Shopping Guide
A new anime streaming portal, Daisuki, will start up in April for fans outside Japan.
It is part of an effort to raise the profile of Japanese anime overseas.
Asatsu-DK (ADK) Inc. announced that it and six other key players in the anime industry--Aniplex Inc., Sunrise Inc., Toei Animation Co., TMS Entertainment Co., Nihon Ad Systems (NAS) Inc., and Dentsu Inc.--agreed to jointly set up the portal to stream popular anime titles and sell related products.
Titles that Daisuki will begin streaming include Puella Magi Madoka Magica, the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise, One Piece, Lupin the Third, and The Prince of Tennis. To satisfy the demands of overseas fans, the portal will also offer new anime titles simultaneously and present live performances from Japan.
Similar services have been offered by U.S.-based anime distributor Chrunchyroll Inc. But this is the first time for Japanese companies to club together in such an ambitious endeavor.
Daisuki Inc. issued new shares through a third-party allocation to all involved companies except ADK, which originally established the company last October as a joint stock entity.
As a result, Daisuki's capital base grew to 230 million yen ($2.48 million).
The largest shareholder is ADK, which retains a 26.3 percent stake in Daisuki. Anime producers Aniplex, Sunrise, Toei Animation, TMS and NAS each retain a 13.4 percent stake. Advertising giant Dentsu keeps a 6.5 percent stake.
Toei Animation is Japan's largest anime producing studio, followed by Sunrise and TMS. Aniplex, Japan's top-selling anime video software company, is followed by Bandai Visual Co., a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Group which also owns Sunrise.
Toei Anime On Demand and Bandai Channel portals are the two leaders in the anime streaming industry.
Dentsu and ADK are the two top ad agencies associated with anime.
The Japanese anime business has suffered from sluggish sales in overseas markets since the mid-2000s.
Japanese anime programs have been aired less frequently, and anime viewers have switched from TV to the Internet. Fans also spend less money for anime video software.
With Daisuki, the companies intend to raise the profile of anime and increase revenue through fees and tie-in goods.
For more information, visit: http://www.daisuki.net/en/
Translated by The Asahi Shimbun from the website Anime Anime.
http://ajw.asahi.com/