Sony Reported in Talks to Acquire Anime Giant Kadokawa! What This Could Mean for Anime's Future

[@TheWhiteMamba3000]

Prepare for the Dark Age of anime where censorship is spreading like a disease.

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

Well the US is conservative compare to Japan or Europe or on political scale who look at Harris and thinks she far left or Hollywood is liberal Harris didn't support free college nor did Hollywood make movie criticizing US invasion of Iraq or movies questioning the system of capitalism nope instead they do movies that say the starus qoe is good

[@FBl]

@@TheWhiteMamba3000 You do realize that they have to comply with the local laws and regulations of each country they release their products in, and the contracts made with the IP owners or other platforms? The end result would be the same if it was any other company.

[@rhoem1353]

Kadokawa already does comply why are you watching there show crunchy roll if not so? Just worried censoring sony will do more then nessary

[@TheWhiteMamba3000]

I understand that companies have to follow laws, but Sony is extra nitpicky with anime games such as removing entire scenes and or content from a game that isn’t removed on other platforms. Sony may stray further from the source material in order remove anything they find problematic even if it is legal. This is my concern. I don’t trust Sony with anime games, and I don’t trust them with anime.

[@christophergartner1056]

someone didnt watch the video

[@Gymweeb]

Sony is really trying to be the Disney of Japan.

[@10100rsn]

Sony is already bigger. Sony handles all of Disney's physical distribution of DVD and Blu-Ray. "Sony will market, sell and distribute new Disney releases and catalog films on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra DVD through Canadian and U.S. retailers and distributors." The buyout, if true, it started in 2021 likely to counter other foreign interest.

[@notasadist1914]

Just so you know SONY stopped being a Japanese company when they moved their Headquarters to California

[@Calirex01]

@@notasadist1914 Sony didn’t Sony corp is still based in Japan that’s the PlayStation division which is still its own thing separate from other Sony buissnesses

[@10100rsn]

@@notasadist1914 Sony's headquarters is in Sony City, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. They have many subsidiaries that are headquartered in various places around the world, like Sony Interactive Entertainment headquarters in San Mateo, California or SMG headquarters in New York or the many subsidiaries headquartered in Japan or Sony Europe B.V. and subsidiaries in Europe. However, the parent company has always been headquartered in Japan. They even have their own Sony Bank!

[@Gymweeb]

@ if I’m not mistaken I believe it’s only the PlayStation division that moved to Cali, Sony’s main HQ is still in Japan

[@JoseLopez-gi9sf]

No more positivity we are in a monopoly now. And didn't Kadokawa buy out anime news network last year.

[@doctorkev8496]

Kadokawa is the owner of Anime News Network, and for now has kept their promise to maintain editorial independence. Who knows what will happen if Sony buys Kadokawa?

[@colterdenison6364]

@@doctorkev8496 I know that Sony will force anime to show DEI crap for the "Modern Audience".

[@YellinInMyEar]

@@colterdenison6364 great. "modern audience" is that code for far left woke?

[@colterdenison6364]

@@YellinInMyEar Yep. Even though only a small portion of them ever watch anime or read manga. They're just trying to force more who like the old anime to accept their views. That means LGBTQ+ stuff, victim minorities, radical feminism. They'll take away violence along with cute and sexy stuff that makes anime great. Also, check out my other message I posted about the UN and central banks in regards to anime/manga.

[@hassathunter2464]

@@YellinInMyEar Yes. Chruncyroll goes Japan.

[@InfamyOrDeath-__-]

Oh my God this is terrible news, please god let this not be true, this deal better not go through. This will do so much damage to manga, none of the English published manga I have comes straight from them, but some of the Japanese published manga I have is published by them. And when you look into it they publish sooo much. And so many figures that I buy are made by Kadokawa, I just got 2 last week, Albedo (restraint ver) and Magia Baiser, and I’ve a bunch of others. And having a monopoly in anime is just a terrible thing to happen, and they’re quite fond of censorship, god I hope this doesn’t happen.

[@VampireNoblesse]

prefer if Tencent took over?

[@Wolfaydragoon]

@@VampireNoblesse would prefer neither, but tencent has a hand in various fanservice gacha games that honestly make me feel more lenient. Both still would suck however.

[@christophergartner1056]

@@Wolfaydragoonsony owns aniplex which releases a lot of edgy stuff too. Also the world is slowly shifting away from Woke stuff.

[@f.b.l.9813]

RIP all the anime under their umbrella, goodbye to all the waifus in Sword Art Online, Re Zero etc. and hello Concord level of slop characters.

[@phlannelboxingday6198]

Yep

[@Samsapopin]

Well, Sony already owns Aniplex; which owns the anime rights of SAO, but yeah. Sony would own the LN side of it & every other series.

