Blackstone to Buy Japanese Manga Company
Blackstone is acquiring one of Japan’s largest online manga platforms for $1.7 billion, and fans are not happy about it.
First, what is Blackstone? Currently, Blackstone is considered one of the world’s largest investment firms, primarily in private equity, credit, and hedge funds, according to Wikipedia.
Blackstone to Buy Japanese Manga Company
The Japan Times reported that Blackstone is buying Infocom, Japan’s largest e-manga platform, for $1.7 billion.
Mecha Comic is the most popular digital manga platform, attracting mainly audiences aged 30 to 40. It features many famous and original mangas, with a particular focus on romance mangas.
Blackstone plans to expand Infocom’s original content and focus on the female audience. Atsuhiko Sakamoto, head of Blackstone Japan, sees potential in developing animes based on Infocom’s popular mangas.
According to him, Blackstone will initially prioritize the Japanese market in creating new original content before expanding overseas.
“The more original content we have, the more we can monetize this intellectual property over time,” Sakamoto said in an interview. “We can create animation or merchandising around it, which will be a potential medium-term opportunity,” he added.
This purchase is yet another symptom of global companies’ interest in the success of animes and mangas in recent years, with more Western companies wanting to expand into this market. This has not pleased the fans.
Many see this as Western interference in Japanese mangas and fear that, over time, mangas will change their storytelling style to cater to Western preferences.
What do you think about a Western company owning one of the largest digital manga companies?
via Japan Time
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