{"id":67136,"date":"2026-05-26T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=67136"},"modified":"2026-05-26T14:04:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T05:04:07","slug":"japans-pachinko-industry-is-getting-directly-involved-in-anime-production-in-what-domestic-experts-call-a-natural-outcome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japans-pachinko-industry-is-getting-directly-involved-in-anime-production-in-what-domestic-experts-call-a-natural-outcome\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan\u2019s pachinko industry is\u00a0getting directly involved in anime production in what\u00a0domestic\u00a0experts\u00a0call\u00a0a\u00a0\u201cnatural\u201d\u00a0outcome\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fujishoji, a major manufacturer of pachinko and pachislot machines, recently announced<\/a> 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.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new company, Gene Entertainment<\/a>, 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<\/a> that, given the incentive for pachinko and pachislot manufacturers to appeal to anime fans, \u201cit\u2019s only natural that companies like Fujishoji are emerging to actively engage in anime production.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The solution to this, according to Fujii, is for manufacturers to\u00a0get directly involved in the production process\u00a0and become\u00a0\u201canime experts\u201d themselves.\u00a0Regarding\u00a0the founding of Gene Entertainment, he\u00a0offers the\u00a0opinion\u00a0that Fujishoji\u2019s objective is \u201cclearly 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.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related: Netflix is placing less emphasis on full exclusivity when it comes to anime as it shifts towards flexible, partnership-driven approach in Japan<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toei Animation to\u00a0establish\u00a0new\u00a0studio in Vietnam\u00a0to expand global production capacity. New Dubai offices also in preparation\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fujishoji, a major manufacturer of pachinko and pachislot machines, has established a subsidiary dedicated to investing in and planning and producing anime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":67138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,65],"tags":[73,17],"class_list":["post-67136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-nongaming-news","tag-anime","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nJapan\u2019s pachinko industry is\u00a0getting directly involved in anime production in what\u00a0domestic\u00a0experts\u00a0call\u00a0a\u00a0\u201cnatural\u201d\u00a0outcome\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Fujishoji, a major manufacturer of pachinko and\u00a0pachislot\u00a0machines, has established a subsidiary dedicated to planning and producing anime.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japans-pachinko-industry-is-getting-directly-involved-in-anime-production-in-what-domestic-experts-call-a-natural-outcome\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japan\u2019s pachinko industry is\u00a0getting directly involved in anime production in what\u00a0domestic\u00a0experts\u00a0call\u00a0a\u00a0\u201cnatural\u201d\u00a0outcome\u00a0 - 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