[@HanSDevX]

most of these talents will end up leaving to other companies but they will kill existing IP's. kdokawa anime figures will look like Trans 2B

[@goldenangel158]

RIP high school dxd as well the light novels series are not done yet and no season 5 yet and probably never get a season 5 because Sony hates fanserves and RIP junior high school dxd a spin off series that just started it it will probably never get a volume 3 with Sony in charge of what series is allowed to get created and I really like re zero as well what's going to happen to re zero 😢

[@rickchakraborty2087]

@@goldenangel158 I mean, Kadokawa already censored Re:Zero's anime anyway...

[@OSTemli]

Wtf black rock must be fueling Sony with money

[@hatoru17]

BlackRock is a company worth trillions of dollars and Sony is practically their little pet. Hell yeah they're fueling them with money. This is horrible on so many levels...

[@PredatoryQQmber]

And don't forget that Blackrock also instigated the current war to grab Ukrainian land and heavy industries. Destroying the last beacon of entertainment industry is nothing to them.

[@Haigen6]

I hope Sony doesn’t buy out kadokawa. Sony would monopolize the anime with already owning 35 percent of the anime industry (inc: crunchyroll, and Aniplex, which owns A1 pictures and clover works). Just like what otaku spirit said if Sony continues to acquire more animation/production companies it could significantly ruin the anime industry as a whole. They think of global industry, meaning censorship, which could cause of a lot show unnecessary censored. We wouldn’t be consuming the media the way the author originally wanted. Please let this just be a talk rather than a negotiation.

[@gure_gorio]

They are not even close to being a monopoly, lol.

[@EldritchErik94]

@@gure_gorio When it comes to anime in the west, yes they are.

[@gure_gorio]

@@EldritchErik94 Sony owns publishers, that's not the same. They don't release or air that shit for free, you know.

[@SigurdVolsunga-e8l]

@Haigen6 No monopoly and let me tell you why. Netflix, Hulu and Amazon are around. Crunchyroll is just a distributor, a streaming platform that is on most devices that support it. Also, Sony can make From Software's parent company go to SIE like Bungie and remain independent. Mostly Xbox and PC fanboys are mostly bitter because Sony will own all of From Software and they want Microsoft to buy them and more publishers.

[@SigurdVolsunga-e8l]

​@@EldritchErik94Netflix, Hulu and Amazon are around so no there is no monopoly

[@vng]

Sony sees Disney and goes, if they can do it, so can we. RIP anime.

[@msyon.]

This is literally like that one part in Initial D stage 4 where the guy who drives the mx-5 is like “IF THE 86 CAN DO IT, I CAN DO IT TOO.” Only bad can come out of this.

[@Maho3942]

Sony isnt Satisfied with censoring games? They want to do the same with light novels and manga?! I’m going to throw up

[@grawman67]

I just saw stuff about this on Twitter. Glad to see you covering it. Thanks. Also, I love the channel!

[@Sobbleboy27]

Ditto 😁

[@LeonTheSaint44]

Its all so depressing after this and anime forced to censor news bc of dumbass cards its sucks being a anime fan

[@Wolfaydragoon]

And there goes the light novel industry. Sony has consistently been ruining various projects related to anime since the 2010’s, so this is terrifying

[@Outerdebt3-on6fv]

Yup I'm gonna be buying physical versions of all of my favourite light novels before they get censored infinitely( konosuba and mushoku will not survive the censorship)

[@goldenangel158]

​@@Outerdebt3-on6fvat least konosuba light novels are finished and date a live as well but re zero, high school dxd, junior high school dxd, and many more light novels that are not done with telling their stories are doom

[@Outerdebt3-on6fv]

@goldenangel158 My comment got deleted so I’ll just try to say it without the link. HSDxD is all available on wattpad if you look for it, so if u copy the text there u can maybe print it or just put it in a document and read it there

[@francogaray2649]

@@goldenangel158 mushoku its finished too

[@goldenangel158]

@@francogaray2649 i forgot that series light novels are done thank you

[@TheBlackOtaku]

Great Sony’s being another anime of monopoly again 🤦🏾‍♂️

[@miswiredkenya7320]

When I initially saw the news, I hadn't even considered the anime/manga angle. As a gamer, I saw Spike Chunsoft and FromSoftware and immediately got worried, especially considering Sony's poor run of recent releases (especially Concord and Helldivers 2). But yeah, this would be bad for anime if so many titles get consolidated under one company. Hopefully Sony doesn't screw up if it does happen.

[@MiseRaen]

You will have to wonder if Sony's own subsidiaries get integrated into Kadokawa or Sony's own incompetent subsidiaries like their games division would girlboss over Kadokawa's subsidiaries like Fromsoft or their anime/manga/novel division.

