Yoyogi Animation Academy, which the group operates, opened in 1978 and maintains campuses in Japan’s major cities. Yoyogi Animation Group, the holding company, was established in 2022.
Investing in an IP studio in early June
Yoyogi Animation Group says the proceeds will go towards “advancing the development and operation of next-generation entertainment IP, with education as the starting point.”
Roughly 60% of the Japanese anime industry’s sales are now generated outside Japan, making it a sector regarded as indispensable to the country’s sustained economic growth. It is for this reason that content businesses are counted among the 17 strategic fields of the “Japan Growth Strategy” set out by the administration of Sanae Takaichi.
Against this backdrop, Yoyogi Animation Group is already moving on next-generation IP. On June 1st it announced an investment in LoveChara, a Japanese IP studio, without disclosing the sum. Built around the concept of “romance × IP × AI × marketing”, LoveChara develops content that diagnoses users’ romantic dispositions. Used chiefly by Generation Z, its diagnostics have reportedly been run more than 80m times in total.
Tapping VC networks to develop IP
The June fundraising drew investors including CRIT Ventures, a South Korean venture-capital (VC) firm, and DEEPCORE, a VC arm of SoftBank Group.
For the IP development and operation that the funds will support, the group says it will proceed in partnership with the network CRIT Ventures commands.
