My Hero Academia is a global success, and rightfully so. The anime and manga need no introduction and the yearly movie releases have boosted the franchise’s popularity even more.
So how did My Hero Academia reach such a wide audience base? The iconic anime paved the way for other Japanese media and anime, and all of it was due to a revelation that TOHO had made early on with My Hero Academia.
How did TOHO realize My Hero Academia‘s potential?
Japanese entertainment producer, TOHO Animation, has produced well-known anime like My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, Haikyu!!, Dr. Stone and more. It is also the producer behind the Godzilla franchise. The company is currently observing huge growth in the field of anime production.
In a recent interview, TOHO’s CEO, Hiroyasu Matsuoka, discussed how My Hero Academia proved to be a turning point for the company. The company entered the anime field 11 years ago, but things didn’t go smoothly.
“At the time, the anime market hadn’t grown much, and I think we struggled for a few years. But then My Hero Academia came out…Around that time, overseas distribution companies started coming to us, who was in charge of overseas sales at the time, to negotiate on a daily basis.”
Matsuoka explains that the companies were desperate to get their hands on My Hero Academia. Even while they were considering the offers, they kept raising the price. Eventually, competitors entered the market and the prices soared until they became extremely expensive.
“This triggered us to realize that anime could be successful overseas, and we started to focus on expanding overseas.”
Since they had already built up a network, the company was able to handle anime like Jujutsu Kaisen, The Apothecary Diaries, Frieren, and the most recent production, Kaiju No. 8.
TOHO’s involvement with Spirited Away Stage Play in London Coliseum
Matsuoka further talked about overseas expansion in terms of stage play performances. The Spirited Away stage play will be performed at the London Coliseum in England with a pure Japanese cast. The coliseum boasts a 100-year history with over a thousand seats.
He also revealed that the poster was made by the British producer himself, and is the first time that a Ghibli creation received an external poster.
“Surprisingly, although no information other than this poster has been released, 80% of tickets for the April 2024 performance have been sold half a year in advance. I was surprised.”
The tickets were first sold in advance to interested parties and the price gradually increased as the sales began. The ticket price eventually reached around $258 or 209 pounds. The company learned a lot from the business model of the Coliseum.
You can watch My Hero Academia anime on Crunchyroll.
