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Bushiroad Acquires 8.2% of Sanzigen Animation Studio

posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Ultra Super Pictures, studio president Hiroaki Matsuura own rest of stock in company

Entertainment company Bushiroad announced on Friday that it has acquired 8.2% of SANZIGEN Animation Studio, the studio behind the second and third seasons of the BanG Dream! anime series. Bushiroad stated that it purchased the stock in the studio as part of a string of "important partnerships" to create high-quality anime.

Under the new deal, Ultra Super Pictures will own 75.4% of SANZIGEN Animation Studio, the studio's president Hiroaki Matsuura will own 16.4%, and Bushiroad will own 8.2%. The acquisition deal will take place on December 20. The companies did not disclose how much Bushiroad will pay for the acquisition.

Bushiroad and Kadokawa announced on Wednesday that they have each acquired a third of the shares of the studio Kinema Citrus. The three companies previously announced a comprehensive business partnership in July. The partnership aims to produce a "stable" intellectual property and producing anime content in response to the growing popularity of anime both domestically and abroad.

Bushiroad was founded in 2007. The company owns a number of cross-media franchises, some of which originate from its card games. Bushiroad's Cardfight!! Vanguard and Future Card Buddyfight series have both inspired long-running television anime series, and its Luck & Logic card game inspired two television anime series. Bushiroad also owns the Weiß Schwarz anime crossover card game. The company owns the Tantei Opera Milky Holmes franchise, as well as the BanG Dream! franchise, both of which have television anime series. The company also owns the Revue Starlight franchise. Both BanG Dream! and Revue Starlight have active smartphone games. The company also owns the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion.

Bushroad announced in October that it invested in the Gekidan Hikōsen theater troupe so that together they can develop more stage plays based on its properties.

SANZIGEN Animation Studio was founded in March 2006. Aside from BanG Dream!, the company has produced such anime as 009 Re:Cyborg, BBK/BRNK, ID-0, Monster Strike the Animation, Wooser's Hand-to-Mouth Life, the Initial D: Legend trilogy, and Miss Monochrome, and has worked on 3DCGI on many anime series and films.

Sources: Bushiroad (link 2), Animation Business Journal (Tadashi Sudo)


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