Crunchyroll’s Insights Reveal How Fans Are Discovering Anime

Crunchyroll Insights From National Research Group Reveals How Anime Fandom is Evolving Across Cultures and Generations, and What They Want Next

• New research from National Research Group, commissioned by Crunchyroll, examines how anime fans define the medium, how fandom extends beyond viewing, and what audiences want from anime’s future. The study – Global State of Anime Fandom 2026 – was revealed at the inaugural Crunchyroll Anime Future Forum in New York.
• The study surveyed 5,000 anime viewers ages 13–54 across 10 international markets—Brazil, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States—with an additional 500 viewers in Japan. Overall, the study encompassed more than 23,000 General Entertainment consumers.
• The findings reveal a varied fandom with no single path into anime and no single way to participate. Some fans express their interest publicly; others engage through music, manga, merchandise, games, rewatching, discussion, or more private routines. Across markets and generations, the form fandom takes differs, even where the connection to anime remains strong.
• Additional findings include:

Anime Starts Young, But Every Generation Makes It Their Own

Anime often enters fans’ lives during formative years, but fandom doesn’t follow a simple path from discovery to decline. It evolves across life stages, and younger fans are already showing how the next chapter of fandom may look different from the generations before them.

• Anime starts early, and fans don’t simply age out. Across the 10 international markets, viewers ages 13–54 report beginning anime at age 14 on average, and 79% say they started by age 17.

Fandom can change shape without fading. Life stages can change how often fans watch without necessarily the underlying connection. Fans move between watching, rewatching, listening to music, reading source material, attending events and experiencing periods of lower visible fandom. Then a new title, theatrical event or recommendation can lead them back. And they can rediscover anime by introducing it to friends, partners and children. Rather than a straight line from discovery to decline, the research findings points to a fandom that can evolve and reactivate over a lifetime.

• The next generation shows a stronger preference for experimentation and unfamiliar worlds. 82% of Teen viewers ages 13-17 say anime accounts for at least half of what they watch. Compared with older audiences, Teen anime viewers are more likely to prefer stories that experiment with new ideas and push anime in new directions (46%), fantastical or out-of-this-world settings (43%), and worlds, cultures, or characters that feel entirely new (41%).

Anime Fandom Lives Beyond the Screen

Anime fandom doesn’t stop when an episode ends. A connection to a story or character can lead somewhere new; to manga, music, games, merchandise or something fans create themselves. Those experiences create more ways for fans to stay connected to the stories they love between episodes and seasons.

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• Anime lives between episodes, and across media. 52% listen to anime music or soundtracks weekly or daily. 66% read manga, manhua, or webtoons at least monthly, while 48% have purchased anime-related collectibles in the past year.
• Manga creates another path deeper into the stories fans love, with 69% reading digital manga on a monthly basis or more. Rather than separate interests, the findings point to fans increasingly moving between anime, manga and other formats as part of the same fandom and part of a broader entertainment and cultural ecosystem.

One Global Medium: Growth Runs Hot, Fandom Runs Deep

Anime doesn’t travel or take root the same way everywhere. Fans help bring new audiences in, while culture, access and time shape how people discover anime and what fandom becomes once it takes hold.

Anime’s Future: More Stories, More Voices, A Distinctive Core

As anime’s audience grows more varied, so do expectations for its future. Fans want new stories, characters and creative possibilities, while continuing to value the storytelling, human craft and connection to Japan that make anime distinctive.

• Fans want anime to keep pushing forward. 70% want as many people as possible to become anime fans and 63% believe anime will become creatively bolder as it grows.
• They appreciate what makes anime distinctive. Fans identify a combination of characters, Japanese source material, visual craft, and storytelling as central to anime’s distinctive look and feel. Characters lead at 54%, followed by Japanese source material at 46%, mostly hand-drawn animation at 45%, storytelling at 41%, Japanese original language at 39%, and human creation at 33%.

EXECUTIVE PERSPECTIVE

“While last year’s research established anime’s global cultural relevance, particularly among younger audiences, this latest data turns the lens to the people behind that growth,” remarked Rahul Purini, President of Crunchyroll. “We examined how fandom differs across markets and generations, what happens between episodes and how relationships with anime evolve over time. Anime’s global growth is undeniable, but scale only tells part of the story. With that growth comes greater diversity across countries, generations, interests and the ways people discover and experience it.” – Rahul Purini, President of Crunchyroll 

“What we found is remarkable: anime isn’t just reaching more people, the fandom itself is getting deeper,” added Travis Page, Crunchyroll’s Chief Strategy Officer. “Two-thirds of international fans are watching more anime than they were three years ago, and nearly as many say they’ve become bigger fans. And as this community grows, it’s becoming more varied. There is no single path into anime and no one way to be an anime fan. That’s the opportunity in front of us: more fans, more ways to connect with them, and more possibilities for where anime can go next.” – Travis Page, Chief Strategy Officer

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“Anime is growing and evolving at a rapid pace and it’s great to see our partners at Crunchyroll deeply invested in its fans and future,” said Lauren DeWitt Thompson, Vice President, NRG. “This type of annual research helps set benchmarks the entire industry can benefit from and illuminates the path forward for one of the most energized and vital sectors of the entertainment industry.” – Lauren DeWitt Thompson, Vice President, NRG

ABOUT THE RESEARCH

The 2026 Global State of Anime is the latest chapter in Crunchyroll’s ongoing study of anime fandom around the world. The primary study, conducted by National Research Group and commissioned by Crunchyroll, surveyed 5,000 anime viewers ages 13–54 across 10 markets (Brazil, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and four continents, with an additional 500 anime viewers in Japan, as part of a broader sample of more than 23,000 general entertainment consumers. Respondents watched anime at least monthly, used at least one streaming service and could distinguish anime titles from popular Western animation. Results were weighted to reflect local anime audiences, and market differences were tested for statistical significance.

Source: Press Release

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