An Anime Can “Pay for Itself” If It Stays on Streaming for at Least 2 Years, According to Author

Anime streaming has completely changed how productions can make money, and according to author Nazuna Miki, even shows that sell very few Blu-rays can continue making a profit for years.

An Anime “Can Pay for Itself” If It Stays on Streaming for at Least 2 Years

Nazuna Miki was talking about how anime profits worked in the past and how that business model changed with the arrival of streaming services.

According to him, back when Blu-rays and DVDs were one of the main sources of revenue, an anime would air during its season and, once disc sales stabilized, a large portion of the series’ revenue would simply come to an end.

Today, however, the situation is different.

Miki explains that a show can start with low numbers but remain available on streaming services for years. This allows the initial investment to be recovered gradually.

According to Miki: “Even if the numbers are low at first, if (the anime) remains available on streaming for two years, you can generally recover the investment.”

And it doesn’t stop there. Even after the investment has been recovered, the series can continue generating small amounts of money for as long as it remains available on the platforms.

A Second Season Can Help the First

Miki also points out something else interesting: when an anime gets a second season, the first season starts getting watched again on streaming services.

This means a new season can generate money not only for itself, but also cause the previous season to start generating revenue again

The author says he knows several cases of anime that sold only around 100 physical copies but still received a second season because there was enough demand for it to be produced.

Miki said: “Even I, Nazuna, being a relatively unknown author, know several anime that sold only around 100 copies of their discs but still got a second season approved basically because ‘people asked for it to be made.’”

In other words, selling very few Blu-rays doesn’t necessarily mean that an anime is a financial failure nowadays. Producing more seasons allows the entire series to keep generating profit, rather than just the current season, as would happen under the old model where most of the revenue came from disc sales.

For Miki, the anime revenue model has changed completely compared to the past, and streaming has made it possible for certain shows to continue making money for much longer.

This is why you see anime that you consider “bad” getting new seasons over and over again. The truth is, the anime may actually be getting watched and generating enough money to justify another season.