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Toho's Anime Business Tops 10 Billion Yen in 2017

Film distributor TOHO published on Friday its earnings report for the fiscal year ending in February 2018. The company reported that its anime production business earned 10.282 billion yen (about US$95.6 million) during that period, a 27.1% increase from the previous year.

The earnings marks the first time that the company has earned more than 10 billion yen for anime during a fiscal year. The business has more than quadrupled since the fiscal year ending in February 2015, when it earned 2.3 billion yen.

Anime films TOHO helped produce during the period included Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, Detective Conan: The Crimson Love Letter, Fireworks, Should We See it from the Side or the Bottom?. It also invested in television series such as My Hero Academia, Blood Blockade Battlefront, and Tōken Ranbu: Hanamaru.

TOHO's report for the first half of the fiscal year noted that the company's anime business had earned 5.578 billion yen (about US$49 million), a 95% increase from the same period last year.

TOHO recorded its most profitable year ever last year, with an operating profit of 50.2 billion yen (about US$463 million) by year end. This year saw a 5.3% decrease from last year's total, to an operating profit of 47.6 billion yen (about US$444 million).

Source: Animation Business Journal (Tadashi Sudo)