Sony Plans to Establish Training Academy for Anime Creators With Aniplex and Crunchyroll

Sony Group Corporation recently revealed that it is considering establishing an academy alongside Aniplex and Crunchyroll to train anime creators. This was announced during Sony’s latest Corporate Strategy Meeting for FY2024 on May 23, 2024.

While not much has been said regarding the plans for the academy, Sony did reveal details on new animation production software called “AnimeCanvas,” which Sony says is aimed at improving the production environment, efficiency, and enhancing the quality of output work. Studios A-1 Pictures and CloverWorks, both of which are subsidiaries of Aniplex, are central to this initiative and are collaborating with engineers from Sony Music Entertainment Japan (SMEJ) and across the Sony Group.

The report highlights efforts Aniplex and Crunchyroll made to raise the popularity of anime globally and reveals that Crunchyroll currently has over 13 million paid subscribers. It also mentioned that Sony is continuously beefing up its intellectual property (IP) offerings, including its Crunchyroll Awards, which despite receiving a storm of criticism, received a record high of over 34 million votes in 2024.

Sony acquired Crunchyroll in 2021 at a whopping US$1.175b in value. The company already owned Funimation, which later ended up being absorbed under Crunchyroll’s brand alongside Wakanim. Currently the biggest anime streaming service in the world, Crunchyroll hasn’t ruled out the possibility of acquiring more anime service players in the global market.

“We feel like, structurally, we’re in the right place. We are in the right holding company so that we can go and attack the opportunity that’s in front of us. Will there be potential inorganic opportunities to add to our current growth?” Purini laughed. “Yes. And would we pursue them when they make sense? Yes. But I do feel like we are in the right place. We have the right structure to focus on our future.“

Statement from Crunchyroll CEO Rahul Purini

Source: Sony’s Press Release
Featured Image: Sony Group’s Corporate Strategy Meeting 2024