Bandai Namco Filmworks Acquires Animation Studio 8bit as Subsidiary

by Vindstot
Mar 2, 2024 12:21 PM | 12 Comments

Production and planning company Bandai Namco Filmworks announced on Friday that it will acquire 8bit as a wholly owned subsidiary. The Tokyo-based animation studio will become part of the Bandai Namco Filmworks group effective April 1, 2024.

8bit has confirmed the retention of its current management structure. The partnership aims to streamline decision-making in animation production and provide access to Bandai Namco Filmworks' promotional and sales expertise. This strategic alliance empowers 8bit to prioritize anime production, leveraging the resources facilitated by the partnership.

Bandai Namco Filmworks expressed its strategic rationale for integrating 8bit into the group, aiming to foster the continued growth of flagship intellectual properties (IP) and align the animation studio's production capabilities more closely with the core operations of the company.

In June 2020, 8bit and Bandai Namco Arts formed a strategic partnership to focus on producing animation-based content and related materials. This collaboration resulted in the creation of Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken 2nd Season (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 2) and the spin-off television anime Tensura Nikki: Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken (The Slime Diaries).

At the outset of the partnership, Bandai Namco Arts aimed to enhance its capacity for generating successful content by leveraging 8bit's advanced animation production capabilities, establishing a framework for continuous creation of new projects. Concurrently, 8bit sought to expand its operations by fostering a conducive environment for ongoing animation production and leveraging the expertise and networking resources of Bandai Namco Arts.

Source: Press Release, Nikkei

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12 Comments Recent Comments

As long as they keep making Blue Lock, this doesn't effect me.

Mar 7, 2024 12:01 PM by malvarez1

Memore said:
@MalchikRepaid, yes, hope for more sport series from them.

I'm more for CGDCT, but sport anime is also great with the watchful eyes of the animators there.

Mar 3, 2024 6:43 AM by MalchikRepaid

@MalchikRepaid, yes, hope for more sport series from them.

Mar 3, 2024 6:15 AM by Memore

Haven't seen Hoshiai no Sora but hopefully this'll be a stepping stone towards its sequel coz i've heard good things about that show.

Mar 3, 2024 3:25 AM by TRC_Randy

This honestly sounds like a fascinating news since Bit-8 improved a lot.

Mar 3, 2024 12:21 AM by MalchikRepaid

Great news, but quite expected!

RobertBobert said:
will this affect the number of Bandai Namco game's anime adaptations/game adaptations for 8bit properties in any way?

Unlikely, but it will probably affect the quality of the adaptations, but as clarified earlier, Bandai and EightBit have been in collaboration for a few years now. Everything is designed to expand and strengthen the existing business.

RobertBobert said:
So, whenever it doesn't involve Sunrise's own brands like Gundam, they act on behalf of BNF

You could say that. In February 1994, Sunrise Inc. became part of the Bandai Group, becoming one of its divisions. After the 2022 reorganization, the company adopted the same logo as its parent company and the name Bandai Namco Filmworks. The Sunrise name was retained as one of the main brands.

Mar 2, 2024 7:41 PM by Omarumba

I'm pretty far away from questions of this level, so personally I only have one question: will this affect the number of Bandai Namco game's anime adaptations/game adaptations for 8bit properties in any way? For example, judging by the recent collaboration event between Slime and D4DJ, the potential here is excellent. There also are a whole bunch of Bandai Namco franchises that I've been wanting to see in anime for years, especially the fighting games.

@MadanielFL So, whenever it doesn't involve Sunrise's own brands like Gundam, they act on behalf of BNF?

Mar 2, 2024 1:52 PM by RobertBobert

Good news! I hope that they adapt more sport series in future like Blue Lock.

Mar 2, 2024 1:03 PM by Memore

Yubisoft said:
These are very good news . Hopefully they will start animating good manga and light novels that are worth to be animated compared to the studio's latest releases

It's gonna remain the same as they were mainly animating series produced by bandai to begin with like @MadanielFL mentioned.

Mar 2, 2024 12:55 PM by MegamiRem

These are very good news . Hopefully they will start animating good manga and light novels that are worth to be animated compared to the studio's latest releases .

Mar 2, 2024 12:52 PM by Yubisoft

Reminder that Sunrise doesn't really exist anymore and it rebranded to Bandai Namco Filmworks, so technically speaking, this is Sunrise acquiring 8bit.

I'm not even surprised considering they already had a partnership since 2020, and pretty much every new anime that 8bit worked on was produced by Bandai, which includes Blue Lock and slime.

Mar 2, 2024 12:33 PM by MadanielFL

Bamco should make a Slime game. Sounds like fun news as long as it is not watered down by esg.

Mar 2, 2024 12:24 PM by rohan121