Sony to Launch Anime Academy to Help With Worldwide Demand

Sony has already dove headfirst into the anime world, and the company is looking to dive even deeper.

By Evan Valentine

Sony is no stranger to the anime world, as the massive company not only acquired Crunchyroll, but Funimation to boot. As anime's popularity continues to grow both in Japan and abroad, a new "Anime Academy" has been announced by Sony that is aiming to change the game when it comes to a specific part of the industry. As the anime medium gets bigger, it will be interesting to see the impact that this upcoming Anime Academy will have on the industry and the anime projects being produced down the line.

Recently, Sony revealed a handful of anime projects that are set to arrive on the big screen in North America during Cinema Con. Sony already released Spy x Family: CODE White into theaters, but 2024 will also see the company bringing the likes of Haikyu: The Dumpster Battle, Blue Lock: Episode Nagi, and Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom arrive. Crunchyroll's Senior Vice President of Global Commerce, Mitchel Burger, stated the following about the growing popularity of the anime medium, "Anime is red hot right now. Everyone else is catching up and realizing it is a cultural and economic force to be reckoned with." 

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(Photo: Sony)

What is an Anime Academy?

The upcoming academy is focused on "developing talent" to help in the production of anime. Specifically, Sony will be aiding in empowering new creators to the medium as it will employ A-1 Pictures and CloverWorks as central parts of this new initiative. Both these companies are subsidiaries of Aniplex, which is a division of "Sony Music Entertainment Japan". 

Sony Group's Chairman and CEO, Yoshida Kenichiro, and President, COO, and CFO Totoki Hiroki commented on the upcoming "Anime Academy", "The launch of a project to establish an academy [comes] with the aim of nurturing anime creators in global markets, mainly by Aniplex and Crunchyroll with collaboration from across the industry."

When it comes to A-1 Pictures, fans might know the studio best for projects including Solo Leveling, Sword Art Online, Mashle: Magic & Muscles, and Lycoris Recoil to name a few. On the flip side, CloverWorks might be best known for its work on the likes of Spy x Family, The Promised Neverland, and Bocchi The Rock.

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Want to stay updated on Sony's Anime Academy? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook for all the latest updates on the growing industry and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime. 

Via Variety

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