Ticket sales from 2.5-D shows to reach more than 28.3 billion yen by 2023
PIA Research Institute and the Japan 2.5-D Music Association announced the results of their “2.5-D Music Market Trends” survey for 2023 last Friday. According to their report, the production market for 2.5-D stage shows based on anime, manga, games (such as Kingdom and SPY x FAMILY) reached a record high in 2023. 2023, there are 236 2.5-D theater performances, beating the previous record of 222 productions from 2019. In comparison, there are 197 performances in 2022.
The line graph represents the number of performances, while the bar graph represents the market sizeImage via PIA Research InstituteImage via Attack on Titan the Musical's website
© I・K/AMP
About 2.89 million people saw the 2.5-D stage play in 2023, up 5% from 2022. Ticket sales increased 7.9% to 28.3 billion yen (about $186 million) , both of which are record highs.
There were only about 40 2.5-D musicals in the early 2010s. That number increased to more than 100 in 2014 and more than 200 in 2019. Ticket sales exceeded 10 billion yen (about 66 million USD) in 2015.
In addition to recovering and growing after the COVID-19 pandemic, tickets are being sold abroad to meet growing demand outside of Japan. For example, the musical based on Hajime Isayama's Attack on Titan manga (pictured right) had its first international performance at the New York City Center in New York on October 11-13.
Source: PIA Research Institute, Animation Business Magazine (Tadashi Sudo)