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TBS Invests 2.5 Billion Yen in Seven Arcs Anime Studio
posted on by Alex Mateo
Taku Sasaki, president of Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings, the parent company of the Japanese television network TBS, announced on Tuesday that the company has made a full-scale investment of 2.5 billion yen (about US$21.6 million) in the company Seven Arcs Group.
TBS made the investment in an effort to strengthen its 3D and human resources. This is part of TBS's medium-term management plan "VISION 2030," which launched in 2021. In VISION 2030, TBS has set up the content expansion strategy "EDGE," in which content creation is strongly emphasized. Threee major goals are currently underway: creating a company for overseas strategy, creating a studio in Midoriyama in Yokohama that can meet "world standards," and full-scale investment in animation.
Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings acquired Seven Arcs Groups in December 2017, making it a wholly owned subsidiary. Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings acquired all the shares of the Seven Arcs Group from the group's owner and chairperson Osamu Uemura for an undisclosed price. Seven Arcs Group is the first anime production company to become a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings.
Seven Arcs Group is the parent company of three affiliated companies tied to animation production: Arcturus, Seven Arcs, and Seven Arcs Pictures.
Seven Arcs' works under TBS include Blue Period, TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You, and Trinity Seven: Eternal Library & Alchemic Girl.
Seven Arcs is known for the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha franchise. Seven Arcs Pictures' first major project after the acquisition was the television anime of the Saredo Tsumibito wa Ryū to Odoru: Dances with the Dragons light novel series.
Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings, the news service Nikkei, TV Tokyo Holdings, the premium channel WOWOW, the advertising sponsor Dentsu, and Hakuhodo DY Media Partners invested in a streaming company called Premium Platform Japan. Premium Platform Japan launched Paravi, an unlimited streaming service with monthly subscription fees, in 2017.
TBS acquired 49% of shares of DeNA's digital manga platform MangaBox in May 2020.
Source: Animation Business Journal (Tadashi Sudo) via Nijipoi
