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Eagle Talon Creator Ryō Ono Appointed as DLE's New President

Animation studio DLE announced on Friday that the company's chief creative officer and Eagle Talon creator Ryō Ono will be appointed as its new representative director and president, replacing Hideo Hoshi, who resigned from the position. Ono's appointment will be officially confirmed at the company's Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders on June 23, following a resolution from the Board of Directors.

The company stated that the leadership change is to further promote its sustainable growth and increase in corporate value under the new management structure.

Ono, under the pseudonym FROGMAN, created the Eagle Talon anime shorts. DLE launched the first Himitsu Kessha Taka no Tsume (Secret Society Eagle Talon) television series in 2006, and the series spawned nine films. FROGMAN serves as the "director/writer/character designer/sound recording engineer/Flash animator/editor/voice actor."

Ono became a director at DLE in 2007, and has been serving as CCO since 2021.

Asahi Broadcasting Group Holdings bought a majority of DLE's shares for 2.772 billion yen (about US$19.43 million in current conversion) in May 2019, and made DLE a subsidiary. The company reduced its shareholding ratio from 51.75% to 49.75% in April 2024, and changed the company to an equity method affiliate.

Sources: DLE website, Animation Business Journal (Tadashi Sudo)