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AIC, Toei Agency Sign Deal to Co-Own Megazone 23, Tenchi Muyo, Other Classic Anime
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Anime production company AIC announced on Friday that it has concluded an agreement to transfer partial ownership of some of its existing copyrights to Toei Agency, with the two companies now sharing joint ownership. The intellectual properties that the two companies now share include the Megazone 23 franchise, Hades Project Zeorymer, Dangaioh, the Bubblegum Crisis franchise, the Gall Force franchise, and the Tenchi Muyo! franchise.
Both companies plan to develop new content for these properties, such as AIC's ongoing "Anime Reboot Projects" to celebrate AIC's 35th anniversary. Toei Agency will serve as the conduit for future business opportunities.
The Megazone 23 reboot project includes both Megazone 23 SIN — remaking both the Megazone 23 and Megazone 23 Part II original video anime — and the planned brand-new Megazone 23 XI sequel.
Tenchi Muyo! Ryo Ohki Dai-4-Ki (Fourth Season), the fourth original video anime (OVA) project, debuted in 2016 as the first entry in the OVA franchise in 11 years since the last episode of the third OVA project debuted in 2005. The fifth season of the anime is ongoing, with the fifth and latest episode debuting on home video on February 26, and the sixth episode debuting on May 28. AIC has been developing a sequel of the Pretty Sammy spinoff.
Sources: PR Times, The Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
