Kadokawa announced on February 17 that they have acquired anime studio Chiptune. This new acquisition will help the Japanese media conglomerate expand its anime production capabilities, as Chiptune brings a specialization to the table that the other six anime studios under the Kadokawa umbrella don’t have (as reported by Nikkei and Oricon).
Established in 2012, Chiptune contributes to around a dozen anime projects a year. Big titles it has worked on in recent years include isekai animes like Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime, and soccer anime Blue Lock. Chiptune is experienced in compositing and CG. Compositing is a production process that involves combining hand-drawn animation, backgrounds, CG and other elements into one polished visual sequence.
The Kadokawa Group is home to other anime studios like Doga Kobo (known for Oshi no Ko), which it acquired last July. However, before Chiptune became a subsidiary, Kadokawa didn’t have a studio with a specialized track record in compositing.
Over the last year, the group has been taking many steps to improve its anime production capabilities. Kadokawa’s “Global Media Mix” mid-term plan involves upping its capacity to create original IP, as well as its worldwide output across diverse mediums. Anime plays a key role in this, with Kadokawa aiming to strengthen its ability to consistently produce high-quality anime. The company’s acquisition of Chiptune seems to be the next step in this plan, which has seen it enter into a much-discussed partnership with Sony recently.
