Disney+ Japan took to Twitter to announce an expanded deal with legendary manga publisher Kodansha, continuing their 70-year collaboration by bringing great anime series to eager fans. This expansion of their current deal will give Disney exclusive rights to anime adaptations of Kodansha’s publications, which Disney will stream on their SVOD (subscription video on demand) service Disney+.
ディズニー、講談社と
アニメ作品の配信を含む戦略的協業の拡大を発表！『#東京リベンジャーズ 聖夜決戦編』
2023年1月 #ディズニープラス
定額制動画配信(SVOD) 世界独占配信今後も講談社が生み出す人気漫画原作のアニメをディズニープラスで配信予定！#ディズニーコンテンツショーケース2022 pic.twitter.com/3CNVMOpCH1
— ディズニープラス公式 (@DisneyPlusJP) November 30, 2022
Kodansha President and CEO Yoshinobu Noma expressed confidence in his company’s ongoing partnership with Disney, highlighting the 70 years they spent in the publishing space. Kodansha’s partnership with Disney began in 1950 when they published a manga art book featuring Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Donald Duck, and the Seven Dwarfs as part of the “Disney’s Manga Ehon” series. Kodansha currently publishes the monthly “Disney Fan” series, now celebrating its 32nd year, as well as other Disney products. It’s also worth pointing out that Kodansha officially sponsors Tokyo Disneyland.
Mr. Noma also expressed excitement that his company will be able to “further diversify and elevate the relationship” with Disney, a sentiment shared by Carol Choi, the executive VP of original content strategy of The Walt Disney Company APAC (Asia Pacific). Ms. Choi spoke about her company’s joy to “deepen our strategic collaboration” with Kodansha, and highlighted the popularity of anime, and its power to improve “Disney’s future animation strategy in Japan.”
According to Parrot Analytics, global demand for anime content grew 118% over the past two years, so it makes sense that Disney and Kodansha would want to expand their current partnership, with Disney’s global reach and Kodansha’s extensive library of incredible works waiting to be adapted and streamed to fans the world over. Kodansha owns the rights to some of the most beloved manga series, such as Akira, Attack on Titan, Sailor Moon, and Fire Force. From monsters to magical girls, Kodansha has it covered, so fans may be excited to see what a collaboration between Kodansha and Disney can offer them.
The first production that Kodansha and Disney will be streaming as part of their extended deal is Tokyo Revengers: Christmas Showdown Arc, which is set to launch exclusively on Disney+, and Disney+ Hotstar sometime in January 2023.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLDxSMfGAeA
Tokyo Revengers: Christmas Showdown Arc will cover the “Christmas Conflict” event of the manga, which was first published in Japan on October 3rd, 2018, and saw a great battle between the Tokyo Manji Gang, 10th Generation Black Dragon gang, and the Shiba family. On Christmas night, an all-out brawl will occur at a church.
Tokyo Revengers was created by mangaka Ken Wakui, who began to publish the series from March 2017 to November 2022 in Kodansha’s Weekly Shōnen Magazine, in a total of 278 chapters collected in 30 tankobon volumes. The series follows Takemichi Hanagaki as he leaps back and forth twelve years to prevent his friend Naoto Tachibana and Takemichi’s ex-girlfriend Hinata Tachibana from suffering terrible fates at the hands of the Tokyo Manji Gang. It is a series of epic fight scenes between gangs and other powerful individuals, with the fate of many hanging in the balance of these conflicts.
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