Sony Is Buying Kadokawa! What Does This Mean for the Industry?

The latest chapter in the “Sony is eating anime” saga dropped today as word got out that Sony is in talks to acquire anime publishing behemoth Kadokawa. What will this mean for the anime industry? Let’s talk about it in this blog post!

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Sony Is in Talks to Buy Kadokawa. Should Anime Fans Be Worried?

Today X lit up with the KADOKAWA買収 tag, as news dropped that Sony and Kadokawa were in talks over a possible buyout. While no deal has been announced, the word is that an agreement could be signed within a few weeks if the terms are agreed upon by both companies.

What does this mean for the anime industry? It’s yet another sign that it’s maturing as it grows larger and larger. The change could mean more access to Kadokawa’s back catalog for worldwide distribution via Crunchyroll. But it could also mean changes in the kinds of anime produced by the company. Changes in the business world are unavoidable. But is Sony moving one step closer to forming an anime monopoly a good thing for staff that create the anime we all love, who are woefully underpaid?

Sony’s new direction does create some question marks. Since Kadokawa already bought Anime News Network, this will mean that Sony would control that news site. Will we start seeing positive articles on Sony-related anime works on ANN?

Why Is Sony Becoming an Anime Company?

As I wrote back when Sony bought J-List competitor Right Stuf, Sony isn’t new to anime at all. They’ve owned anime distributor Aniplex and anime studios like A-1 and Cloverworks, and have been involved in making some of the most popular anime for a quarter-century. As the era of the Playstation faded in favor of addictive mobile games in Asia, Sony saw the writing on the wall. They moved the Playstation World Headquarters to California and decided to focus the Japanese side of the company on anime.

But wait! Sony is famous for censoring anime games on the Playstation. Doesn’t this mean Sony will censor anime? As I’ve written before, Sony has brought us plenty of sexy anime without any censorship. So for the time being, there’s no need to fear that Sony will be taking away our anime pantyshots.

What Is Kadokawa Famous For?

Kadokawa Shoten Publishing was esblished in 1945 by Genyoshi Kadokawa. The company initially focused on publishing literature, but expanded to broader media in the 1980s. Kadokawa pioneered the “Media Mix” strategy, in which novels create the initial demand for an IP, which then leads to audio drama CDs, anime, and games, all of which generate revenue for the company.

In 1985, Kadokawa threw down the gauntlet to other anime magazine publishers by launching Newtype, the “moving pictures magazine.” It featured larger pages with more color than competing magazines like Animage or Animedia, and more cool posters for fans inside. This enabled Kadokawa to become one of the most influential companies creating anime in Japan.

What Are Japanese Fans Saying About the News?

Let’s check in with some random Japanese users on X and see what they’re saying! (Memes are added by me.)

Sony is buying Kadokawa? What’s going on??

I’m afraid that if Sony buys Kadokawa, they’ll change the company for the worse. Sony is quite pori-kore [politically correct] and places regulations on how creators can express themselves through their art.

How greedy can Sony be? I don’t want all my entertainment to be owned by one company. We should call them Ku-Sony [Shit Sony].

If Sony buys Kadokawa, that means they’ll also be buying [Elden Ring and Bloodborne developer] FromSoftware, too. I guess this means… the Night of the Beast Hunt Begins.

Sony will treat Kadokawa like a proper subsidiary, right? Sony feels more like an international company than a representative of Japan these days. I don’t like this plan.

I’m certainly happier to have Sony buy Kadokawa (including Nico Nico Douga) than if Kadokawa were bought by a foreign company, and forced to bring Nico Nico into compliance with foreign content laws. So maybe this is a good thing after all?

Thanks for reading this blog post about the news that Sony might be buying Kadokawa. What do you think of this news? Tell us in the comments below!