The 2020s have so far been defined by two parallel stories: a series of unusually large commercial breakouts (Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, Frieren, Oshi no Ko) that have grown anime's international audience further, and a worsening structural crisis around animator pay, working hours, and studio overload that is now well-documented but not resolved.
2020 — Demon Slayer: Mugen Train
ufotable's Demon Slayer: Mugen Train released in Japan in October 2020 and became the highest-grossing film in Japanese box-office history. Its success during the COVID-19 pandemic — when other film releases were suppressed or absent — partially distorts the comparison, but the film's run was extraordinary by any measure.
Crunchyroll consolidation
Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T in 2021 and the subsequent merger with Funimation (also Sony-owned) produced a single, dominant Western anime-streaming service. Netflix's anime investment continued in parallel — including original productions such as Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022) — and Disney+ entered the licensing market for selected titles.
The animator-pay crisis
Animator pay and working hours have been the subject of public discussion through the decade. Public statements from animators on MAPPA's productions (Chainsaw Man, the final Attack on Titan seasons, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2) have been the most prominent, but the underlying issue — per-cut piecework rates that have not kept pace with the volume and quality demands of modern production — is industry-wide.
Generative AI
The arrival of high-quality generative-AI image models from late 2022 has produced an ongoing industry debate. Several studios have publicly committed to not using image-generation models trained on uncredited artist work; others have experimented with them in pre-production, in-betweening, and background work. The legal status of training-data scraping in Japan remains contested.
Notable works so far
- Demon Slayer (continuing).
- Jujutsu Kaisen (2020 onward).
- Spy x Family (2022).
- Chainsaw Man (2022).
- Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022).
- Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (2023).
- Oshi no Ko (2023).
- The Boy and the Heron (2023, Miyazaki).
- Pluto (2023 anime adaptation).