The line between film distributor and publishing gatekeeper has blurred irrevocably.

Toho’s establishment of a London headquarters, acquisition of British distributor Anime Limited, and alliance with Germany’s Plaion Pictures marks a decisive consolidation of the Japanese entertainment giant’s control over its IP pipeline from manga to screen.

London Hub Signals Strategic Shift in IP Control

The creation of Toho Global’s European base – completing a triumvirate with existing US and Singapore operations – reflects a fundamental restructuring of how Japanese content reaches international markets. Rather than licensing piecemeal, Toho now owns distribution across all major territories, enabling coordinated release strategies that synchronise theatrical, streaming, and publishing windows.

Acquisition Consolidates Manga-to-Screen Pipeline

The Anime Limited purchase brings a formidable catalogue including Attack on Titan, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Neon Genesis Evangelion in-house. For publishing professionals, this matters because anime distribution increasingly dictates print rights negotiations.

When Toho controls both the screen adaptation and territorial distribution, manga publishing deals become part of a broader media strategy rather than standalone transactions.

The Cross-Media Ecosystem: Comics, Graphic Novels, Manga and Anime

The convergence of these forms represents publishing’s fastest-growing sector.

Unlike Western comics’ direct-market heritage, manga operates as a vertically integrated ecosystem: magazine serialisation drives tankōbon collections, which fuel anime adaptations that subsequently boost backlist sales. This creates a self-perpetuating cycle where screen success determines print runs.

Graphic novels – now the preferred term for bound comics in book trade -absorb both traditions, with manga-format titles dominating growth charts.

For publishers, the critical insight is that anime distribution power increasingly controls access to profitable manga properties.

The View From The Beach

Europe’s anime sector, valued at $4.8 billion in 2024 and projected to near $9 billion by 2030, demands attention. Toho’s integration of UK, French, and German operations creates a unified rights gateway. Publishing professionals should note: territorial licenses will increasingly bundle print manga with audiovisual rights, simulpub releases will synchronise with streaming premieres, and retail space allocation will favour vertically integrated partners. The line between film distributor and publishing gatekeeper has blurred irrevocably.

This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.