This Thursday, the television company Nippon TV (NTV) announced its decision to acquire 42.3% of the shares of the world-famous animation studio Studio Ghibli. This transaction, once completed, will make NTV the largest shareholder of Studio Ghibli and will make the studio a subsidiary of Nippon TV. Both companies called an urgent press conference, with Yoshikuni Sugiyamarepresentative director and chief operating officer of Nippon TV, and Toshio Suzukipresident and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, mutually announcing the planned acquisition.
During the press conference, Suzuki admitted that the search for a “successor” for the studio’s co-founders, who include acclaimed studio head Hayao Miyazaki, was what drove the acquisition plans. Suzuki noted that Miyazaki is 82 years old and he himself is 75 years old. The study has addressed on several occasions Goro Miyazakison of Hayao Miyazaki, to become the successor to run the studio, but the younger Miyazaki has rejected all offers so far, and Hayao Miyazaki also opposes his son becoming the head of the studio.
NTV has been in talks with Studio Ghibli for a possible acquisition since last year. Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki have a long relationship with NTV, dating back to the airing of “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” on NTV’s film programming block in 1985. Miyazaki’s films have been broadcast regularly on the block, with consistently high ratings. NTV once hosted the official Ghibli website until Ghibli began using its own hostname.
Recently, Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki released the anime film “The Boy and the Heron” (Kimi-tachi wa Dou Ikiru ka), which premiered in Japan on July 14. The film was surprisingly not announced or promoted, and very little information was revealed to the public before its release date. As of this week, the film has sold more than 5.46 million tickets and grossed a cumulative total of 8.16 billion yen (plus US$55.25 million).
Fountain: Oricon News