[@Red_Nanaki]

You stupid lol

[@tomasz9429]

If this is true then rest in peace Kadokawa, you will be missed. Especially since Sony is now firmly embedded in the Western counter-culture, and dances to the anti-consumer tune.

[@jamesjeager129]

I have a bad feeling about Sony trying to buy a big Japanese company that makes anime & manga to start censoring anime & manga in a domino effect mode imo.

[@chilomine839]

That's exactly why they are doing it.

[@Alexandragon1]

>_< we are Fked... Aren't we? ((

[@VampireNoblesse]

prefer if Tencent (or MS) took over?

[@Wolfaydragoon]

@@VampireNoblesse why are you replying this to so many people? Also no, in an ideal world kadokawa would remain a wholly separate entity.

[@--Sama-]

@@VampireNoblesse You saying that is the same as asking, "Prefer Hitler or Stalin?" No. I can say I don't like either, and I won't consume stuff that I don't like.

[@SteinsGateIsAMasterpiece]

Pretty much but hey atleast we can watch old animes from piracy websites for the rest of our lifes ( hopefully nothing bad happens to these websites too )

[@simplysolus8916]

@@VampireNoblesse Tencent over Sony, yeah.

[@getreadytoscience2116]

Let sign a petition

[@nab1572]

I'd like to see the reaction of the Japanese regarding this development. Also, thanks for a saner take on this topic.

[@jzom4498]

I'm afraid if they sell, Sony will push for censored manga and anime. If that does happen I'll stop consuming it.

[@VampireNoblesse]

prefer if Tencent, Amazon or MS took over?

[@jzom4498]

@VampireNoblesse I feel like Amazon and MS. Would be worse than Sony

[@BooleanDev]

@@VampireNoblessehonestly would prefer tencent, they dont force their values onto companies they fund

[@--Sama-]

@@VampireNoblesse That still doesn't make this situation acceptable. If they buy Kadokawa and begin to censor it, I will stop consuming it too. I stopped watching The Irregular at Magic High School Season 2 and the Ayakashi Triangle anime adaptations because of the censorship. I refuse to suffer through anime and manga like I had to endure with Disney's Star Wars. If it's infected with DEI = No watching it.

[@f.b.l.9813]

@@VampireNoblesse Sony fanboy

[@HankyUSA]

I think it's less than 50% likely they'll announce an acquisition before the end of 2025. So I posted the question to Manifold and placed a bet.

[@hhjan594]

I like that you emphasized the fact that Sony is a Japanese corporation, unlike a lot of other content creators just used the Playstation branch as Sony. Yes they are going global, but they are very clear how uncensored content are popular in regions that allow them. I believe that means stuff will not be censored down to the source, as they still want to sell them in regions that allow them. That being said if you live in those countries that are not friendly with these content, yeah accessing those content legally will get more difficult, but that's as bad I believe stuff will go. Go into some shady sources you can definitely still find the uncensored sources.

[@thetruestar6348]

I HATE Microsoft and Disney for making becoming a monopoly so easy in America

[@lildevin16]

@@thetruestar6348 what does two Japanese companies dealing with anime have anything to do with Microsoft. Sony has been allowed to basically do what it wants in the anime but industry and no one has stepped in it’s not Microsoft fault. Microsoft isn’t even in the anime industry

[@CyrusIsnt]

What your computer run on?

[@Kleptari]

Don't forget the government for not doing their job and breaking them up and protecting the citizens.

[@CyrusIsnt]

@@Kleptari neither has a monopoly though...

[@joshuabonorino9561]

Blame FTC and Sony.

[@Haiyami]

This is not overblown. The sirens are going off. The red flags are being raised.

[@soulreaper6367]

WE ARE COOKED

[@hoppy8008]

AT-X? Anime is mega cooked if they buy it. It means no less censored or uncensored anime. Also Dengeki series of magazines for LNs, Manga, and games are Kadokawa owned. Sony has no business near this conglomerate.

[@chilomine839]

I feel like the west tanked entertainment on purpose to justify buying the superior product.

[@DiscoingGD1989]

We need to make a crowdfunded company, Degenerates INC., and protect the anime/manga environment.

[@madhukarg8052]

Sony already own a stake in Kadokawa

[@JoshuaJBellShow]

And if that does happen in Sony buys them and bookwalker goes under. I wonder what happens to all the digital light novel and manga onlys cuz they've been making a lot of digital manga and light novel only, which is the reason why I kind of wish that they ended up getting physical versions

[@JoshuaJBellShow]

This is why I believe in physical copies cuz even though I buy the digital versions as well on bookwalker. If Sony buys this group that owns bookwalker Sony could decide that bookwalker is no more like they did with funimation and all the people who own FUNimation blu-rays lost their digital copies forever

[@gshorter]

Yeah I totally agree, BUT the thing is Sony has to release Blu-rays for you to own them…. It took them 3 years to release 86 EIGHTY-SIX on Blu-ray. I just got it a couple weeks ago from the Crunchyroll store…

[@NoidoDev]

It's about the new products. The franchises.

