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Sony is making big moves to own the anime industry by buying Kadokawa, publisher of Oshi no Ko, Sword Art Online, and Konosuba

The purchase of the publishing giant Kadokawa would give Sony the Intellectual Property ownership that has been holding them back from dominating the anime industry.

Oshi no Ko promotional image
Image credit: Doga Kobo

For several weeks, the biggest news in the anime industry wasn’t something that we saw on the screen – it was what was happening behind the scenes. Sony - owners of the Crunchyroll streaming platform and several anime studios - was making a bid to purchase Kadokawa, the publisher of Oshi no Ko, Sword Art Online, and Delicious in Dungeon. If the deal goes through, it could change the anime landscape completely in ways that might surprise you.

While rumors of Sony’s proposed purchase of Kadokawa have been circulating for almost a month, it wasn’t until Sony confirmed that it had issued a “statement of intent” to buy the publishing giant. On December 19, 2024, it was announced that Sony, who already owned around 2% of Kadokawa stock, would increase their stake to 10% to make themselves the largest

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Trent Cannon

Trent Cannon: Trent is a freelance writer who has been covering anime, video games, and pop culture for a decade. (He/Him)

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