Annual grosses surged 32 percent to a record 274.45 billion yen ($1.79 billion), according to figures released Thursday by the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan. The 2025 total significantly surpassed the previous high of 261.18 billion yen ($1.70 billion) set in 2019, underscoring a decisive recovery after several years of pandemic-era disruption. The rebound was driven overwhelmingly by high-quality local hits, led by anime mega-blockbuster Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle – Part 1, which dominated the market with 39.14 billion yen ($255 million). Hollywood studio releases delivered a more modest showing, though several U.S. titles cleared the locally symbolic 1 billion yen ($6.5 million) threshold. But the 2025 results made clear that Japan’s theatrical recovery was driven overwhelmingly by domestic event films.