[@Ricardo_Rick]

Considering how much Crunchyroll seems to hate Mushoku Tensei we can assume that it they do buy the company we won't see more of it ever. Sony have too much money so sadly it is a high possibility of that happening

[@michaelburnhamdidnothingwr7785]

As a Fromsoft aficionado, alarm bells went off first for that reason. Fromsoft games being multi-platform gives them the freedom to do what they want, losers like me will buy own multiple copies for multiple platforms...they do their own thing, and it's beautiful. The anime side is much more alarming, though. Any time new owners come in, there are pressures from the top-down to change. There are already censorship pressures from western involvement, and I don't want to see anime get more Disneyfied. Keep it as weird and independent as possible.

[@nakerusa]

Agreed. This is not good news. Hopefully much ado about nothing but a monopoly is never good for any medium.

[@MichaelM28]

This is great news. The only people who are butthurt about it are xbox fanboys 😂

[@NogardCodesmith]

@@MichaelM28 And people who don't like censorship. And people who watch anime because they don't like western entertainment and they don't want to see anime turn into hollyweird. ps. I dislike microsoft and the xbox too, so my hate of Soyny has NOTHING to do with that.

[@Gamecollectorsshow]

Legitimately the only people celebrating this are Sony ponies everyone else is pissed lol

[@pablocasas5906]

Mostly those who want all From Software to be PlayStation exclusive. The funny thing is that I think someone mentioned that it makes sense since Demon's Souls was PS3 exclusive, despite the fact that the game had to be published outside of Japan by Altus, since Sony didn't think the game would be popular, nevemind the fact that Elden Ring sold a lot of copies on PC, maybe even better than on PlayStation

[@Blast1314]

@@pablocasas5906 Pony’s never make sense, all they care about is what titles are on their plastic box so they can flaunt lists around on twitter, they don’t understand the bigger picture on this acquisition, all the Anime and Manga stuff they will have

[@f.b.l.9813]

@@pablocasas5906 sony fanboys are literally braindead, bots like them are what allows corporations to shit all over us.

[@GorgeousHotRat]

Sony is going to mess with japan's culture, that's not right. That's shoukd be a crime. @@pablocasas5906

[@kenkaneki3873]

I hope Kadokawa denies.....

[@calculateddeclination5534]

So, in other words, kadokawa has no pride in what they do and are willing to censor everything and allow dei to control their anime and manga for that esg money. Pathetic.

[@goldenangel158]

This will ruin them because the Japanese people will not like their favorite series censored and will stop supporting them and they will lose a lot of money and light novels and manga creators won't want to work with them anymore

[@mikeluna2026]

I mean, who doesn't want censorship and preaching in their entertainment?... 💀💀💀

[@SteinsGateIsAMasterpiece]

If i have learned anything from watching anime for my entire life its that anime needs to stay small to stay actually good the bigger anime becomes the worse it will be

[@hollowsgrief]

I really really hope this doesn't happen. I can't even imagine why Kadokawa would even want to sell, I mean they own most of the major stuff that is anime related to begin with.

[@adnansz8930]

thought i am really wooried about censorship, my other self hope that this mean we will get anime Light novel adaptation that not end in cliffhanger

[@doodlegame8704]

Everyday we get one step closer to Buy N’ Large being a real company

[@JoshuaJBellShow]

I really hope that Sony doesn't try to buy Seven Seas Entertainmart or Yen press because if that happens they really will have everything

[@doctorkev8496]

Yen Press is half-owned by Kadokawa and half-owned by Hachette. Sony could own half of Yen Press if they buy Kadokawa. Seven Seas remains independent. For now...

[@ChrisEhirim]

While Sony is letting crunchyroll doing stupid stuff and they're out here trying to ring out dry a anime company like KADOKAWA

[@mrgriffin9619]

Dear Kadokawa, you don't need to do this

[@Ryuseishun]

It’s already bad enough with the notion that Sony already owns Aniplex and that was somewhat tolerable, but Sony with this alleged deal will have their hands on the light novel & manga industry, which is so detrimental to an industry already so worn down by the amount of commercial level production. Forget the woke / DEI stuff and keeping anime JP-centric for a minute, the general prospect of a monopoly straight up sucks and benefits absolutely NOBODY except the tyrant company themselves…not even the customers will receive anything of technical improvement whatsoever. It’s already bad enough Kadokawa is on mass production mission per season, imagine how terrible the labor load will be if the likes of Sony starts tampering with things.

