AnimeVice News

I've been sitting on this news for a few days now trying to get some official word from Kadokawa-- it took a while before I could find a working number for them (they moved offices a while back), and although I've left a couple of messages I haven't received a call back yet to confirm or deny anything.

That said, industry insider Shizuki informed me that she had received a goodbye e-mail from an employee at Kadokawa Pictures USA, which was said to be dissolving. She tells me that other people she knew also got the e-mail, and that according to another colleague, a press release will be sent as soon as it's announced in Japan.

For those less familiar with the company, Kadokawa Pictures USA is, obviously, the America-based arm of Kadokawa Pictures in Japan. They've acted as a sort of middle-man, licensing series such as Spice and Wolf, The Third, and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and then contracting production and distribution out to other companies.

So this isn't a loss of a US anime licensor in the same way that Geneon's closure was; hopefully things will continue fairly smoothly. If this rumor is confirmed, I'll be in touch with FUNimation, Nozomi Entertainment, Bandai Entertainment, and other licensors to see if this will affect their licenses in any way, but I assume that KPU's involvement will simply revert to Kadokawa Japan's.

And of course, I'll do my best to try and get more information on what Kadokawa's strategy will be moving forward! For all we know, this could be the harbinger of some exclusive licensing agreement, or a move towards Kadokawa working directly in the US, or simply tightening purse strings.