The anime industry has seen widespread international success over the years. But though numerous production companies produce great content, such as MAPPA, Production I.G, and Toei Animation, to name a few, the industry still meets several challenges, with workers being overworked, underpaid, and grappling with deadlines. So, Kadokawa announced a new animation studio called Bellnox Films to help solve anime industry problems.
Kadokawa has successfully established Bellnox Films and will begin its operations on July 1, 2024. It’s led by producer Koji Kajita, a former Gonzo president, co-founder of David Production and known for his works for Silent Mobius, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and Pumpkin Scissors. It’s the fifth animation production studio under Kadokawa.
In a statement shared on the studio’s website, the new company aims to follow a “global media mix with technology” approach that focuses on creating stable IP consisting of a diverse portfolio that will be released worldwide. In addition, it intends to increase the number of new anime titles and episodes that will help strengthen its production capabilities.
Bellnox Films Aims to Address Anime Industry Problems
Japanese anime has gained incredible popularity worldwide in recent years and several production companies intend to produce more content yearly. This results in exploiting the animators, with the number of people working in animation becoming insufficient compared to the high volume of work.
Hence, Kadokawa decided to establish Bellnox Films to address this issue by following a new production style and developing the industry through a new system that is not limited by job titles or fields compared to traditional anime production. That said, Kadokawa promises to strengthen its production studios to produce high-quality anime without taking advantage of its workers.
In addition, Kajita promised to work hard to make the animation production industry more “systematic and rational” so that it can grow more “flexibly.” He also revealed that Bellnox Films has already formed a new organization to create useful works.
“I have seen many times staff who started working in the animation production industry with dreams but left the industry because they felt anxious about the future. …There are ‘individualistic’ and ‘irrational’ tendencies in every aspect of the industry …and the industry's structure and culture are becoming ‘rigid and stagnant,’” he said. “Through my actual production activities, I would like to work towards making the animation production industry more systematic and rational and allowing it to grow more flexibly. In order to contribute, Bellnox Films will continue to practice ‘creating useful works.’”
Despite the success the anime industry experiences today, a dark side lies behind its working conditions. So, let’s see what Bellnox Films will bring to the table and if it can help solve these issues.
