Good news for anime fans everywhere!
Japan's Media Development Research Institute announced that the Japanese anime market grew to 241.5 billion yen (about $2.026 billion US) in 2006. That is the highest level since the institute started surveying in 1990 and represents the third year of continuous growth. The institute credits movies like "Tales from Earthsea", "Pokemon", and "Doraemon", as well as the increase in television anime titles, for the growth. The study did note that the number of DVD titles has dropped, however.
The market has grown 220 percent since 1990 (then at 106.9 billion yen or $896.8 million US) and 150 percent since 2000.