[@yfw123]

Don't let DEI bullshit ruin anime, that would be horrible.

[@SteinsGateIsAMasterpiece]

Sadly this is probably gonna happen

[@ドリフト180X]

This is monopoly level stuff, Sony already has too much power with anime distribution.

[@Yurinkin]

Indeed far too power

[@zaimrana2746]

I swear if anything happens to ReZero

[@Vishmithj]

@@zaimrana2746 There will definitely be a revolt if something affects it and other animes.. At least a big enough revolt to change their approach but that's just wishful thinking....

[@rickchakraborty2087]

I mean, Kadokawa already censored Re:Zero's anime anyway...

[@NoidoDev]

​@@rickchakraborty2087 Compared to the manga?

[@zaimrana2746]

@@rickchakraborty2087 its way better than the majority of adaptations and s3 has plenty gore.

[@rickchakraborty2087]

@@zaimrana2746 so they have no problems with gore but some character outfits need to be censored?

[@relevanttangent8442]

Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony Corp, makes a lot of well regarded anime which the Crunchyroll purchase has not impacted. This is a lot of doom and gloom over what is ultimately a move to consolidate IP ownership as Sony and Kadokawa have been roommates for decades now.

Sony already owns like 3% of kadokawa

[@hibikigamervlogs2982]

I think Japan kadokawa anime should refuse the offer from Sony because it could ruin the reputation of anime in Japan from Sony itself

[@chilomine839]

I think they'd do it just because they are hurting for money.

[@christophergartner1056]

Kadokawa approached sony themselves. So i doubt they will refuse an offer from a company they want to be bought from

[@chilomine839]

@@christophergartner1056 Well that's disappointing. Now Japanese entertainment will be just as boring and uniform as anything made here in America.

[@christophergartner1056]

@@chilomine839 i doubt that. The devision is Sony Japan/Sony Music. And given the edgy stuff released by Aniplex and the current market shift away from Wokeism i expect things to relatively stay normal

[@chilomine839]

@@christophergartner1056 I hope you're right wokeisms influence isn't fading fast enough.

[@gilgamesh.....]

Sony has become the place anime goes to die. I'm glad I've spend decades buying dvds, games & manga. It just sucks that going forward there probably won't be as much to look forward to.

[@gshorter]

It took them 3 years to release 86 EIGHTY-SIX on Blu-ray….

[@NoidoDev]

It's about the new anime. Everything released is available on the high seas anyways.

[@wifi961]

I don't think the problem is as much as Sony buying Kadokawa as much as everything in California.

[@Danem1985]

if word is something might be signed in a few weeks... thats means this has been going on for atleast a few months

[@Danem1985]

anime might be f***ed

[@copeul7214]

Just wanted to mention, thank you for displaying news that I would miss if it was up to me.❤

[@bionic_batman]

The way Sony is losing money, it might soon be Kadokawa buying them instead.

[@willjohnboy]

They have $20B for acquisitions that's more than enough, lol at the narrative that sony can't afford to buy publishers.

[@YellinInMyEar]

Censorship sucks. Far right and far left are so easily "offended" here in the U.S.

[@f.b.l.9813]

yeah, the right always blame the left for censoring everything because of WOKE nonsense, trumptards praising trump thinking he'll actually do anything to the likes of Blackrock, yet they forget the right is also responsible for censoring many things.

[@Sagenarf6227]

The anime/manga singularity is beginning 🫠🫠

[@rowsdower84]

I keep foolishly hoping that Sony will go bankrupt.

[@AnimeDiet]

Fun fact, Kadokawa owns Anime News Network.

[@onetickhaole1109]

I wonder if this is a multimedia type of move. Yes it’s already multimedia in terms of anime, manga, light novel, and general publishing. But I wonder if they would use this to try and have exclusive rights to put out a bunch of anime games for Sony PlayStation exclusively. Bandai is currently the only gaming company basically doing the bulk of anime game adaptations. I can see Sony trying to use anime to put out low input gatcha games to print money, basically their own version of hoyoverse but with established anime ip. Either way I’m sure this merger is a done deal, when talks of Sony acquiring a studio come up, lately it’s a done deal already.

[@Sobbleboy27]

If this happens... Doga Kobo better keep selling their shows to HiDive or else HiDive's screwed. 😓 Sony could be getting a 2 in 1 if that's what develops... no more ANN to compete with CrunchyRoll News... and no more HiDive to compete with CrunchyRoll. 😭😭😭

[@jglg7238]

This is good news, kadakawa blocks any clips on youtube you try to upload , whereas sony allows clips

[@SummerADDE_Elevators]

If japan have something like FTC then maybe they can stop this?

