How Social Media Helped Drive Anime's Recent Box Office Success!

Anime — a genre that was once deemed niche and “nerdy” — has quickly become one of the most popular forms of visual media to date. Now fans, both new and old, are helping push it into the limelight. 

Anime watchers worldwide are turning out in droves to check out the new Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc film which hit theaters October 24. Fans were hyped when it was first announced that the show, based on the infamous Chainsaw Man manga, would be receiving a movie with a theatrical release back in December 2023 at the Jump Festa event — an annual anime and manga convention held in Tokyo, Japan. 

The film, which received widespread acclaim from audiences and movie critics alike for its action-packed storyline and masterful animation, crushed at the box office, grossing $141 million globally as of November 2 and beating out competitors like Black Phone 2 and Regretting You. The movie’s overwhelming success may come as a surprise to some, but Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is not the first anime film to be a major blockbuster as of late. Demon Slayer Infinity Castle, which was released in July 2025, was also met with lots of love from fans, becoming the highest-grossing international film in North America, making over half a billion USD. Additionally, films like Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, One Piece Film: Red and Jujutsu Kaisen 0, which were all box office hits, showcase the continued rise and global appeal of the anime genre.

So, how did anime become so popular so quickly? Well, it’s largely thanks to social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Back in 2020, users began making edits and using sounds from various anime, marking what became known as "Anime TikTok". This exposure encouraged many people to jump on the anime bandwagon, kickstarting its rapid rise in popularity. 

It’s safe to say that the anime movie genre will only continue to gain traction, meaning we can expect even more theatrical releases of our favorite series in the future. Anime fans and moviegoers can look forward to Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution, set to hit theaters in North America on December 5, 2025.