Sumitomo funds Shueisha-backed anime distributor
Plus: Kadokawa and Sony detail alliance to shareholders; Hakusensha leans into digital manga; 'Hypnosis Mic' anime film targets fandom spending; and more
This is your weekly Animenomics briefing, covering the business of anime and manga. Today is Wednesday, February 19, 2025.
In case you missed it: Award-winning anime director Masaaki Yuasa has established his new studio Ame Pippin, backed by Asmik Ace, Sony Music’s Aniplex, and CoMix Wave Films.
Sumitomo, Shueisha to jointly control anime distributor
Sumitomo will take joint control of Shueisha-backed REMOW after making a strategic investment in the anime distributor in December, the trading conglomerate said last week.
Why it matters: Japanese trading conglomerates have been seeking new sources of profit in anime and entertainment and diversifying away from trade in raw materials and natural resources, Animenomics previously reported.
Sumitomo had joined Crunchyroll in investing in anime production committees nearly a decade ago, but that partnership was dissolved in 2023 following the streaming service’s acquisition by Sony Group.
By the numbers: REMOW reported ¥3.39 billion (US$22.3 million) in capital prior to the new investments, and that number increased to ¥6.19 billion (US$40.7 million) in January, according to public company data reviewed by Animenomics.
Founded in 2021 by a Shueisha-led consortium of investors, the anime distributor today counts more than two dozen backers in Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore.
Where things stand: The Nikkei financial newspaper reports that Sumitomo will help REMOW expand globally by utilizing its network of overseas subsidiaries.
Last year, REMOW’s Anime Onegai subscription video on demand service in Latin America launched a free advertising-supported streaming television channel on LG smart televisions in five Spanish-speaking countries.
The distributor also formed a subsidiary in South Korea in 2023 and has worked with Chinese streaming platforms Bilibili and iQIYI.
Between the lines: The Weekly Toyo Keizai business magazine reported in 2023 that manga publisher Shueisha was using REMOW to diversify distribution channels after years of being a close partner of Sony Music’s anime production unit Aniplex.
Yes, but: While REMOW’s net sales grew 18 percent year-over-year in the fiscal year ending in October 2023, operating loss deepened over the same period from ¥110 million (US$720,000) to ¥765 million (US$5 million).
A source familiar with REMOW’s content offerings told Animenomics that its catalog of anime titles available into 2026 lacks the weight of recently animated Shueisha properties like Dan Da Dan and Sakamoto Days.
Kadokawa and Sony detail capital and business alliance
Publishing giant Kadokawa and entertainment conglomerate Sony Group this month gave investors more details about their recent capital and business alliance during third quarter earnings presentations.
Why it matters: This is the first time both companies have gone before shareholders and media since the deal was completed on January 7.
What they’re saying: “Through this alliance, the leadership of both companies are even more committed to promoting collaboration, and we aim to create new value in various entertainment fields by combining Kadokawa’s strength in creating original IP with our technologies and global expansion capabilities,” Sony Group senior vice president for corporate planning Naomi Matsuoka told investors on Thursday.
Kadokawa and Sony Music subsidiary Aniplex are expected to increase anime co-productions, which will then be distributed globally by Crunchyroll.
Sony Group says it will also adapt Kadokawa properties into live-action films and television dramas for the global market.
Video games in Kadokawa’s portfolio will benefit from Sony’s game publishing expertise.
Zoom out: Kadokawa told investors it expects to acquire additional publishers, anime production studios, and video game developers at home and abroad.
This week, it acquired anime photography and CG production studio Chiptune, which has worked on titles like Blue Lock and Blue Giant.
Chiptune is the fourth anime studio to be acquired by Kadokawa since 2019. The company also established three studios on its own.
What we’re watching: The companies said they will jointly develop human resources and expand the use of virtual production technologies, which Sony is developing.
