo Ishihara, who voiced characters including 002 in Cyborg 009; and Takaya Hashi, known for providing the Japanese dub voice of Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series.

Nob, who performed theme songs for Saint Seiya, also passed away.

Conclusion

In 2025, theatrical films demonstrated remarkable strength at the box office, making it a powerful year for cinema. Overall, it was a year that clearly highlighted the dominance of sequels and established intellectual properties.

Looking ahead to 2026, major anime titles such as Jujutsu Kaisen and Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End are set to begin streaming as early as January. Let’s look forward to another exciting year together.