Jujutsu Kaisen has emerged as one of the biggest forces in Asian anime streaming, ranking as the No. 1 anime in seven of eight markets tracked by Media Partners Asia (MPA) during the first half of 2026. The performance also helped MAPPA dramatically increase its share of regional anime viewing hours, rising from 6.1% in the second half of 2025 to 17.3% in the first half of 2026.
The figures come from MPA’s The Anime Economy report, which analyzed viewing data across eight Asian markets. The report highlights not only the continued popularity of Jujutsu Kaisen, but also how major anime franchises can rapidly change the position of the studios producing them.
Jujutsu Kaisen Pushes MAPPA Ahead of Major Anime Studios
MAPPA’s 17.3% viewing share placed it narrowly ahead of TMS Entertainment at 16.6%, while Toei Animation accounted for 13% and titles mastered by Aniplex represented 12%. The jump represents a substantial change for MAPPA in only six months, with Jujutsu Kaisen serving as a major driver of the studio’s increased visibility.
The result also demonstrates how heavily anime studio rankings can depend on the performance of individual franchises. Rather than simply reflecting the number of shows a studio produces, streaming viewing can shift dramatically when a major series attracts audiences across multiple territories.
That trend is particularly significant because anime was already the most-reached genre on Asian premium streaming services during the period studied. Between July 2025 and August 2026, between 31% and 47% of premium-VOD users across the eight markets watched anime in a given month. In Japan, that figure reached between 45% and 59%.
The MPA data shows that streaming platforms are increasingly important to anime’s growth across Asia. Netflix accounted for approximately half of tracked anime viewing hours, holding a 51% share in the second half of 2025 before settling at 50% during the first half of 2026.
Japan has become particularly competitive between Netflix and Prime Video. Prime Video held 43% of anime viewing hours in Japan during the second half of 2025, while Netflix had 42%. During the first half of 2026, both platforms reached 42%, effectively creating a two-way race for anime viewers in the country’s market.
MPA also found that Japanese anime viewing on Netflix increased from 3.33 billion hours in the first half of 2023 to 4.64 billion hours in the first half of 2026, representing a 39% increase. That growth substantially outpaced Netflix’s overall viewing growth during the same period.
MPA CEO and executive director Vivek Couto said the industry’s challenge is increasingly about production capacity rather than audience demand or investment. He argued that the companies capable of expanding capacity while retaining the animators behind major hits will be best positioned for anime’s next stage of growth.
His comments were reported alongside MPA’s latest research by Variety and are also reflected in the Asia Video Industry Association’s report on the study.
With Jujutsu Kaisen leading seven of the eight markets studied and MAPPA reaching 17.3% of regional anime viewing hours, the latest figures show just how much influence a major franchise can have on the wider anime industry.
| Date Aired (Start) | October 3, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Studio | MAPPA |
| Director | Sunghoo Park |
