The financial process behind getting a new anime series into production is changing, with streaming platforms playing a much larger role in securing the money needed before a show even airs. Veteran anime producer Yusuke Onuki, president of Bushiroad Move and a producer on projects including The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You and Grisaia: Phantom Trigger, has explained why streaming deals can determine whether an anime project receives the green light.
In comments originally reported by Gendai Media, Onuki highlighted the importance of the Minimum Guarantee (MG) offered by streaming platforms. He described the questions of how much a platform will pay for an anime and how large an MG it will offer as the “absolute lifeline” determining whether a project can be greenlit.
Why Minimum Guarantees Matter Before an Anime Even Airs
A Minimum Guarantee is essentially an upfront payment made by a distributor or streaming platform for the rights to a production. For an anime production committee, that money can provide an important portion of the funding required before the series has generated revenue from viewers, merchandise or other commercial activity.
According to Onuki, a standard 12- to 13-episode late-night anime can require approximately ¥350 million in investment. That money covers expenses associated with actually producing and delivering the series, including animation production, recording, post-production and promotion. Because much of the financial commitment has to be secured ahead of release, production committees need investors and licensing agreements willing to shoulder that initial risk.
This is where streaming agreements become particularly important. If a platform agrees to a sufficiently large MG, the production committee has a clearer financial foundation on which to proceed. Onuki’s explanation also means that an anime does not necessarily have to be an obvious domestic hit before investors consider it viable; a strong licensing agreement can change the project’s financial outlook.
The value of the deal can also depend on how an anime is distributed. Onuki explained that exclusive streaming arrangements can command higher-value MGs, because the platform receives an advantage from controlling exclusive access to the title. When a series is simultaneously available across several services, that exclusivity becomes less valuable, meaning the financial terms can instead depend more heavily on the property’s recognition and expected performance.
The change also reflects the broader shift away from an anime business model heavily dependent on physical media. International streaming has become an increasingly important source of licensing revenue, while Japanese television broadcasting can serve other commercial purposes beyond directly generating the largest share of a project’s income.
Onuki further argued that conventional estimates of the anime industry’s domestic and overseas revenue can be difficult to interpret because some international rights income is not fully represented in commonly cited figures. He said revenue generated through overseas rights can be substantial, making the industry’s financial structure more complicated than simple domestic-versus-international comparisons suggest.
The producer also stressed that popularity alone does not guarantee another season. According to Onuki, an anime can become highly visible culturally or generate considerable discussion, but investors ultimately need financial results that justify committing money to another production.
His comments offer a clearer look at why streaming contracts have become so important to modern anime production. For viewers, checking where a series is available, whether a platform has exclusive rights and how it is distributed can provide clues about the commercial structure supporting the production. The original discussion comes from Gendai Media.
