‘Demon Slayer,’ ‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ Lead Data Showing Anime Is Asia Pacific’s Most Underused Growth Engine

Anime stands out as the most underused growth engine for streaming platforms across Asia-Pacific, according to new Ampere Analysis data unveiled at Singapore’s Asia TV Forum and Market, where titles such as “Demon Slayer” and “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners” anchor a widening gap between regional demand and what local streamers actually carry.

Anime’s dominance across APAC was laid out in detail by Moto Ara of Ampere Analysis, whose presentation maps both consumption and catalogue trends to show that the region hosts the world’s largest anime audience base while local platforms continue to lag far behind global competitors in supply. The study excludes numbers from within Japan.

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The number of distinct Japanese anime titles available on global SVoD platforms outside Japan has risen by 80% in five years, growing from 4,397 in 2021 to a projected 7,865 by Q4 2025. Long-running franchises continue to anchor viewing activity: “One Piece” (1,145 episodes), “Detective Conan” (1,177), “Crayon Shin-chan” (1,301) and “Naruto” remain among the most consistently consumed titles across the region.

APAC markets show the strongest affinity for anime globally, with 59% of internet users in the Philippines, 50% in Indonesia, 43% in Singapore and 42% in India identifying as viewers. The region’s supply footprint reflects that appetite: Asia-Pacific carries 5,007 distinct anime titles, far more than North America or Western Europe. Taiwan leads with 3,776 titles available, followed by South Korea (2,181) and Singapore (1,325).

A mix of classic and contemporary hits continues to shape viewing patterns. In South Korea, the year’s top anime titles include “Neon Genesis Evangelion,” “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba,” “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners,” “Spirited Away,” “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Princess Mononoke” and “Suzume.”

Genre breakdowns reflect similar trends across APAC: sci-fi and fantasy — represented by “Neon Genesis Evangelion” and “Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion” — accounts for 33% of available anime, followed by action and adventure, home to “Dragon Ball,” “One Piece” and “Demon Slayer,” at 22%. children and family titles such as “Pokémon,” “Detective Conan” and “Doraemon” make up another 22%.

Anime fans also emerge as one of APAC’s most valuable streaming cohorts. They skew young, split evenly by gender, and report an average 4 hours and 12 minutes of daily viewing across subscription services, free online video and linear TV. Their top motivations for subscribing include access to large multi-season catalogues, multi-device flexibility and a wide variety of content for the whole family. In markets such as the Philippines and Thailand, anime viewers show a notably lower churn risk than non-fans, making the genre an effective retention driver.

Yet despite anime’s scale and stickiness, most local streamers remain underweight in the category. New data from Ampere’s supply analysis shows that only Taiwan and South Korea have strong local anime catalogues, with local services carrying 87% and 74% of available titles respectively. Across Southeast Asia, however, global platforms dominate: they account for 52% of anime supply in Indonesia, 61% in Singapore, 74% in India, 80% in Thailand, 88% in Malaysia and 94% in the Philippines. The imbalance underscores how much room local streamers still have to grow in a category that consistently drives engagement across APAC.

The presentation also highlights a robust commissioning pipeline. Announced anime titles across first-run TV, renewals and films rose from 281 in 2021 to 384 in 2024, with the 2024–25 slate diversifying into non-traditional genres and broadening anime’s audience reach.

Ampere projects APAC’s subscription streaming market to grow from $24 billion in 2024 to $31 billion by 2030, positioning anime as a central driver of that expansion. With a vast back catalogue — from “One Piece” and “Detective Conan” to “My Neighbor Totoro” — and a rising volume of new commissions, the study frames anime as the most significant, yet still underleveraged, growth lever available to local streamers in the region.