In the past two years, no matter which anime streaming platform you open, works in the “reincarnation,” “exile,” “overpowered,” and “villainess” genres have nearly filled the recommendation lists. Many viewers share the same question: why is all of modern Japanese anime set in another world? The answer is more grounded in reality than one might expect. Yusuke Onuki, President and Representative Director of GameBiz under the Bushiroad Group and a veteran anime producer, directly stated in his new book and his column for Toyo Keizai: “A lot of today’s anime is no longer made for Japanese people.” This statement is by no means unfounded. In his serialized column on Toyo Keizai Online,Column articleIt clearly states that the revenue structure of Japan’s animation industry has undergone a fundamental change, with “approximately 90% of income coming from overseas distribution.” This figure sounds shocking at first, but when cross-referenced with the industry report published by the Association of Japanese Animations (AJA), it becomes clear that this is no exaggeration.
Why Are Isekai Anime Everywhere? Industry Veteran Reveals: 90% of Revenue Comes from Overseas
Yusuke Onuki: An Insider Observer of the Animation Industry
Yusuke Onuki’s position lends particular weight to his observations. He currently serves as President and Representative Director of GameBiz Co., Ltd., President and Representative Director of Bushiroad Move Co., Ltd., and also a director of New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Within the Bushiroad group, he has long been responsible for anime production and business strategy planning, and is one of the few industry figures who possess both a producer’s perspective and business analysis capabilities.
On August 12, 2026, Yusuke Onuki published a new book titled “Animation Business: Animation Literacy That Makes Manga, Novels, and Anime 100 Times More Interesting” (provisional translation), released by the Bushiroad Group. The book uses the common question “Why does animation do things this way?” as its entry point, guiding readers through the complete industry chain from original work selection, production committee formation, and distribution strategy to merchandise development. One of the book’s central arguments is that the animation industry’s revenue structure has shifted from being “domestically driven” to “overseas driven.”
Data speaks: overseas markets have officially surpassed Japan’s domestic market.
According to the ” published by the Association of Japanese Animations.Animation Industry Report 2025In 2024, the total scale of Japan’s animation industry market reached 3.8407 trillion yen (approximately 845 billion New Taiwan dollars), a 14.8% increase from the previous year, setting a new all-time high. Among this, the overseas market contributed 2.1702 trillion yen (approximately 477.4 billion New Taiwan dollars), with an annual growth rate of 26%, accounting for 56.5% of the overall market. The domestic Japanese market, meanwhile, totaled 1.6705 trillion yen (approximately 367.5 billion New Taiwan dollars), representing 43.5%.
This is the first time in the history of the Japanese animation industry that overseas market revenue has officially surpassed the domestic market. Looking back at 2014, overseas sales were only 326.6 billion yen, and have surged approximately 6.6-fold over the past decade.[3] Masahiro Hasegawa, the editorial director of the Japan Animation Association’s report, analyzed that the growth in overseas revenue mainly came from a surge in streaming platform licensing fees, as global platforms such as Netflix, Crunchyroll, and Disney+ offered far higher prices than before to compete for Japanese anime content.
Seventy to ninety percent of production costs are covered by overseas buyers.
However, what Yusuke Onuki meant by “90% of income coming from overseas” points to an even more startling fact: under the current anime production system, 70% to 90% of an anime’s production costs are supported by overseas streaming revenue. His collaboration with Tokyo Shimbun in early 2026Special topicIt was mentioned: “For current Japanese animation, more than 70%, and sometimes even more than 80%, of production costs are borne by overseas parties.”
What does this mean? Simply put, whether an anime can succeed depends not on domestic ratings or disc sales in Japan, but on how much overseas platforms are willing to pay for streaming rights. When overseas backers become the primary funders, production committees naturally prioritize “what international audiences want to watch” over “what Japanese audiences want to watch” when selecting source material.
This is precisely the fundamental reason behind the mass production of isekai works—the isekai reincarnation genre enjoys extremely high acceptance in overseas markets, especially in Southeast Asia and Western regions. These works feature simple, clear world-building that doesn’t require understanding Japanese cultural context, and the character archetypes are formulaic yet easy to resonate with, making the entry barrier very low for international audiences. When the funding source for production committees is primarily overseas, choosing this type of “globally appealing” genre becomes the safest business decision.
The cost of overseas dependence: Are Japanese audiences being marginalized?
In his column for Toyo Keizai, Yusuke Onuki直言不讳地指出：「日本動畫已經不再是做給日本觀眾看的了。」 This statement captures a structural shift in the industry. As overseas streaming revenue becomes the primary source of production funding, the preferences of domestic Japanese audiences naturally carry less weight in production decisions.
This transformation brings with it a clear contradiction. On the one hand, the Japanese animation industry continues to expand, hitting a record high of 3.8 trillion yen in 2024. On the other hand, working conditions at production sites have not seen real improvement, and animators’ low pay remains a chronic industry problem. Capital is concentrated in the hands of production committees and streaming platforms, while the studios and animators responsible for the creative work still receive a disproportionately low share of the profits.
For Taiwanese audiences, this observation is also worth pondering. Taiwan is one of the key overseas markets for Japanese animation, and the share of isekai works on platforms such as Crunchyroll and Bahamut Anime Crazy has been rising year by year. When we find ourselves complaining, “Not another isekai?” the driving force behind it is the cash flow structure of overseas markets—our viewing behavior and subscription fees are shaping the direction of Japanese anime production.
Source: KOCPC Chinese