{"id":53779,"date":"2025-08-08T20:50:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T20:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/53779\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T20:50:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T20:50:06","slug":"sony-wants-its-anime-boom-to-be-as-big-as-the-playstation-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/53779\/","title":{"rendered":"Sony Wants Its Anime Boom to Be as Big as the PlayStation 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

While Sony has been a quietly influential force in the anime landscape\u2014owning studio Aniplex and acquiring Crunchyroll, which absorbed its former rival Funimation<\/a> to expand its roster of shows and films\u2014the PlayStation maker still sees itself as just getting started. According to a new report, Sony is still building an anime empire, treating this moment like the dawn of the PlayStation era, with more room to grow looming over the horizon.<\/p>\n

Speaking with\u00a0the Japanese publication\u00a0Toyo Keizai<\/a> (hat-tip Automaton Media<\/a>), Sony\u2019s Chief Strategy Officer, Toshimoto Mitomo, characterized the company\u2019s state in the anime industry as one comparable only to its take-off phase with the PlayStation 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s in a phase roughly equivalent to the period between the launch of the PS1 and PS2,\u201d Mitomo told Toyo Keizai.<\/p>\n

As Automaton Media notes, PlayStation garnered immediate success with the launch of the original console in 1994, catapulting annual revenue from $2 billion to $30 billion by the time the PlayStation 5 released. While Mitomo draws a comparison to the company\u2019s trajectory as the liminal space between it and the PlayStation 2 era, that\u2019s no modest benchmark. After all, the PS2 remains arguably Sony\u2019s most beloved and nostalgia-rich console<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The PS2 redefined gaming expectations with landmark titles like Metal Gear Solid 2, Kingdom Hearts II, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, each offering gameplay experiences that stood in stark contrast to their competitors. The PS2\u2019s legacy is so enduring that retro-themed PlayStation 5 controllers and consoles sell out whenever Sony revives them. So when Mitomo suggests that Sony\u2019s foothold in the anime space is nearing that same level of cultural dominance, it\u2019s a bold and telling statement.<\/p>\n

\"Demon\u00a9 Crunchyroll <\/p>\n

One of the proving grounds of Sony redoubling its efforts to make anime the cornerstone of its business portfolio\u2014one already seeing booming success with Sony Pictures Animation\u2019s release of KPop Demon Hunters<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Spider-Verse<\/a> films\u2014is the forthcoming theatrical release of\u00a0Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba The Movie: Infinity Castle<\/a>.\u00a0The film, the first of a trilogy<\/a>, acts as the finale of the popular shonen anime series.\u00a0According to\u00a0Anime News Network<\/a>, the film became the 10th highest-earning movie of all time in Japan within 17 days of its theatrical release, earning approximately $119.3 million.<\/p>\n

Its previous film release,\u00a0Mugen Train, was the former record holder for the fastest film to earn 10 billion yen at the box office while also holding the distinction of being the top-grossing film of all time in Japan. The film, poised for a U.S. release on September 12 in theaters and IMAX, may help Sony make another rebound in box office success in the States.<\/p>\n

Sony already owns Crunchyroll, one of the largest anime streaming platforms. However, Sony had already shown signs that it wanted to take its pursuits in the anime space more seriously back in December, when it voiced interest in acquiring Kadokawa<\/a>, the Japanese media company famous in the gaming sphere for being the company behind the mega-popular soulslike game, Elden Ring<\/a>. Although their talks for being greater shareholders within Kadokawa were juxtaposed to rival Microsoft\u2019s monopolization of the gaming space with its expensive acquisition of Activision Blizzard King for a smooth $70 billion deal<\/a> in 2023 (one that\u2019s only seen mass layoffs in its wake), the move also deepened its real estate in the anime industry.<\/p>\n

Kadokawa owns a substantial cultural (and financial) cache, with titles like Delicious in Dungeon<\/a>, Re: Zero, Oshi no Ko<\/a>, and Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation in its catalogue. Take that into consideration alongside Kadokawa\u2019s manga reading service, K Manga<\/a>, which continues the feedback loop between anime viewers who want to read ahead of a seasonal show on Crunchyroll, such as Wind Breaker<\/a>, or shows on rival streaming service Netflix, like The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity. <\/p>\n

According to Automaton Media, Sony became a major shareholder of Kadokawa<\/a> in January, acquiring a 10 percent stake for around $340 million. The deal saw Sony acquire Kadokawa-owned studios, such as Doga Kobo<\/a>, as well as access to its original manga and light novel works\u2014i.e., the source material for anime adaptations. Inversely, Kadokawa is leveraging its connection with Sony to increase its yearly production of original works. This ecosystem effectively channels revenue back into Sony\u2019s portfolio. And this is before Crunchyroll announced its plans to enter the manga reading space<\/a>\u00a0and Sony acquired a\u00a02.5 percent stake in Bandai Namco<\/a>, which also has deep ties in the video game and anime space.<\/p>\n

It will be interesting to see how Sony\u2019s efforts to enter the anime industry develop. The company has already played a significant role in popularizing the theatrical release of anime compilations and films. This was evident before\u00a0Toho Animation acquired GKids<\/a> to bring more Japanese media, such as Godzilla: Minus One<\/a> and Dan Da Dan<\/a>, to theaters in the United States. The competition for dominance in the anime market<\/a> is likely to continue in both cinemas and on streaming platforms, as companies go band for band to draw viewers to their side of the anime fence.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While Sony has been a quietly influential force in the anime landscape\u2014owning studio Aniplex and acquiring Crunchyroll, which…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1840,44783,64,63,14973,44784,9482,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-53779","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-animation","9":"tag-anime","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-demon-slayer","13":"tag-kadokawa","14":"tag-sony","15":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}