If you didn't already know that the anime industry was in the middle of a boom, a quick look around the trade fair AnimeJapan would give you a pretty good indication.
The annual event, held for its fifth time last week, was full of new players — from streaming giant Netflix, who recently jumped head-first into anime production, to new studios funded by sources as diverse as Japanese electronic commerce giant DMM (DMM Pictures) and a foundation created by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Manga Productions).
The four-day event, which took place at Tokyo Big Sight, featured all the usual trade show staples: flashy booths, costumed women handing out flyers and business seminars held in side rooms. In one such seminar, Hiromichi Masuda from the Association of Japanese Animations described the current excitement as the "third anime boom," following "Tetsuwan Atom" (known abroad as "Astro Boy") in the 1960s and "Neon Genesis Evangelion," "Pokemon" and "Princess Mononoke" in the mid-to-late '90s.