Bandai Namco Filmworks is a major player in the anime game, with the studio responsible for major franchises including Mobile Suit Gundam, Cowboy Bebop, Inuyasha, and countless others. In a surprise move for many anime fans, Bandai Namco has invested more in the studio responsible for the likes of Blue Lock and That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime, making Eight Bit Studio a subsidiary of the giant company in both the anime and video game markets.
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The investment is set to arrive on April 1st of this spring, which is the first day of the Japanese business year. This isn’t the first time that the two studios forged a partnership, as in 2020, the two announced that their partnership would continue into the future. Previously, the two companies worked on That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime, and while this investment doesn’t mean the two have completely merged, it puts a big feather in Eight Bit’s cap.
Bandai Namco Filmworks x Eight Bit Fusion
Following the news of Bandai Namco Filmworks’ investment into Eight Bit Studio, President and CEO of the former, Makoto Asanuma, “With the stronger collaboration between our two companies, we will continue to create good things with more stable production capabilities and reliable quality than ever before, and will move and surprise people around the world. We will continue to deliver it.”
President of Eight Bit Studio, Hirokazu Suyama, also added their thoughts on the big investment, “The business partnership between the two companies has grown in a good manner so far, and we have decided to accept capital participation in order to further develop and take on challenges in the future. By increasing the speed of decision-making and combining the stable quality of video production that Eight Bit specializes in with the sales strategy that Bandai Namco Filmworks specializes in, we will be able to provide more attractive works and further develop the company’s business. We will continue to work hard to develop this.”
Bandai Namco Filmworks investing in Eight Bit Studio isn’t a surprise considering Blue Lock’s popularity. The sports anime franchise became the top-selling manga in Japan last year, and the first movie might be a hit at the box office when it arrives in the East on April 19th.
What do you think of this meeting of the anime studios? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.
