Fujishoji, a major manufacturer of pachinko and pachislot machines, recently announced the establishment of a wholly owned subsidiary dedicated to expanding into the anime industry. While the pachinko industry inherently has ties to anime due to the high popularity of pachinko machines that use anime IPs, this case is noteworthy because Fujishoji is specifically looking to get involved in the production process.
The new company, Gene Entertainment, will handle planning and production of anime works, investment in anime, production of voiced content, as well as sound production for anime titles. Analyzing this move, Natsuki Fujii, a Japanese journalist specializing in the pachinko industry, told Money Post that, given the incentive for pachinko and pachislot manufacturers to appeal to anime fans, “it’s only natural that companies like Fujishoji are emerging to actively engage in anime production.”
While anime-themed machines are already big money-makers for pachinko manufacturers and make up the majority of the market (staples like Neon Genesis Evangelion and Fist of the North Star immediately come to mind), the industry is, unsurprisingly, looking to overcome obstacles like the negative association with gambling, the risk of angering anime fans with shallow or inaccurate representation of the shows they feature, and the possibility of anime IP-holders refusing to work with them.
The solution to this, according to Fujii, is for manufacturers to get directly involved in the production process and become “anime experts” themselves. Regarding the founding of Gene Entertainment, he offers the opinion that Fujishoji’s objective is “clearly not just to be involved in the production of anime titles for the sole purpose of adapting them into machines, but also to contribute to the anime industry itself.”
