Anime has become a significant force in the global merchandise licensing market, with its influence particularly noticeable in recent years.
WRITTEN BY JASON WANG — GM BRAND LICENSING @ SUGOI CO
Global brands like Nike, Adidas, Puma, Vans, Levi’s, Mont Blanc, Coach and Gucci are collaborating with anime IPs more than ever before. Streaming platforms are vying for anime content market share for its high value audience. Now streaming, manga, and online content have made this genre more accessible to a wider audience than ever before. According to Netflix’s global engagement report for the second half of 2023, the “One Piece” TV series amassed 479 million viewing hours and ranked top of anime titles followed by Baki and Naruto, with the live-action One Piece being the No. 1 series of the entire platform, opening the door to new fans of the long running anime.
The appeal of anime spans various demographics, making it a versatile and lucrative area for merchandise licensing.
In Australia, many people watched “Dragon Ball,” “Sailor Moon,” “Digimon,” “Naruto,” “One Piece,” “Pokemon,” and “Yu-Gi-Oh.” These titles were the starting points for many kids, parents, licensees and retailers. I saw the licensing potential rising for anime around 2015 when I started introducing Bandai toys and collectibles, consumer demand more than doubled every quarter, growing tenfold by the end of the first year. When I started my licensing consultancy in 2017, I focused on anime and Japanese pop culture IPs, beginning with the Naruto franchise, Godzilla, Gundam, and Cowboy Bebop, and then adding Toei Animation, which included Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, Digimon, and One Piece. Although it may have been too early for the market, I believed in developing it from the ground up.
This was essential to convince industry peers that anime was a sleeping giant not captured by the NPD or TV ratings, but we could see the direct passion and sales potential first hand from fans at events and pop culture stores. The original anime fans, now in their early 20s with disposable income, were hungry for cool anime products, while influencing new generation of fans.
In July 2023, Sugoi Co was launched as a new entity to become 360 degree specialist in Anime and Japanese pop culture capable in Theatrical releases, Home Entertainment, Brand Licensing, Merchandise, E-Commerce and Events, with former co-founder of Madman Entertainment, Tim Anderson.
We have since added 2 key manga publishers’ IPs as well as Konami’s Yu-Gi-Oh! celebrating its 25th anniversary through to 2025. The Kodansha portfolio includes Attack on Titan, Blue Lock, Ghost in the Shell, Initial D, Cardcaptors Sakura, Fairy Tail, Seven Deadly Sins, That Time I Reincarnated as a Slime, and Tokyo Revengers as well as Kadokawa’s line up of Oshi No Ko, Overlord, Re:Zero and many more.
Some of our licensee partners include Empire Apparel, Impact Merchandise, Bensons Trading, Caprice Australia, Culture Kings, Uniqlo, The Oodie, CASETiFY, Paladone, Zara, Kawada Nanoblocks, IKON Collectables, Funko, Secretlab, Hypland, Jada Toys and EB Games. Bandai Namco’s strong anime portfolio of video games, toys, trading cards and collector’s products also keeps core fans excited with unique items from Japan.
For many years, specialists like Jay Jays have driven the apparel category for anime for young adults, establishing themselves as a destination for anime in AU/NZ. Apart from hundreds of independent, specialty, anime and collectibles stores, EB Games & Zing Pop Culture is the national destination retailers for anime toys, collectibles, games, and gifts. And we have also seen JB Hi-Fi taking a similar approach to dedicate a collectables corner in many of their stores now. In the past two years, Culture Kings have also risen in the premium street wear category for anime, launching Naruto as their first anime collaboration and making a strong impact with fans. They have since introduced a dozen more anime titles and continues to be a strong and growing area of their business. And the very recent example of The Oodie x Naruto collection, which saw items selling out after only four days of launching the range. It grew The Oodie’s customer base with new subscribers registering for pre-order, and over 80% of the purchase were from new customers, a winning partnership for all parties involved.
Major retailers such as Target, Big W, Myer and Best & Less have started supporting anime in men’s and boys’ apparel post COVID-19, and there is growing support in hardgoods too like toys and collectibles. Kmart has also come on board this year to support anime.
Looking ahead, the future of anime merchandise is on a steep uphill climb as we have only just scratched the surface in major retail channels and started to branch out from core categories. There are many opportunities for licensees and retailers to feature anime IPs to enhance their sales. The genre’s ability to adapt and evolve with market trends ensures its continued growth.
This article originally appeared in Edition 10 of The Toy Universe Magazine
