Translated with AI from the Russian original.
In 2025, the company became the largest shareholder in Kadokawa, the owner of a vast library of manga, light novels, and video games.
Sony Group views Japanese animation as one of its keyts own intellectual properties. Bloomberg reports this, citing an interview with Atsuhiro Iwakami, chairman of the board at Aniplex and president of Sony Music Entertainment Japan
The company aims to move beyond the traditional model of content production and distribution, transforming into a major owner of popular franchises. Sony expects to create and acquire intellectual property capable of generating revenue over many decades, including through anime, video games, music, merchandising, and other forms of entertainment.
One of the prime examples of such a strategy is “Demon Slayer”. Sony wants the franchise to maintain its popularity not only in the coming years, but also across several generations.
Our goal is to ensure that the story of ‘Demon Slayer’ continues for another 10 or 20 years, and if possible, 50–100 years. We want to participate in creating franchises capable of withstanding the test of decades.
Sony also does not rule out the possibility of investing in publisher Shueisha, which owns the rights to such renowned series as Dragon Ball, Naruto, and One Piece. It is Shueisha that owns the original intellectual property of “Demon Slayer”. Answering a question about potential investments in the publishing house, Iwakami acknowledged such a possibility if a suitable opportunity arises.
Another area of development will be the creation of original content. Aniplex and Crunchyroll have joined forces to launch a new animation studio, Hayate, which will produce original anime for an international audience. In addition, the companies plan to cooperate more actively with Japanese authors and adapt their works into animation and gaming projects.
Sony intends to expand its content lineup beyond traditional anime for teenagers and adults. Iwakami is interested in projects for children and family audiences, citing the Australian animated series Bluey and the popular Japanese character Chiikawa as examples.
In the long term, the company does not even rule out creating its own theme park similar to Disneyland or Universal Studios. However, to bring such a project to life, Sony needs to possess a sufficient number of popular franchises and control the rights to them. According to Iwakami, if the company achieves the required level of popularity for its characters and sees sufficient audience demand, it will be able to consider such a large-scale business venture.
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