The year’s biggest anime and Japanese pop culture celebration in North America took place in LA over the July 4 long weekend, and one thing was crystal clear coming out of it: Anime is a titanic force in kids entertainment. 

Anime Expo 2025 ran from Thursday to Sunday—and while official attendance figures have yet to be confirmed, it was in the ballpark of 100,000-plus fans, according to local reports. The event offered a range of panels and events this year, including all-ages interactive shows, voice acting lessons, and cosplay and fashion shows.

It also served as an industry launchpad for big news spanning release dates, teaser drops, casting announcements and, of course, streaming numbers.

Valuable research data emerged over the four-day event, illustrating how the reach of anime continues to expand. Netflix revealed internal figures showing that its anime viewership has tripled over the last five years, and more than 50% of its subscribers (represented upwards of 150 million households) tune into the genre now. The streamer—which offers popular titles like Dan Da Dan and The Summer Hikaru Died—also estimates that anime titles were viewed more than a billion times worldwide last year, with 80% to 90% of Netflix audiences preferring dubs over subtitles. 

Tokyo-based agency Dentsu also dropped a new global anime report, crunching data from a survey of 8,600 consumers across the US, EMEA and APAC. It found that Netflix is the most preferred platform for watching anime (48%), followed by Disney+ (32%) and Prime Video (29%). And almost a third (31%) of global consumers watch anime at least weekly. The report also highlighted the spending power of anime fans—roughly 28% of anime viewers say they’ve spent more than US$200 on related merchandise.

There were also plenty of content deals and new launches announced at Anime Expo—with  a hotly anticipated adaptation of popular manga The Vermilion Mask ordered by YTV and now in production. This IP is about a young apprentice mask-maker who goes on a quest to destroy a collection of masks with dangerous powers, after being possessed by one himself.

Sony’s Crunchyroll made a splash at Anime Expo by revealing a slew of new teen-skewing titles that will be joining its library. Among them is a January 2026 launch called You and I Are Polar Opposites, which follows a high-school girl who falls for a quiet classmate. 

Crunchyroll has yet to lock down release dates for season two of Studio Pierrot’s Black Clover (about a boy without any powers navigating a world of magic) and a fourth season of Lerche’s Classroom of the Elite Year 2, about competitive students at a prestigious school. 

Similar to Netflix’s push into gaming to reach younger streaming audiences, Crunchyroll also bolstered its gaming library with a new experience based on the Classroom of the Elite IP, Classroom of the Elite – Merge Puzzle Special Exam. 

And in another big piece of news that emerged at Anime Expo, Japanese creators management company GeeXPlus is setting up a new GeeXProductions division to support more online creator-led projects and identify original anime IPs that are ripe for franchise-building. The unit has already gotten the ball rolling with three YA-skewing projects on its roster, including short film Bâan, indie short series Otachan! and the CG-animated series Soul Mart.

Image courtesy: Nabana Naba, Dr.Poro, SHONENGAHOSHA / “The Vermilion Mask” Production Committee