×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

News
Bushiroad Names Founder Takaaki Kidani as Chairperson

posted on by Alex Mateo
Kidani returns to representative director position with president Yoshitaka Hashimoto

Bushiroad announced on Friday that it has appointed the company's founder Takaaki Kidani as chairperson. He is also returning to his former position as a representative director alongside the company's president Yoshitaka Hashimoto.

Bushiroad stated that the reasons for this change were the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe's declaration of Japan's state of emergency, and the postponements and cancellations of the company's live events. By having two representative directors, Bushiroad aims to strengthen top management and promote further growth and enterprise value.

The company is planning to resume events following the Japanese government's lifting of the state of emergency in the five remaining prefectures on May 25. However, Bushiroad is preparing countermeasures for the unpredictable spread of COVID-19 and the possibility of a second wave of infections in November.

Kidani stepped down from the representative director position at a stockholder's meeting in October 2017, and took a position as board member of the company. He stepped down from the position so he could directly lead and manage the production of content better in the company's following three or four years, which the company called a "decisive" period. Kidani was focused on and directly responsible for developing the company's intellectual property.

Kidani founded Bushiroad in 2007. The company owns a number of cross-media franchises, some of which originate from its card games. Bushiroad's Cardfight!! Vanguard and Future Card Buddyfight series have both inspired long-running television anime series, and its Luck & Logic card game inspired two television anime series. Bushiroad also owns the Weiß Schwarz anime crossover card game. The company owns the Tantei Opera Milky Holmes franchise, as well as the BanG Dream! franchise, both of which have television anime series. The company owns the Revue Starlight franchise, and both BanG Dream! and Revue Starlight have active smartphone games. Additionally, the company owns the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion.

Sources: Bushiroad, Animation Business Journal (Tadashi Sudo)


discuss this in the forum (1 post) |
bookmark/share with: short url

News homepage / archives