Kadokawa Shoten

• 1. Introduction

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  Kadokawa Shoten no longer exists as its own company. On the 1st of October 2013, it became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation. Today it operates as part of Kadokawa Future Publishing, based in Tokyo. Behind that quiet corporate absorption sits a publishing house responsible for manga such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, and Code Geass. The same company built video games around titles like Lunar and Steins;Gate. How does a publisher responsible for so many familiar manga and games end up losing its own name? And what does it take to hold together magazines, light novels, manga, and games under one roof for decades?

• 2. A Company Restructured

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  Genyoshi Kadokawa established Kadokawa Shoten on the 10th of November 1945. Its first publishing imprint, Kadokawa Bunko, followed in 1949. The company went public on the 2nd of April 1954.

  In 1975, Haruki Kadokawa became president of Kadokawa Shoten, following the death of Genyoshi Kadokawa. On the 1st of April 2003, Kadokawa Shoten was renamed Kadokawa Holdings, and its publishing operations were transferred to a newly formed Kadokawa Shoten. The parent company was renamed again on the 1st of July 2006, becoming Kadokawa Group Holdings. By January 2007, Kadokawa Group Holdings had taken over the management and integration operations still based inside Kadokawa Shoten. Around the same time, the magazine business moved to the Kadokawa Magazine Group.

  Kadokawa Shoten's video game divisions were merged with two other operations, ASCII Media Works and Enterbrain, to form a separate company called Kadokawa Games.

• 3. A Web Of Subsidiaries

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  Haruki Kadokawa founded Kadokawa Haruki Corporation in 1976 as a film production company. That company was later merged into Kadokawa Shoten itself. Following his 1993 arrest, Haruki Kadokawa was released on bail. On the 12th of September 1995, he established Kadokawa Haruki Corporation a second time, now as a publisher.

  Fujimi Shobo merged into Kadokawa Shoten in 1991 but kept running as its own division inside the company. Kadokawa Media Office merged into Kadokawa Shoten in 1993. Kadokawa Gakugei Shuppan Publishing had previously been called Hichō Kikaku, renamed on the 1st of April 2003.

  In 2006, Sumitomo Corporation bought 27.6 percent of Asmik Ace Entertainment's common stock directly from Kadokawa Shoten. Sumitomo then moved 75.3 percent of Asmik Ace into one of its own subsidiaries, leaving Kadokawa Shoten holding just 20 percent. That remaining 20 percent stake passed to Kadokawa Group Holdings in 2007. Sumitomo purchased that final stake in 2010, ending Kadokawa's ownership of Asmik Ace entirely. Not every subsidiary was let go so completely. Many of Kadokawa's magazines and imprints kept running under its own name instead.

• 4. Magazines, Novels, And Manga

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  Female readers are the specific audience for Kadokawa Beans Bunko, one of Kadokawa's light novel imprints. Kadokawa Bunko CrossLove publishes erotic light novels aimed at women, while Kadokawa Ruby Bunko focuses on Boys Love stories. The Kadokawa Gin no Saji Series imprint covers fantasy novels meant for children and adults alike. Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko and Kadokawa Tsubasa Bunko round out its light novel imprints.

  Kadokawa's magazine lineup includes Monthly Asuka and Monthly Shōnen Ace, both manga anthologies, alongside Newtype, an entertainment magazine. Other titles in that lineup include Asuka, Asuka Ciel, Ciel Tres Tres, Comp Ace, Comptiq, Emerald, Gundam Ace, and Young Ace. Four of its magazines, Altima Ace, Kerokero Ace, Monthly Ace Next, and The Sneaker, have since been discontinued.

  Its manga catalog also includes Haruhi Suzumiya, Re:Zero, Konosuba, and Bungou Stray Dogs. Other titles range from Record of Lodoss War and Slayers to Highschool of the Dead and Kantai Collection. The same publishing house also built video games, including a title called Rodea the Sky Soldier for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS.

• 5. Into Video Games

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  Kadokawa published Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete and its sequel, Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete. Kadokawa also published Lollipop Chainsaw and Killer is Dead. Some titles crossed borders under different names. Yōkai Buster: Ruka no Daibōken, developed by Sting, was released in North America as The Jetsons: Invasion of the Planet Pirates. Buile Baku, developed by KAZe, was known in Europe as Detonator.

  Lodoss Tou Senki, developed by HummingBirdSoft, came out for the Super Famicom in 1995. Hippa Linda followed in 2001 for the PlayStation 2, developed by Treasure Co., Ltd. It was renamed Stretch Panic in North America and Freak Out in Europe. Mon Colle Knights GB arrived for the Game Boy Color in 2000.

  Kadokawa also developed games rather than simply publishing them, including Natural Doctrine, Demon Gaze, and Earth Seeker. It developed EbiKore+ Amagami for the PlayStation Portable, Killer is Dead for Microsoft Windows specifically, and Ring: Infinity for the WonderSwan. Between the WonderSwan and Windows, Kadokawa's own development work stretched across very different eras of gaming hardware.