Nippon Television Network Corporation (or Nippon TV for short) and Studio Ghibli have had a long and storied history together. In 1985, the Japanese TV network began that history by airing Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Yes, even though technically speaking, Hayao Miyazaki made Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind before Studio Ghibli actually existed. However, most people (including myself) still consider it to be a Studio Ghibli anime film, so it still counts. After that airing, Nippon TV then went on to fund every single one of Studio Ghibli’s anime films, from Castle in the Sky (1986) all the way to The Boy and the Heron (2023), with Earwig and the Witch (2020) being the only exception. They even maintain the exclusive rights to broadcast those anime films.

Thus, Nippon TV and Studio Ghibli have had a nice, long 38-year long history together. So you can see why they would want to acquire the animation studio outright.

Nippon TV Acquisition of Studio Ghibli: Details

Studio Ghibli logo.
To be honest, is anything really going to change here for the studio?

Crunchyroll News has just revealed that Nippon TV is acquiring famed animation studio: Studio Ghibli (Kiki’s Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away). As of September 21, 2023; the TV network became Studio Ghibli’s largest shareholder, holding 43.3% of the voting rights. This allows the network to take over the studio’s management, and also allows them to turn the studio into one of their subsidiaries. Under this new management, Hayao Miyazaki himself will become the honorary chairman of the board. Toshio Suzuki will become the actual chairman of the board, while Goro Miyazaki the managing director.

So what does this new management mean for Studio Ghibli itself? Well, apparently, not much. According to Nippon TV: they will just be managing everything. Studio Ghibli meanwhile is free to focus entirely on making their anime films and managing the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo and Ghibli Park in Nagakute, Aichi. We will just have to see if this bears out later. Tune back in to THS to find out more Studio Ghibli news when we hear it.

Source: Crunchyroll News