KADOKAWA, whose financial results for the fiscal year ending March 2021 are increasing sales and profits and performing well, will further accelerate the animation business. The background is the strong performance of the animation business due to the strong sales of licenses and the expansion of overseas business. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009 (FY2008), “Re: Life in a Different World from Zero” and “Sword Art Online Alicization War of Underworld” was active as main titles, and the animation business grew 9% year-on-year. There is.
The announcement of financial results on April 30 also revealed a medium-term management plan targeting the fiscal year ending March 2023. “Strengthening the animation business” was lined up as one of the six measures to achieve the goal.
Four more efforts were mentioned to strengthen the animation business. (1) Strengthening the animation production system, (2) Expanding license revenue, (3) Further expanding sales of animation-related games, (4) Strengthening efforts with CyberAgent and Sony Group.
One of the strengthening of the production system is the strengthening of in-house anime titles. The number of new animations will be further expanded to 40 per year until 2023. Since it was 33 in FY2008, it will increase by about 20%. In the fiscal year ending March 2010, large-scale works such as “Dragon and Belle Princess” and “Deer King Yuna and the Promised Journey” are coming up, and the company’s title is becoming more and more powerful.
However, in FY2008, the number of production investment titles has already reached 40. According to the published materials, 31 of them were TV series, 5 were theater movies, and 4 were OVA/event screenings. High-level production investment continues.
Strengthening animation extends not only to production investment but also to production. It is also mentioned that they are considering establishing a globally accepted 3DCG production studio that gathers world-class creators. In 2018, KADOKAWA established ENGI, a 3D animation CG studio, jointly with Sammy and Sanzigen. In 2019, it also invested in 2D animation studio Kinema Citrus. Step on the accelerator for animation production by your company.
Still, only some of the 40 titles a year can be produced in these studios. By further strengthening production, we can see the direction of trying to get involved in a wide range of animation businesses from planning, production, distribution and licensing.
In license operation, cooperation with games is an important key. In FY2008, game loyalty revenue from anime increased by 65% for “Blessing this wonderful world!”, “Re: Life in a Different World from Zero”, and “Overlord”. Furthermore, the average license sales per animation work increased by 36% year-on-year, mainly for games, and the percentage of the total revenue recovery of the work is also increasing.
One of these measures is an initiative with Sony Group, a cyber agent that entered into a capital tie-up in 2020. It is expected that the two companies will collaborate with game-related businesses.
In recent years, along with the expansion of the anime-related market, each company’s efforts in the anime business have been actively strengthened. Although competition is intensifying, KADOKAWA intends to grow as a leading player in this field by further focusing on animation.
Source – Kadokawa (link 2, link 3) & Animation Business Journal
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