[@chadmckean9026]

assuming they do a better job than the FTC

[@VampireNoblesse]

so prefer if Tencent, Amazon or MS bought them?..

[@SummerADDE_Elevators]

@@VampireNoblesse Or Kadokawa would just stay as Kadokawa... I doubt MS would buy them. Tencent would be worse than sony considering their worse censoring policies and ties to china. I dunno about Amazon but they would be an interesting competitor against CR.

[@f.b.l.9813]

@@VampireNoblesse did your programming break? you keep repeating the same lines like a broken record.

[@gregorybiestek3431]

@@chadmckean9026 LOL you don’t know about Keiretsu don’t you? As long as there are several large companies (Oligopolies) in the marketplace, there is nothing illegal about this merger in Japan.

[@charlestrudel8308]

the problem is more because they are getting too big... and theres a possibility that because anime and manga is too niche elsewhere than japan, that no one will stop this merger.

[@--Sama-]

They will ruin anime and censor it. I was waiting for Roshidere Season 2, but now I fear that if this rumor is true, the entire beach scenes will be ruined and I will have to drop Alya.

[@SteinsGateIsAMasterpiece]

Yeah man we are cooked arent we😂... 😭

[@rickchakraborty2087]

Tbf, Roshidere's fanservice (at least in S1) peaked at that socks scene in ep 1 and that changing scene in ep 2. Aside from those two scenes, the anime as a whole was extremely safe and sanitised with barely anymore fanservice. Yes, even that one hypnosis scene in ep 9, from what I've been made aware of by LN readers, was heavily toned down in the anime. It sucks, but almost no anime these days is safe from censorship anymore.

[@1000-MAT]

This is terrible, Kadokawa publishes most of the popular light novels, including Mushoku Tensei, this could mean censorship in the original.

[@NoidoDev]

Make in Abyss anime, No Game No Life (Zero), ...

[@TheYdyp]

A small hope we can also still hold is that it is just talks about taking over their gaming studios like FromSoftware. Though this would screw over the gaming scene but keep the manga/anime part untouched.

[@MrWaifuTaker]

I"m tired, boss.

[@GorgeousHotRat]

Take a rest if you can!

[@marsaustralis6881]

I think it depends more on how Sony intends to handle Kadokawa after the merger. Sony is basically a true giga-corp, with multiple branches that are sometimes run directly by Sony, or left to their own devices (such as PlayStation). If Sony allows Kadokawa to maintain a high-degree of autonomy, then it could work out for the better as they will now have direct access to Sony's distribution channel (streaming, film-making, music, and even some comic/manga publishers), cutting out a lot of red tape. On the other hand, if Sony attempts to take control their way, they'll have problems, since Sony's senior execs are focused on growth. I'm willing to give Sony the benefit of the doubt that they'll grant Kadokawa a high degree of autonomy, since Kadokawa has been relatively stable in financially, and Sony's current CEO is the same one who asked PlayStation's head to retire after bungling PlayStation's track record over the past few years, and is focused on expansion and growth. From what I've read on him, he seems committed to reviewing progress and making changes if necessary. That said, I can understand the caution, given how badly Sony bungled Crunchyroll and Funimation, but maybe adding Kadokawa would allow them to create a proper, semi-independent "Sony Anime Entertainment" division, moving Aniplex and Crunchyroll over and with their own Japanese head who has a better grasp on the Japanese anime industry vs Sony Pictures Entertainment, which also has to manage their live movies, films, and TV series.

[@rafal2903]

Hell no, that’s a huge monopoly.

[@Omnicloudx13]

We don't need more censorship in anime and manga, please stay far away Sony.

[@rickchakraborty2087]

Yeah, censorship in modern anime is already pretty bad enough, can't even imagine how horrible it would be if it gets even worse...

[@bireland2012]

I hope this doesn’t go through. Like you said I would hope for companies like Kadokawa to make their own streaming service to compete with Crunchyroll like how Kodansha started publishing manga themselves.

[@Uzarran]

Them running their own streaming service wouldn't be financially practical for them. A bunch of Western companies tried to do just that (Disney, Paramount, etc.) and they've been failing one after another. They'd be better of licensing content to existing streamers like they do. But, it would be nice to see them move development of English subs/dubs internally, which would be much more feasible for them.

