A-1 Pictures posted a net profit of 91.6 million yen for fiscal 2026, reversing its 178 million yen loss from the prior year.
A-1 Pictures, the Aniplex-owned animation studio behind Solo Leveling and Sword Art Online, posted a net profit of 91.649 million yen (roughly $564,000) for fiscal year 2026, which ended March 31. The result marks a sharp turnaround from the studio's 178 million yen net loss the previous fiscal year.
The figures come from the studio's settlement notice published in Japan's Official Gazette (Kanpo) on June 29, 2026. According to the filing, A-1 Pictures closed the fiscal year with total assets of approximately 2.337 billion yen and total liabilities of roughly 1.569 billion yen, leaving net assets at 767.7 million yen. The positive bottom line signals that internal cost management and production scheduling improvements bore fruit after a difficult stretch.
Fiscal 2026 saw A-1 Pictures deliver a diverse slate of titles. The studio released Kaguya-sama: Love Is War The Stairway to Adulthood, a theatrical entry in one of its most commercially successful franchises. It also continued work on Fate/strange Fake, contributed to Uta no Prince-sama TABOO NIGHT XXXX, and produced The Camphorwood Custodian. These projects spanned television, film, and long-running franchise commitments, reflecting a balanced approach to revenue generation rather than reliance on a single blockbuster property.
The studio's marquee action series Solo Leveling, which premiered its first season in January 2024 and aired its second season across two cours from January to June 2025, continued to generate downstream revenue through licensing and merchandise during the fiscal period. A-1 Pictures has remained one of the more prolific studios in the Aniplex stable, maintaining a steady output even during its loss-making year.
A-1 Pictures is a subsidiary of Aniplex, itself part of the Sony Music Entertainment Japan group. Founded in 2005, the studio has grown into one of the industry's most recognizable names, with flagship titles including Sword Art Online, Blue Exorcist, and Fairy Tail. Its return to profitability stands in contrast to sister studio CloverWorks, which filed a net loss of 38.5 million yen for the same fiscal year. CloverWorks, known for titles such as Spy x Family and The Promised Neverland, appears to be navigating its own cost pressures.
The divergence between the two Aniplex subsidiaries underscores how volatile anime production economics can be. Studios often operate on thin margins, with profitability hinging on the commercial performance of a handful of titles, the timing of milestone payments from production committees, and the management of outsourcing costs.
While a 91.6 million yen profit is modest by broader entertainment industry standards, it represents a meaningful directional shift for A-1 Pictures. The swing from a 178 million yen loss to black ink in a single fiscal year suggests the studio successfully rebalanced its production pipeline. With Solo Leveling continuing as a franchise anchor and additional projects in development, A-1 Pictures enters fiscal 2027 on firmer financial footing than it has had in recent years.
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