Event presentation
From East to West and Everywhere
Asian IP is exploding with kids in Europe. A forecast of where content, fandom and licensing go next, and what ’relatable’ really means to this generation.
Kids are gravitating toward culturally authentic stories, even from cultures not their own, rather than broad one-size-fits-all global content. This presentation unpacks that paradox, first presented by Adam Woodgate, VP Research Solutions, at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2026.
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What you get
Six findings that reshape a licensing strategy.
Clarity to shape strategy, foresight to spot opportunity, and data to de-risk decisions.
Asian IP is exploding
Anime is a top-ranking entertainment genre for 3–17s, KPop Demon Hunters is a top-20 film, and BTS ranks second among kids’ favourite artists across the Americas and EMEA.
Touchscreen natives curate their own media lives
76% of 3–15s have access to a tablet, 84% to a smartphone or TV, and over seven in ten 6–12s share content on social media.
Why stories from Asia travel
Japan exports quality and craft, Korea cultural exports, India family and values, China stories and mythology, and platforms are flattening borders.
What ’relatable’ means to kids
The RELATE framework: Real life, Emotion, Language of friends, Aspiration, Time and routines, Expression.
Guidance for producers and studios
Authenticity drives appeal, design for cross-media from day one, and the LEGO × One Piece collaboration shows how it works.
Five predictions for 2026 and beyond
Entertainment genre hybrids, anime-style formats for younger kids, fantasy grounded in local folklore, gaming-inspired narratives and the rise of “glocal” formats.
“Borders mean less; fandoms mean everything.”
From East to West and Everywhere
What sits behind it
The world’s largest live data source on Gen Alpha, Gen Z and their parents.
Real families surveyed
First-party data points
Global coverage
Always on, ever since
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The rise of Asian IP, what makes content relatable, and five predictions for where kids’ entertainment goes next.