[@cokechang]

I’m actually not too negative on this, woke culture is losing big time in the west capitalized by the victory of Trump. I’m seeing popular culture shifting direction too. The woke is on its last leg and we’ll see a return to normalcy sooner than later

[@NogardCodesmith]

Don't be so sure. Look into BRIDGE. Global companies want to produce global products. Global products are bland and 'inoffensive'. I want a product made by Japan for Japanese people, not a product made for a global audience

[@kennethrenzdomingo4568]

Unfortunately, those woke ideologues are not going away, they’re going underground as many companies as even though many corporations are “shutting” down DEI in both its department and programs, they are in fact are rebranding into a different name like BRIDGE that Kirsche is researching.

[@f.b.l.9813]

doesn't matter if people don't like them if corporations like Black Rock are funding them.

[@hatoru17]

Please don't count it out. There were so many of them during his first presidency with so much entertainment infested with these people that had constantly bitched and moaned about him and conservatives that lasted all the way through to this day. And Sony is a well-known, established company that the majority of the globe uses the products of not to mention that it's in the pocket of Black Rock. As much as I wish it would end in his second term, I highly doubt it. Regular folk have a tendency to forget and are impatient, which is what companies are more than willing to capitalize on. And people are going to forget or become so laxed that these same people will pop right back up. And let's also not forget that a lot of these companies walk in lockstep of each other on these issues. They'll also hide and rebrand their programs. Who's to say they won't be back in full force next time?

[@--Sama-]

Disney's Star Wars happened when he was president.

[@FireyPaperMario]

This acquiration of Kadokawa will be the worst thing Sony will ever do. Cuz if they managed to acquire Kadokawa, then all of Kadokawa anime on other anime streaming services (except for WorsethanFawfulroll) must be delisted completely

[@ajschwartz3924]

Looks like sailing the 7 seas may be the only way to get good anime going forward if this goes through. This is 100% a monopoly if Sony takes over

[@dominicunderwood4911]

Wish you showed 1/10th this concern whenever reviewing Crunchyroll's corperate activity.

[@Yurinkin]

Indeed

[@shirox11]

Kadokawa is also the parent company of Fromsoftware (souls games)

[@WERNUTZ]

See what happened to Artistic Intergrity And Legacy to Marvel Comics once Disney bought Marvel🤮💩

[@emptytincan528]

amour plastique playing in the back ground

[@J0kuc]

very sad to see this happen

[@controladortv]

Monopoly is a Crime which is not punished by any law.

[@HankyUSA]

On the contrary, monopolies tend to be possible only when propped up by the law.

[@ahmuadparks9248]

Let’s hope that they’re small enough to deny Sony and think about the fans to see what will happen if they accept this they are most likely going to go down so if I was KADOWKAWA I will think about this very very very carefully!

[@VampireNoblesse]

Hermen Hulst's putting down Eastern studios makes sense now.., he's preparing for a focus on Fromsoftware..

[@JohnboyTheGamer]

Sony already has Aniplex. They need to chill

[@Yurinkin]

Indeed.

[@VampireNoblesse]

If Sony doesn't, Tencent might.., sooo

[@hatoru17]

It really sounds like a lose-lose situation

[@hassathunter2464]

It might sound weird, but... The CHINESE Tencent is a far better option than the AMERICAN Sony, especially for censorship.

[@NoidoDev]

Why? Aren't they big enough?

[@francisquebachmann7375]

Nikke is under tencent well indirectly but they still allow fan service. Tencent only do censorship in china though, they know sex sells unlike any westernized company.

[@HondaRR929]

A lot of idiots in the comment section saying Sony owning Kadokawa is bad news flash Sony already had ownership stakes in both Kadokawa and Fromsoftware way before the Reuters article even came out y’all know that right apparently not by the comments on here smh surprising how good a simple google search can turn up relevant information about Sony and Kadokawa/Fromsoftware longstanding business relationship

[@agafemo]

Dandadan DID censor though......

[@rickchakraborty2087]

explain...

[@agafemo]

@@rickchakraborty2087 they removed the scene of the Turbo Granny lifting Momo's skirt up

[@agafemo]

There was also a shot of Momos grandma's ass that was switched to focus on Okarun... so yea, Dandadan is NOT "uncensored"

[@rickchakraborty2087]

@@agafemo Yeah, I knew that's the scene you were thinking about, I just wanted to make sure lol. Funny isn't it? People think the show doesn't hold back, but they did hold back the moment things got lewd, just because they wouldn't want to scare away certain people or disgust them away. And that's weird too because when you think about it, they didn't really censor the moment when Momo was half naked in ep 1 when she was abducted. But suddenly they got afraid to do panty shots in ep 3?

[@agafemo]

@@rickchakraborty2087 like i said, they didn't even show a mild shot of her Grandma's ass and im pretty sure there was a lingerie shot of Momo they skipped/nerfed as well... definitely expect this show to nerf the controversial scenes yea man, every studio that says "it will be uncensored" is fucking CAP, they ALWAYS end up pussying out or get forced to remove something... smh...

