Kadokawa is pushing back against an attempt to remove its current president and CEO, Takeshi Natsuno, after an activist shareholder questioned the company’s direction across anime, publishing, games, and IP development.
The Japanese media giant announced on May 14 that its board of directors has decided to oppose a proposal submitted by Oasis Japan Strategic Fund. The fund is owned by Hong Kong-based activist hedge fund Oasis Management Company, which was Kadokawa’s largest shareholder as of March 30, 2026.
For anime and gaming fans in Malaysia and SEA, this is not just boring boardroom drama. Kadokawa is one of the major forces behind the Japanese content pipeline that eventually reaches our streaming queues, manga shelves, game libraries, and convention fandoms. The company is involved in manga, anime, games, light novels, and also owns FromSoftware, the developer behind Elden Ring.
Why Oasis Wants Change
Oasis argued that Kadokawa has serious internal governance problems and raised several concerns about how the company is being run.
Among its criticisms, the fund claimed Kadokawa has been focusing too much on producing a large number of IPs instead of prioritising quality. It also argued that Kadokawa has not fully taken advantage of its global publishing strengths, especially given that it owns FromSoftware.
Oasis also pointed to a sharp drop in earnings per share during Natsuno’s time as CEO. Other concerns included goodwill impairment linked to anime studio Doga Kobo, which Kadokawa acquired in July 2024, and losses connected to the company’s 2024 cyberattack.
Basically, Oasis is saying: Kadokawa has major assets, global fandom power, and strong IP machinery — but the execution has not been good enough.
Kadokawa Says The Criticism Misses The Mark
Kadokawa’s board does not agree. In its response, the board said many of Oasis’ points either do not match the company’s actual situation or are incorrect. It especially rejected the idea that Kadokawa is taking a “quantity over quality” approach to IP creation.
The board also said removing Natsuno would not be the right move if the goal is to improve Kadokawa’s medium- to long-term corporate value.
According to Kadokawa, since Natsuno became CEO in 2021, the company has been growing revenue while strengthening its foundations in publishing, games, anime, and other areas. The board said this includes building a more stable system for creating IP, expanding anime production capacity, and growing its overseas bases.
That said, Kadokawa did admit that anime and publishing have not been hitting operating profit targets. The company pointed to rising production costs, a lack of major hits, and wider market conditions as reasons.
The Bigger Picture For Fans
This matters because Kadokawa’s strategy affects what kind of anime, manga, and games get made — and how aggressively they reach international audiences like us in Malaysia.
If Kadokawa doubles down on global expansion properly, SEA fans could benefit from stronger overseas distribution, faster localisation, better licensing, and more coordinated anime-game-manga projects. But if the company struggles with costs, weak hits, or messy governance, fans may feel it through slower releases, safer content bets, or fewer big swings.
Kadokawa has also announced a new mid-term management plan, and the board says it intends to restructure its plans while continuing Natsuno’s “Global Media Mix with Technology” strategy. The board described Natsuno’s leadership as necessary for this next phase.
So for now, Kadokawa is standing firmly behind its CEO. The fight is not over yet, but the message from the board is clear: they believe the current strategy still has legs, even with pressure from a major shareholder.
For fans, the key thing to watch is whether Kadokawa can turn that global media mix talk into actual results — better anime output, stronger publishing, smarter use of FromSoftware, and more content that reaches SEA without feeling like an afterthought.
Source: Automaton Media