Anime News Network acquired by Kadokawa

Anime News Network has released an article stating that it is to be acquired by Japanese publisher Kadokawa. ANN was established in 1998, 2 years after UKA in fact, and has since become the largest English-speaking news resource for Western anime fans. This has been helped greatly by the regionalisation of news and a consistently high and varied roster of news articles on all things anime.

A statement released by Christopher Macdonald, President of ANN and intended Publisher at the new company, reads:

”I am excited by this opportunity to work with Kadokawa and Kadokawa World Entertainment to dramatically improve Anime News Network during the course of the coming years. Myself and all of ANN's staff remain entirely dedicated to the standards of professional, exhaustive, and editorially independent journalism that ANN is already known for and we believe that Kadokawa's resources will be a great benefit to ANN's journalism and our readers.”

Kurt Hassler, CEO of Kadokawa World Entertainment and Managing Director/Publisher of Yen Press also released a statement:

“For over twenty years, ANN has distinguished itself by providing a window of news and information about Japanese content and establishing a community where fans can interact and share their enthusiasm. This acquisition represents an opportunity not only for KADOKAWA to better and more effectively highlight its own content but to enhance ANN's mission to grow the global audience for manga and anime as a whole while expanding the boundaries of what the site can offer users.”

It will be interesting to see if the new ownership changes the content or style of the site in any way.