Kadokawa to Consolidate Five Anime Production Studios

Japanese comprehensive entertainment company Kadokawa is consolidating five anime production studios under its umbrella into a single entity.

Kadokawa announced on September 8 that it will integrate five anime production studios within the group—ENGI, Studio KADAN, Chiptune, BELLNOX FILMS, and Raging Bull—to establish a new production company, Studio One Base. The new corporate entity is scheduled to launch in November 2026.

Studio One Base represents the third project under “Creating Creators. Creating Studios.”, Kadokawa’s reform initiative to strengthen its anime and live-action video production systems. Designed to fundamentally reinforce production frameworks across both anime and live-action sectors, the initiative aims to boost IP creation capabilities and maximize IP LTV (lifetime value) by expanding production capacity and creator support. To achieve this, Kadokawa plans to open a production hub in Ikebukuro Sunshine City in autumn 2026 to gather its group anime production studios in one location, and has established a new studio, “Kadokawa Creators,” to recruit young talent as regular staff and nurture them directly on production sites.

Since 2018, Kadokawa has expanded its in-house anime production capacity through studio launches and M&A, with group studios producing a total of 48 titles and 486 episodes to date.

Even after the consolidation, the names and production lines of the five existing studios will remain unchanged. While preserving the brands and distinct characteristics built by each studio, executive and management structures as well as back-office functions will be integrated. Kadokawa plans to gather each studio’s producers and key animation personnel alongside various specialized functions—such as 3DCG, cinematography, and background art—under Studio One Base, establishing a comprehensive system covering the entire anime production process while maintaining genre diversity.

Ahead of the corporate merger, the five studios are scheduled to relocate starting September 2026 to “Studio One Base,” the new production hub in Sunshine City, Ikebukuro, Tokyo. By bringing creators together in a single location, the hub will foster creator networking, technical knowledge sharing, talent exchange, and the development of young creators, while building a system for flexible staff deployment across studios to handle increasingly large-scale and sophisticated anime projects.

Kadokawa cited growing global anime demand alongside increasing project counts and production scales as key drivers behind the consolidation, noting that industry challenges such as staff shortages and rising production costs are intensifying. Sho Tanaka, Chief Anime Officer, stated, “While inheriting the unique individuality and expressive power of each studio, we will strengthen our management foundation and build an environment where creators can focus on anime production with confidence,” adding, “Through investment in human resources and production environments, we will continue to nurture the next generation of talent and drive technological innovation.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated with the help of AI. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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