[@HensonKwong]

I'm surprised they didn't try to go for tatsunoko first

[@Lobotomizer_]

5:11 say that again...

[@bobtista88]

For Sony business it's a perfect acquisition target because it helps multiple sides of entertainment anime and gaming. I don't want this to happen because they might sterilize content for the global market

[@McNastyFlows]

I don't want Sony to own kodakawa, but I mostly don't want Sony to own fromsoft. But on a serious note if someone were to acquire kodakawa I would want it to be a different large company outside of Sony. They don't have many competitors and the few that there are for streaming kinda blow outside of Crunchyroll. Crunchy can just buy out licenses and bleed the other platforms dry.

[@chadmckean9026]

This would be worse than nvidia buying arm from softbank

[@whatthefanart]

Kadowkawa owns FromSoft? As in Elden Ring and Dark Souls??

[@kazumaa7093]

If Sony is going to censor anime and manga, I really really hope they fail big.

[@Kleptari]

Sony will destroy the anime industry. Moved out of Japan and embraced globalism. We can only hope ai advances quickly enough for indie anime to come out, outside of the control of evil sony.

[@thsudy]

I haven't seen the video but im just going to answer the question. YES. if they are willing to throw away millions for Concord but not in their Animated shows and Animated movies. Then why would Sony invest in anime quality? but then again most anime is made in japan so maybe they might have more control over what is made unlike their foreign studios, again Concord.

[@Eyevou]

Sony is a menace.

[@pond9875]

Ever since they moved to California, everything they touched has been shit

[@Red_Nanaki]

@@pond9875that was PlayStation Sony HQ is still in Japan lmao

[@trickytrock8924]

What are you talking about. SONY is great. I love sony

[@MichaelM28]

Correction: Microsoft is a menace

[@MichaelM28]

Sony wouldn't have done this if microsoft hadn't f**ked around with Activision and Zenimax and now they're finding out 😅

[@TBoneTony]

SONY knowing what they are all about after their PlayStation and Crunchyroll/Funimation antics. This ain't any surprise. Manga and Light Novels are the only way to go now. Crynchyroll will be absorbed into Kadokawa and you will be watching on Kadokawa streaming service.

[@Sobbleboy27]

Manga and Light Novels may be affected more by this deal than anime. Kadakawa is a publishing company that influences the creation of a lot of manga and Light Novels. And why would CrunchyRoll absorb into Kadakawa? It's the other way around... we will keep watching stuff on CrunchyRoll and the Kadakawa stuff would fade away.

[@ProfessorDreamer]

Otaku Spirit you know what they say bigger isn't always better. Sony's ownership of Kadowaka won't last if that happens when the latter sees what Sony is doing with its works and breaks off from companies splitting up from other companies have been done before. Sony and Kadowaka are no exceptions and are very much capable of splitting with Kadokawa being the one to do so. It's not going to be forever or eternity with Kadokawa not enjoying the way Sony is monopolizing its works and end Sony's ownership. The Dark Age of Anime is not going to happen and anime, manga, video games and light novels are going to be just fine as if Sony acquires Kadokawa it'll end up losing it sooner with its monopolizing practices and forcing censorship and agenda pushing changes to it. Not to mention the backlash from Japanese anime and manga fans, anime and manga creators including the ones from Kadowaka, The Japanese government and Japanese critics including the Japanese Emperor or Empress himself will give Sony no choice but undo its censorship and end its agenda pushing. It happened before with Roald Dahl's books back in 2023 before with loads of critics including Rishi Sunsak and Queen Camilla herself lambasting the changes so who's ego say it won't happen in Japan in sometime in the future. Not only that but also Japan has the AntiMonoply act which Sony cannot break or bend since it'll very much get into legal trouble and cause a major scandal for the company.

[@BooktapC]

What I do not think a lot of anime fans realize is that Kadokawa recently bought Anime News Network which is one of the major US anime news sites. If not the go-to source for reliable anime news. Not to mention Kadokawa owns a large stake in Yen Press so US light novel publishing with Hachette Book Group owning a much smaller stake. Then there is Bookmeter the Japanese Goodreads. Also owned by Kadokawa. I am wondering why Sony would be interested in book publishing given they have been more active in developing anime and video game properties. Unless they are after light novels or the very popular and likely lucrative anime properties Kadokawa has like Date A Live and The Devil is a Part-timer!? In addition to Kadokawa owning Dogakobo a pretty successful anime studio that has produced stuff like the Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist anime series among other anime projects. I am very worried about Anime News Network what if they get rid of it? Even if they do not I am sure Sony will make major changes to the site. Possibly get rid of the forums.