In suitably astonishing news, TOHO will be acquiring the renowned Western anime distributor GKIDS as a subsidiary.
To understand why this is rather momentous, GKIDS is arguably one of the biggest anime distributors in the West. Having access to the Studio Ghibli library, among other things, they have been steadily releasing classic anime on Blu-ray, streaming platforms and in theaters.
GKIDS also co-handled the release of the incredibly influential as well as thoroughly excellent anime series Future Boy Conan (shown above) back in 2021.
TOHO is also a massive cultural power house in Japan, not only handling live-action movies but also a great deal of anime.
That means TOHO now has access to a matured and extensive distribution setup in North America, which is obviously a big deal for the already exponential growth of anime’s popularity globally.
Details on the acquisition, as in how much TOHO paid for GKIDS, have not been disclosed. Except that TOHO owns 100% of GKIDS and will be a subsidiary of TOHO International, which is based out of Los Angeles.
If you are not familiar with TOHO’s back catalog, then just have a look at this list to get an understanding of the magnitude of what has happened here.
For the longest time, anime was locked out from most international markets. That was until Netflix broke the seal and bypassed all that protectionist nonsense with their own streaming setup.
The torrent of anime that has come Westward has only grown in the years since, with much of Japanese pop culture now being part of the international mainstream.
So it will be very interesting to see how TOHO will leverage its new subsidiary, GKIDS, in the near future.
Although, with me being a massive nerd, I can only hope with this new setup we will finally get a remastered Blu-ray of the 80s Lensman anime.
Follow me on X, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and am currently featured in the Giant Robots exhibition currently touring Japan.
