Sony Aims to Make Anime a Core Part of Its Business

Sony Group sees Japanese animation as a key source of long-term growth and plans to expand its own intellectual property, Bloomberg reports, citing an interview with Atsuhiro Iwakami, chairman of Aniplex and president of Sony Music Entertainment Japan.

In 2025, Sony became the largest shareholder in Kadokawa, which owns an extensive library of manga, light novels, and video games.

Sony aims to move beyond its established content production and distribution model and become a major owner of popular franchises. The company plans to create and acquire intellectual property that can generate revenue for decades through anime, video games, music, merchandising, and other forms of entertainment.

Demon Slayer is one of the main examples of that strategy. Sony wants the franchise to remain popular not just in the coming years, but for generations.

Sony has not ruled out investing in publisher Shueisha, which owns the rights to series including Dragon Ball, Naruto, and One Piece. Shueisha also owns the original intellectual property for Demon Slayer. Asked about a potential investment in the publisher, Iwakami said it was possible if the right opportunity arose.

Original content is another area of expansion. Aniplex and Crunchyroll have joined forces to launch Hayate, a new animation studio that will produce original anime for international audiences. The companies also plan to work more closely with Japanese creators and adapt their works into animation and games.

Sony also plans to expand its content beyond traditional anime for teenagers and adults. Iwakami is interested in projects for children and families, citing the Australian animated series Bluey and the popular Japanese character Chiikawa as examples.

Sony has not ruled out creating its own theme park in the future, along the lines of Disneyland or Universal Studios. Such a project would require the company to own enough popular franchises and control their rights. Iwakami said Sony could consider a business venture on that scale if its characters became popular enough and the company saw sufficient audience demand.