Establishment of "KADOKAWA Creators," a New Anime Studio Integrating Training and Production, Specializing in Young Talent — Hiring Young Talent as Employees and Training Them into Creators in a Professional Environment; Building a Sustainable Production Foundation to Solve Anime Industry Challenges

KADOKAWA Corporation (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President & CEO: Tsuyoshi Natsuno; hereinafter "the Company") has established "KADOKAWA Creators Inc." (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Koichiro Natsume; hereinafter "KADOKAWA Creators"), a new studio that integrates training and production, as the second phase of its new initiative, "Creating Creators. Creating Places to Create." The studio will begin full-scale operations in April.

This studio provides an environment where young talent, including new graduates, can engage in actual work on professional projects from the very first step of their careers, aiming to become the next generation of core creators. By providing a stable employment environment through direct hiring, the company will simultaneously promote talent development and the stabilization of production foundations, which are key challenges for the industry.

Background and Purpose: Challenging the Structural Issues of the Anime Industry In recent years, while the Japanese anime industry has continued to see global market expansion, the field faces challenges such as the "low retention rate of young creators" and a "lack of training opportunities." Data (*) suggests that the turnover rate in the anime industry reaches approximately 25% within four years and 68% within eight years. The current situation, where instructors are too busy with daily tasks to dedicate time to technical succession and young creators struggle to acquire skills systematically, is a serious industry issue that threatens future production systems.

Due to this industry-wide talent shortage, securing resources from external studios is becoming increasingly difficult year by year. The Company recognizes that in order to consistently deliver high-quality IP, it is essential to strengthen a "sustainable model" where we proactively nurture talent in-house and maintain a stable production foundation.

For this reason, the Company has established KADOKAWA Creators as the second phase of its new initiative, "Creating Creators. Creating Places to Create," to accelerate investment in "people," the driving force behind IP creation and LTV maximization. Through this, we will further promote our basic strategy of "Global Media Mix with Technology" and tackle industry challenges head-on.

*Source: Japan Research Institute, "Current Status and Challenges of Japan's Anime Industry" (2024)

Three Features of "KADOKAWA Creators" 1. An "Integrated Training and Production" Studio Fusing Professional Production Bases with Educational Functions The most significant feature of this studio is its "integrated training and production" system, where skills are acquired through practical work on actual production sites. In a practical environment that demands professional standards, young creators are supported in their steady growth by engaging in actual production in stages according to their individual proficiency levels.

Regarding training, the studio employs skilled creators who have been at the forefront of anime production for many years, designing daily practical work as a venue for technical succession. To address the structural industry issue where guidance opportunities are often lost due to the pressure of daily tasks, this studio has built a mechanism to learn techniques directly from experts through practical work. This allows for the systematic acquisition of professional know-how. As a studio, it also functions as a high-quality production base responsible for key animation and in-between animation for KADOKAWA Group works. It ensures a system capable of consistently supplying high-quality deliverables in response to orders from prime contractor studios within the group.

By balancing practical learning and high-quality production functions in this way, we will simultaneously realize talent development and the strengthening of the group's overall production capabilities.

2. Stable Employment Environment through Employee Hiring We hire young talent aiming to become professionals as employees, guaranteeing a stable foundation for their lives. By eliminating economic concerns and ensuring an environment where they can focus on honing their skills, we are building a mechanism that allows young creators to remain as professionals over the long term and form their careers. In the future, this studio is scheduled to move into "Studio One Base" (located in Ikebukuro Sunshine City), a new facility opening in the fall of 2026 that will consolidate the group's anime production studios, aiming to further strengthen the training system through collaboration between studios.

3. Introduction of Latest Equipment and Unique Educational Programs Equipped with the latest digital production facilities, we back up skill acquisition from both hardware and software perspectives. On the educational side, we have introduced unique programs such as the "Animator Drill," which condenses the expertise of the production company "Doga Kobo" to teach the basics of drawing. By combining the latest equipment environment with a step-by-step learning curriculum, we support efficient and systematic skill improvement.

Future Outlook: Establishing a Group-Unique End-to-End Talent Development Ecosystem Moving forward, we will work closely with various educational institutions, including VANTAN within the group, to continuously secure motivated young talent. In the future, we envision creators who have gained experience at this studio taking on core roles at various studios within the group according to their wishes and aptitudes, supporting the long-term career formation of each individual. Furthermore, by increasing the ratio of in-house production led by young talent, we will secure a robust in-house production line that is not swayed by changes in the external environment. We aim to establish a group-unique, end-to-end talent development ecosystem that connects educational institutions to KADOKAWA Creators and then to each production studio, serving as a role model for a sustainable production system that can consistently deliver high-quality IP into the future.

Comments Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Executive Officer, Chief Studio Officer, KADOKAWA Corporation: "As KADOKAWA's anime business expands, strengthening the foundation of our production sites is an urgent task. The newly established KADOKAWA Creators is not merely an expansion of facilities, but a strategic investment in 'people,' which is the core of our new initiative, 'Creating Creators. Creating Places to Create.' Starting from here, we will build an ecosystem where talent circulates from the group and related educational institutions to production sites, thereby solidifying a sustainable and high-quality production system."

Koichiro Natsume, President, KADOKAWA Creators Inc.: "Our company is a studio primarily responsible for the drawing that forms the foundation of KADOKAWA anime works. As the name implies, while many experienced anime creators are active here, we will also actively nurture newcomers. It is a studio where you can learn while creating, cultivating the skills and speed required as a professional creator. We look forward to the participation of motivated newcomers."

【Company Overview】 Company Name: KADOKAWA Creators Inc. Location: Fujimi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Board of Directors: [President] Koichiro Natsume, [Director] Junichiro Tamura, [Director] Tsuyoshi Ishiwaki, [Director] Tomonori Sugaya, [Auditor] Tsutomu Morita Established: March 2026 Number of Employees: Approx. 40 Business Description: Animation Production URL: https://creators.kadokawa.co.jp/

About the New Initiative "Creating Creators. Creating Places to Create." This is an initiative to fundamentally strengthen our production system for anime and live-action, expanding production capacity and creator support to continuously strengthen IP creation and maximize LTV. - Phase 1: Opening of the new production base "Studio One Base" (scheduled for autumn 2026) We will open a new production base in Ikebukuro Sunshine City (Toshima-ku, Tokyo) that will consolidate the group's anime production studios. This will promote the efficiency of back-office functions, the coordination of know-how between studios, and the creation of an optimal environment where creators can focus on production.