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Sony's 10% investment in Kadokawa is 50 billion yen, with the goal of expanding its business.
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Following the CEO's instructions, Kadokawa increased its publication goal to 9,000 volumes per year.
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Kadokawa's collaboration with Sony will impact the growth and global expansion of the animation industry.
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Kadokawa wants to reach a wider audience
Kadokawa From now on, we aim to expand our business. sony Approximately 10% of the shares were acquired (this figure also includes shares previously owned by Sony). The total investment amounted to 50 billion yen (approximately 322 million dollars) and was completed on January 7, 2025.
These two giants have worked together on many projects, but this deal takes their collaboration to a whole new level and will have a potentially huge impact on the animation industry in the medium to long term.
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Kadokawa CEO Takeshi Natsuno Recently, according to Nikkei, their initial goal of publishing 7,000 volumes (of novels, comics, and other types of books) is being increased to 9,000. per year.
The original target was set for 2023.
The initial goal was already an audacious one, as it was announced for 2023 with the goal of increasing animation production. Previously, in 2021, it announced a goal of producing 40 animations (TV shows, movies, and other formats) per year by 2023, followed by an even more ambitious goal for 2023.
Not only do they want to deliver more content, they want to deliver it to a wider audience. For many, Kadokawa has been trying to expand beyond what the industry can handle. Because many of the anime series they produced suffered delays due to “production situations” and other quality issues.
Kadokawa wants to reach a wider audience
Kadokawa has been investing in expanding to other countries and continents and translating its content into multiple languages. The recent announcement that Crunchyroll MAN is “returning” could be seen as a sign that Sony will be a key part of its strategy. Kadokawa said the deal included partnerships related to book distribution.
It's worth recalling that Kadokawa is also a co-owner of Yen Press, so it's not entirely dependent on Sony to publish English titles. However, Crunchyroll can reach a wider audience in many other countries, making it an “easier way” for Kadokawa to expand his publication to countries where people don't speak English and Crunchyroll already streams subtitled anime in their local language. can be provided. .
But we must also keep the following in mind: No “old” Crunchyroll comic has ever had its title translated into another language.This may have more to do with contractual issues, as Crunchyroll was contractually unable to allow the comics to be translated into languages other than English even after Crunchyroll began expanding into other countries.
Source: Nikkei via Animenomics
