Otaku in America cannot get their hands on authentic anime merch

NEW YORK – New Yorker Armani Kaity has to pay a hefty premium for imported merchandise featuring her favourite character in the Japanese anime series My Hero Academia (2016 to 2026), a tragic villain intent on destroying the world.

“The prices never make sense,” said the 24-year-old, who has been buying anime merchandise and games for more than a decade. “I think we receive only a small fraction of merchandise.

“A lot of things are stuck behind walls and barriers.”

The growing pool of anime lovers outside Asia is spurring Japanese publishers to enlist the country’s trading houses for help in the estimated US$13 billion (S$16.8 billion) global market for licensed merchandise.

They seek to solve a problem US-based otaku – people devoted to anime or manga – have complained about for decades: They cannot get officially licensed plushies, apparel, figurines and posters at local retailers.

With demand from Western otaku expected to draw record crowds to the Anime Expo in Los Angeles this week, Japan’s trading firms see opportunity.

Mitsubishi has teamed up with Sega and Tomy to sell merchandise in the United States, facing off against Sumitomo, which has partnered with an affiliate of manga publisher Shueisha.

In 2026, Marubeni began working with publisher Shogakukan to export official toys, apparel and collectibles to Hot Topic-owned BoxLunch stores, while Itochu took a stake in a San Francisco-based character-licensing startup.

Born from resource-starved Japan’s need to secure supplies of oil, natural gas and grain, the storied trading houses have grown into behemoths that combine commodity trading with logistics, financing and project development, with distribution networks that span the globe.

“We are second to none when it comes to distribution and sales,” said Makoto Nakamura, head of new business development at Marubeni.

Publishers are betting that their new allies can cut through the complex web of claims on creative works by content rights holders.

In Japan, broadcasters, publishers, toy manufacturers and production studios jointly fund a single anime to mitigate risk.

That structure slows merchandising by requiring unanimous approval for all decisions at meetings that are typically held only once a month.

Anime has ballooned into a global industry worth tens of billions of dollars, its momentum powered by a cascade of hits from Demon Slayer to One Piece.

Netflix has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in licensing and producing anime for its streaming service.

More than 50 per cent of its subscribers have watched anime.

But Japanese companies remain slow to launch new merchandise abroad.

That is despite a projection by Grand View Research that the fast-growing US market will help anime-related paraphernalia generate US$24 billion in global annual sales by 2033.

Ed LaBay, executive vice-president of merchandise and marketing at Hot Topic, said the company often maps out plans to sell around 100 kinds of products to coincide with new anime launches.

But the retailer can often secure only a few items in time.

The absence of authorised goods has helped knock-offs proliferate.

Creators are grateful when their works reach people around the globe, but they also feel “a deep sadness” to see their characters distorted, Nakamura said.

“I’ve been to anime events abroad, where I see quite a few items that would probably make the original creators furious if they ever found out.”

Mag.net, Marubeni’s joint venture with Shogakukan – the publisher behind Ranma ½ and Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End – plans to expand exports to the Middle East and work with local retailers later in 2026, Nakamura said.

More than a dozen similar talks are under way in Asia and South America, including those of non-Shogakukan works, he said.

The goal is to tamp down on the number of pirated products by launching officially licensed wares.

Publishers also need help navigating an overseas landscape that has become increasingly complex. In the past, a few evergreen titles like Dragon Ball or Pokemon represented the bulk of global demand.

Now, tastes run the entire gamut of anime, thanks to streaming services catering to subscribers’ tastes.

“There is still a meaningful gap between demand and supply, particularly for timely releases, exclusive items and premium or collector-oriented products,” Kinokuniya Book Stores of America’s east cost regional manager Shigekazu Watanabe said.

“Fans are increasingly looking for authenticity, exclusivity and a deeper connection to the original creators.”

Anthony Grimando, a 29-year-old New Yorker raised on Pokemon and Naruto, says it is a challenge to find items like tote bags and cup noodle lid toppers featuring characters such as those in Kyoto Animation’s City series.

“A lot of the time, when I go to the store to get something in the US, the quality isn’t as good, or it’s made for a Western audience,” he said.

Marubeni is experimenting with using AI to speed up the product review process, which typically takes months and is a major bottleneck.

“Humans now check things like whether the colour is slightly off, or whether the angle of the eyes is different,” Nakamura said.

If AI checks the product in advance, that may mean fewer problems during official review meetings and help to launch merchandise closer to the anime broadcast date.

For now, Kaity, the My Hero Academia fan, continues to comb stores like Anime Figure Egg-Cellent in Flushing or Akiba House in Chinatown and offerings from proxy services on Mercari.

Her goal is to make an “itabag” – an “ouch bag” so crowded with badges, buttons, soft toys and figurines of a character, it hurts the eyes and wallet.

“I’m still missing a bunch of pins to make the bag complete,” said Kaity, adding that her failure to collect enough official merchandise remains “one of my greatest disappointments”. BLOOMBERG