Forum - View topicNEWS: Reuters: Sony Is in Talks to Acquire Kadokawa
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WANNFH
 Posts: 1824 |
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So... Are we talking about purchasing Kadokawa Games department (the one that owns From Software, Spike Chunsoft and others), which can benefit Sony Playstation department... or literally WHOLE Kadokawa?
Because if it's the second - then anime industry gonna be doomed completely considering we're talking about trying to build near monopoly status over merging literally two biggest powerhouses behind the anime production committee heads who are both covering more than half of running anime series per season, let alone the fact that Sony will acquire one of the biggest publishers in Japanese market with the ability to control hundreds and hundreds of anime IP - and they both are known for very bad mistreatment of production for Japanese animation studios, so that make the union even more unholy. And we're not even talking about the monopoly over access to anime on the West either, because kicking out Kadokawa-produced shows from the other streaming services rather than Crunchyroll sure not gonna benefit to no one except Sony. |
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Cardcaptor Takato
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What would this mean for ANN since Kadokawa now owns ANN?
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liatris
Posts: 66 |
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I think Sony and Kadokawa's policies are a very poor match.
Kadokawa's collection of IPs related to otaku culture may not be widely recognized, but they hold significant historical importance. For example, Record of Lodoss War is a Kadokawa publication. That said, their portfolio includes works that are not exactly "polite," such as the overproduction of isekai series. Ironically, this boldness is part of their appeal and has always been their style. However, Sony's policies seem to be the complete opposite of this. As a result of the acquisition, I feel there’s a very high chance that Kadokawa's complex and diverse body of works will be entirely discarded. |
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DamianSalazar
Posts: 765 |
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I wonder how strong Japan's antitrust policies are to prevent such an acquisition.
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Cardcaptor Takato
Posts: 5188 |
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There's lots to be concerned about this buy out but Kadokawa is not going to stop making isekai as long as it's making them buttloads of cash. |
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SinisterOracle
Posts: 391 |
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No no no no no no no!!!!
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GATSU
Posts: 15559 |
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Hopefully, they don't fire ANN'ers who take umbrage at the Kenshin guy. I'd hate to have an anime Kane and Lynch scenario here....And hopefully, ANN will still be free.
Last edited by GATSU on Tue Nov 19, 2024 4:05 am; edited 2 times in total |
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liatris
Posts: 66 |
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In Japan, there are plenty of other companies related to otaku culture besides KADOKAWA. I don't think it would violate antitrust laws. |
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WANNFH
Posts: 1824 |
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Sony behind the anime (aka Aniplex production) and Sony "policies" (which usually are picked by the fact of Playstation game censorship despite it's literally going through their Californian HQ) are cardinally different though and can contradict each other, as we literally talking about the people who are can pull raunchy stuff if it benefit them. |
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YackDe
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Yeah and a bunch of them are already under the Sony umbrella, Aniplex being the largest. This pretty clearly creates a level of corporate consolidation where Sony would own most of the anime and light novel industry in Japan. |
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Divineking
 Posts: 1298 |
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This isn't about "otaku culture" or anything as arbitrary as that. This is the current BIGGEST book publisher in Japan (who also owns several anime and game studios) being bought by one of the biggest media conglomerates in the world. If that doesn't raise anti-trust alarm bells I don't know what would. The effect this would have on otaku stuff is the LEAST of the dangers this presents (Sony isn't gonna cut off something making a ton of money as is) |
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WANNFH
Posts: 1824 |
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Plenty? Really? You literally can count the production committee heads by fingers of one hand, with the only other biggest competitor on the market that is not tied to TV stations against that two is TOHO, while even other biggest competitors such as Bandai or Toei barely scratch the market percentages. Not calling out the possible merging of both that can completely dominate the market over the anti-trust laws is basically same as not calling situation with Crunchyroll as near monopoly status, because there are anime on Netflix, Hulu or Adult Swim. |
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liatris
Posts: 66 |
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Plenty? Really? You literally can count the production committee heads by fingers of one hand, with the only other biggest competitor on the market that is not tied to TV stations against that two is TOHO, while even other biggest competitors such as Bandai or Toei barely scratch the market percentages.
Not calling out the possible merging of both that can completely dominate the market over the anti-trust laws is basically same as not calling situation with Crunchyroll as near monopoly status, because there are anime on Netflix, Hulu or Adult Swim.[/quote] That’s exactly what I wanted to say. In the end, Crunchyroll was not deemed a monopoly under antitrust laws because platforms like Netflix and Hulu also exist. In the book market, even if we narrow it down to major players, there are companies like Shueisha, Shogakukan, Kodansha, and Square Enix. In the anime market, aside from Toei, advertising agencies like Dentsu and Hakuhodo, as well as competitors like Bandai Namco and gaming companies like Square Enix, are also participating. If you include smaller entities, there are countless sponsors. "Light novels" are also an arbitrary classification—they are, in the end, just books. Even Shueisha and other companies publish them. Under antitrust laws, the realm of otaku culture cannot be categorized. At best, the domains can only be divided into classifications like movies, animation, or television. |
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DamianSalazar
Posts: 765 |
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With Aniplex, Sony own two large anime studios in A-1 Pictures and CloverWorks. If they acquire Kadokawa, they'll own Doga Kobo, ENGI, and shares in Kinema Citrus.
In the gaming space, Sony own PlayStation and Bungie (not part of PlayStation). If they buy Kadokawa, they'll own Acquire, FromSoftware, and Spike Chunsoft. |
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WANNFH
Posts: 1824 |
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Except all that "major players" that you name have very insignificant part in the production committees of anime production - where the major benefits from it's profit going to the biggest backers, and it nearly always come to same three major heads (Aniplex/Kadokawa/TOHO) who are producing the anime adaptations for them all (for example - while Shueisha is the owner of Oshi no Ko IP - the anime series production committee head is actually Kadokawa, which are benefit the most from it, same as Aniplex with stuff like Demon Slayer or TOHO with Dandadan).
And once again - all of them outside of basically Big Three of current anime production are barely insignificant to be actual threat on the market and usually are their cooperators (also I can laugh a bit about picking Square Enix, for example - considering their recent biggest hits on the anime market like Apothecary Diaries and NieR anime were actually backed and produced by the very same Aniplex and TOHO). |
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