Clippings: Tariff-proof Japan entertainment stocks rise
Japanese entertainment stocks in anime, video games, and other entertainment IPs are rising as retail investors seek refuge from potential tariffs by the United States, which could affect sales at companies that sell physical goods. (Nikkei Asia)
Entertainment group Bushiroad revised its full-year operating profit forecast up by 50 percent to ¥3 billion (US$19.7 million) for the fiscal year ending in June. Sales of trading cards, merchandise, and concert tickets all exceeded expectations. (Gamebiz)
Book distributor Tohan has signed an agreement with Riyadh-based consulting and tourism firm Japan Planet to open a chain of stores selling Japanese character toys and merchandise in Saudi Arabia. (The Nikkei)
Unit sales of manga in the United States declined 18 percent last year compared to 2023, sales numbers are still up by 187 percent compared to 2018, before the COVID-19 pandemic. (ICv2)
Japan Expo Paris in Osaka, a two-day event in April by the organizers of Paris’s Japan Expo convention as part of this year’s World Expo in Osaka, could draw up to 100,000 anime and manga fans. (Kyodo News via The Mainichi)
Pirated manga websites attracted 55.8 billion views in 2024, making up 70 percent of all pirated publishing views last year. Anime also made up eight of last year’s ten most in-demand pirated television shows worldwide. (Variety Intelligence Platform)
Hakusensha’s new president leans into digital platforms
“When I visited a pop-up shop selling character goods from another company's picture books, I saw a pair of girls who clearly had no knowledge of the work head to the register, saying, ‘This character is really popular. Let's buy it!’ I was impressed, thinking, ‘I see! So merchandise can sometimes be a gateway to a work!’ ‘Our company also has a lot of works that could be developed into merchandise,’ I also thought.”
— Yasufumi Takagi, Hakusensha president and representative director
Context: Takagi, who was named the new chief executive of girls’ manga publisher Hakusensha in November, told Real Sound that he welcomes the growth of digital manga platforms, webtoon content, and IP-based merchandise as opportunities to create new touchpoints for interacting with manga.
Prior to joining Hakusensha’s executive leadership in 2021, Takagi spent ten years in its rights department and then the digital department, leading efforts to make the publisher’s manga titles available digitally.
What he’s saying: “I believe it’s our job as publishers and editors to create an environment where writers can fully demonstrate their abilities, to maintain good relationships, and to continue to support the further expansion of their works,” he said.
Interactive anime film targets spending-driven fandom
Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle officially has a running time of 100 minutes, but the upcoming anime film’s true running time is something viewers will need to discover for themselves when it opens in theaters in Japan on Friday.
Why it matters: Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle, set in a world where armed conflict has been replaced by rap battles, bills itself as Japan’s first full-fledged interactive film.
Viewers participate in live voting to determine the outcomes of five rap battles, creating 48 possible configurations of the film’s story and seven possible endings.
How it works: The film uses interactive moviemaking technology sold by Los Angeles-based Kino Industries that was first developed by Zurich-based CtrlMovie.
Viewers use the CtrlMovie mobile application to scan a QR code that links their devices to their current film screening.
When the film reaches a decision point, viewers submit their votes online, and a receiving device instructs branching to the screening equipment.
Backgrounder: Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle is a multimedia project by Japanese record label King Records that spans CD releases from eighteen voice actors, manga, stage plays, a mobile game, and anime.
Launched in 2017, the project generated ¥10 billion (US$66 million) in economic impact in its first two years, says the Japan Merchandising Rights Association.
The bigger picture: Multimedia projects like Hypnosis Mic target Japan’s burgeoning spending-driven fandom culture known as ‘oshikatsu’.
“It's not just fun because there are wins and losses,” Ryo Nakaoka, producer at Polygon Pictures, the anime studio that made the film, told The Asahi Shimbun. “It also contains some absurdity, such as the fact that your ‘oshi’ doesn't win, or that you can’t see the route you chose. I want people to experience all sorts of feelings, share them with others, and enjoy that absurdity in and of itself.”
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I think Sanrio's (and others, especially the game stocks) results have more to do with the entertainment/IP stocks move, though. And I think it might be not that clear cut, also. A lot of the merch is produced in China, and the royalties might suffer.
As for Kadokawa/Sony... the only surprise there is the publishing. Kadokawa has been slowly inching toward self-publishing for a while, odd to see them giving margin away like that!
Why is an old bloke running one of Japan's most successful female-focused manga publishers? Where are the women? Japan!!!