Is anime the answer or just the only answer he knows?

Fuji TV has long had a somewhat bad rep among Japanese television networks. The network itself has made headlines for inappropriate behavior like revealing magic tricks on live TV, adding a countdown ticker for the execution of ISIS hostages, or showing the movie Titanic two weeks in a row days after a sub traveling to the Titanic imploded and killed everyone inside, to name a few. They even pissed off Shohei Ohtani by reporting the location of his newly bought home in California, resulting in my favorite Ohtani clip, where he totally blows off the Fuji TV crew right after winning the World Series.

▼ A guy tries to call Ohtani over to the Fuji TV reporters. Despite Ohtani’s euphoric feeling at the moment, you can see his face darken as he mouths something dismissive and then goes the other way, leaving the guy to give a little “Well, I tried” look to the camera.

But by far the network’s biggest transgression has been unfolding over the past year in which accusations of widespread systematic sexual harassment and misconduct were made, centered on former SMAP member and host Masahiro Nakai as well as top executives who allowed this environment to go on for so long. The fallout led to all of Fuji TV’s sponsors removing ads from all of their shows, and the resignations of several top executives.

Early into the scandal, Fuji Media Holdings appointed Kenji Shimizu as the new president of Fuji TV. His name might ring a bell to anime fans as he was the producer for several major series such as Dragon Ball, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Assassination Classroom. Despite his impressive anime resume, his current duties involve putting out the multiple fires still going on at Fuji TV.

In addition to gradually repairing the reputation of the entire network by replacing most of the top brass and making concessions to the one confirmed victim, Shimizu has been facing a great deal of pressure from American firm Dalton Investments, who hold an influential amount of about 7 percent stock in the network. They were quick to call for sweeping changes in the toxic management of Fuji TV and still aren’t satisfied with Shimizu’s efforts so far.

Dalton made a list of 12 board of director members that they wanted, but Fuji Media Holdings and Shimizu denied all of them, so Dalton launched a proxy battle in which they appealed to other stockholders to side with them on the matter. In response, Shimizu went to the Japanese media in an effort to be more transparent about what he plans to do with Fuji TV moving forward. In addition to promises of a work environment that values human rights, he made a surprising announcement that he planned to devote 125 billion yen (US$862 million), half of Fuji Media Holdings’ entire reformation budget, to content production.

While “content production” is a vague term, Fuji TV is most known for its anime programming in this regard. To put things in really simple terms, a huge portion of Japanese TV is variety programming, which involves panels of personalities known as “tarento” discussing current events, visiting restaurants, playing games, doing crazy stunts, and so on. The remaining entertainment programming time is usually given to anime, dramas, movies, and music programs.

▼ Fuji TV’s long-running Noitamina block of anime was home to some classic series.

Variety shows are good for networks because production is generally inexpensive, but they almost solely rely on domestic ad revenue during broadcasts. This, of course, turned out to be a fatal flaw when the Nakai scandal drove away all advertisers from Fuji TV. Content creation in the form of anime and dramas is more costly, but offers protection from an exodus of advertisers because they can also generate money by being exported to other countries or through merchandising. There’s also the added benefit of anime not having any real humans who can get embroiled in scandals, though Goku was up to some questionable stuff in his early years.

▼ If you’ve been watching Fuji TV in the early part of 2025, you’ll likely have seen public service announcements from NPO AC Japan/Advertising Council Japan, like this one advising everyone to check their heart rates regularly, about 1,000 times because no one else was willing to run ads on the network.

Leaning into anime seems like a sensible plan to improve the network’s financial situation, and Shimizu said he plans to establish an Anime Business Department to oversee the creation and promotion of it. However, some are accusing him of simply wanting to make more anime because that’s all he knows as a former producer of it, all while turning his back on a staple genre of live-action Japanese TV.

Readers of the news online had mixed feelings about the plan. Variety shows are very popular in Japan so even many anime fans aren’t sure they want to do away with them.

“There’s a lot of long-running shows that would be a shame to lose.”
“This whole problem was caused by a variety show, so good riddance.”
“Variety? All they have are quiz shows and those don’t need a budget.”
“They don’t put much effort into variety shows anymore anyway.”
“The only interesting anime on Fuji TV is Sazae-san, isn’t it?”
“Dramas don’t make money and the actors are expensive, but anime is cheap.”
“Variety shows are boring and all the same. It’s time they go.”
“Fuji’s got a lot of problems, but I think this is the right move.”
“Would it be better as an all-anime channel?”

It should be mentioned that of the five major networks in Japan, Fuji TV tends to hang out around fourth place. With little to lose and a lot to gain, especially at this point, even radical ideas like making it an all-anime channel don’t seem all that crazy.

And I’m happy to report that just as I wrote this article a decisive vote was held at the Fuji Media Holdings Annual General Meeting where shareholders rejected Dalton’s board member proposals, officially clearing the way for Shimizu to enact his plans. This means, it looks like we’re in for some more anime from a hopefully reformed Fuji TV in the future.

Source: Daily Shincho, My Game News Flash, NHK
Featured image: ©SoraNews24
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