Despite Solo Leveling’s global hits, Studio A-1 pictures ends fiscal year in the red

Japanese animation studio A-1 Pictures which is famous for its Anime series Solo Leveling, has been reportedly facing the biggest financial loss in a decade. Despite the global popularity of its anime, the company reported its largest net loss in a decade for the fiscal year ending March 2025. 

Solo Leveling’s success couldn't save A-1 Pictures from facing severe loss this fiscal year

As per a report posted on June 30, in Japan's official gazette, the company incurred a loss of 178 million yen (over Rs. 10 crore) in the fiscal year 2024–2025 which has been the highest in the past decade. This downturn has been recorded despite the show’s immense popularity in and around the world. The show was so popular that it even broke worldwide streaming records on Crunchyroll and dominated major categories for awards. This stark contrast of the success and financial downfall has left fans and people in the industry shocked. 

Putting the numbers in context, the company reported a healthy profit in the previous fiscal year ending March 2024, with a net profit of 24 million yen. This was a modest profit for the studio as it had seen higher ones in the previous years. In 2016, the studio recorded a net profit of 350 million yen. Although A-1 Pictures has yet to release an official statement, the reported losses have raised eyebrows, coming at a time when the studio is riding high on the success of one of its most acclaimed series. This is proof that apparently a single anime series can’t cover for the losses incurred by a studio. 

Solo Leveling evidently got massive viewership and love from the audiences around the world but other works of the studio didn’t do much well. Other projects include Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II, Goddess of Victory: NIKKE – Old Tales Special Animation, and NieR: Automata Ver1.1a. These were not even close to the viewership count as the Solo Levelling and hence might be the cause of the studio’s downfall.  

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