By Jeremy Fuster

As slow as the box office has been this month, it could have been so much worse had it not been for an unprecedented savior: anime.

Crunchyroll and its parent studio, Sony Pictures, have become a load-bearing pillar for the autumn theatrical marketplace thanks to its pair of anime franchise releases, “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle” and “Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc.”

Combined, those films have grossed $168 million domestically, accounting for roughly one-sixth of the approximately $1 billion in overall grosses over the past two months. The only larger contributor this autumn has been Warner Bros./New Line’s “The Conjuring: Last Rites” with $177 million.